I'm drawn to a lovely quote by St. Augustine in "The City of God," where he says, "It's a sin to judge any man by his post." In modern English that would mean it's a sinto come to any view of who you should talk to, dependent on their business card. It's not the post that should count. According to St. Augustine, only God can really put everybody in their place; he's going to do that on the Day of Judgment, with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open. Insane idea, if you're a secularist person, like me. But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.
我很喜欢圣奥古斯丁在“上帝之城”里的一句话，他说“以社会地位评价人是一种罪”。用现在的口吻说，看一个人的名片来决定你是否要和他交谈是罪。对圣奥古斯丁来说，人的价值不在他的社会地位，只有神可以决定一个人的价值，他将在天使围绕、小号奏鸣，天空破开的世界末日给于最后审判，如果你是像我一样的世俗论者，这想法太疯狂了，但这想法有它的价值。
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let's face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what's sexy. And men define what's feminine. It's ridiculous.
我从未认识过任何人是他们看起来的样子；或者至少，只是他们看起来的样子。
真正的作家永远是一个流亡者，即使在自己的国家也是如此。