"[by “guts” I mean] grace under pressure."

"It is a enduring truth that all philosophical inquiry begins with the humility to admit the limits of knowing — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists."

"Cowardice... is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend functioning of the imagination."

"I'm reading a book, because I'm brainy. No, it is a book - if you don't know, it is like a blog except bigger."

"A mathematical proof is beautiful, but when you're finished, it's really only about one thing. A story can be about many things."

"Write about society as news and treat it like sociology."

"I find that movies tend to fix the aesthetics of a story in people's minds."