Every treasure is guarded by dragons. That's how you can tell it's valuable. - Saul Bellow

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

Still, what can thoughtful people and humanists do but struggle toward suitable words? Take me, for instance. I've been writing letters helter-skelter in all directions. More words. I go after reality with language. Perhaps I’d like to change it all into language, to force Madeline and Gersbach to have a Conscience. There’s a word for you. I must be trying to keep tight the tensions without which human beings can no longer be called human. If they don’t suffer, they’ve gotten away from me. And I’ve filled the world with letters to prevent their escape. I want them in human form, and so I conjure up a whole environment and catch them in the middle. I put my whole heart into these constructions. But they are constructions.

We are funny creatures. We don't see the stars as they are, so why do we love them? They are not small gold objects, but endless fire.