我不问作家关于他们的工作习惯。我真的不在乎。乔伊斯·卡罗尔·欧茨在某个地方说过，当作家们互相询问他们什么时候开始工作，什么时候结束，以及午餐花多长时间时，他们实际上是在试图找出，“他和我一样疯狂吗？”我不需要这个问题的答案。

没有了目的，生活便郁闷无光。

The first fruit of this imagination—and the first lesson of the social science that embodies it—is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.

China's rise will inevitably lead to conflict with the United States.