Opinions are like some kind of crust that grows on top of things and you want to kind of peel them off. - Susan Sontag

Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power are always an index of how much is not understood about a disease.

A work of art encountered as a work of art is an experience, not a statement or an answer to a question. Art is not only about something; it is something. A work of art is a thing _in_ the world, not just a text or commentary _on_ the world.

Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life — its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness — conjoin to dull our sensory faculties.