Society can and does execute its own mandates， and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right， or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle， it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression， since， though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties， it leaves fewer means of escape， penetrating much more deeply into the details of life， and enslaving the soul itself.

A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection — unless you lie — in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.

格言是智慧耐用的替代品。