Writing Novels Is An Essentially Amateur Activity.

Is Human Nature Basically Good Or Evil? No Economist Can Embark Upon His Profession Without Considering This Question, And Yet They All Seem To. And They All Seem To Think Human Nature Is Basically Good, Or They Wouldn't Be Surprised By The Effects Of Deregulation.

Respect And Fear Are Two Different Things.

Everything Is Toxic. That's The Point. You Can't Avoid Toxins. Thinking You Can Is Just Another Symptom Of The Toxic Overload Stage.

There Are Five Things That Societies Do: They Reproduce; They Produce Food; They Organize Themselves In Terms Of Law; They Organize Themselves In Terms Of Belief; And They Make Art. Four Of Them Are About Conformity, And In These, Everything Would Go More Smoothly If People Just Would Shut Up And Do What They're Told. But In Art It Doesn't Work That Way.

Another Thing I Learned Is That Novels, Even Those From Apparently Distant Times And Places, Remain Current And Enlightening, And Also Comforting.