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.

When a man dies, we ask those who knew him what they have lost. This interests us and helps us to live. We don't care what those who hated him feel they have gained. Those emotions debase them and make us smaller.