History depends, not on how passionately we resist, but on how precisely we conform.

Literature teaches us to leave writers alone.

Composure

When only a poem can get through to you.

When Hamlet said his "machine" (his body) was "to him" he meant also that he had within him "that which passeth show" (his soul).

Mechanical advantage belongs to God (or Nature, if you will). Our machines belongs to us (or Culture).

The truth is a secret that does not need to be exposed to work.

Writing well forces you to be yourself.