Twenty-five years ago, while an undergraduate at Stanford, I got a job on campus as a lifeguard, deepening a love of swimming and water that has lasted throughout my life. I took the duties seriously and studied the swimmers with professional vigilance, relieved at the end of each day that no emergency rescue had been required. But the greatest challenge of the job was standing poolside in a bathing suit with my body on display.Work began in the locker room, where I changed into my Speedo and surveyed my reflection, assessing what would be on view for the next few hours. I was plagued by self-criticism. I imagined the swimmers judging my shape, until I made myself remember that I was there to guard their lives, not their fantasies. Later I performed my variation of the same ablutions everyone else did, showering and hair washing, the application of lotion and makeup -- preparations for re-entering the other world of walking upright on solid land.

The search for Nirvana, like the search for Utopia or the end of history or the classless society, is ultimately a futile and dangerous one. It involves, if it does not necessitate, the sleep of reason. There is no escape from anxiety and struggle.

Christopher Hitchens

No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition.

Benjamin Disraeli

It was odd, (Tessa thought), what brought out tenderness in people.

Cassandra Clare

Suffering isn't ennobling, recovery is.

Christiaan Barnard

Melancholy and sadness are the start of doubt... doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning of the differing degrees of wickedness.

Isidore Ducasse Lautreamont

Capitalist production, therefore, develops technology, and the combining together of various processes into a social whole, only by sapping the original sources of all wealth - the soil and the labourer.

Karl Marx

It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.

Tom Lehrer

The Dreamer awakesThe shadow goes byThe tale I have told you,That tale is a lie.But listen to me,Bright maiden, proud youthThe tale is a lie;What it tells is the truth.

Traditional folktale ending

He that knows nothing doubts nothing.

George Herbert

A marriage contract to me is as binding as any in business, and I have always believed in sticking to an agreement.

Paul Getty

I am amazed, not only by the beauty of Roger's game, but also the consistency of his tournament wins. Even more amazing is the fact that he seems to love what he is doing and he handles the pressure so well. Roger is a great champion and ambassador for our sport.

John McEnroe, John McEnroe on Ro

What I wanted to do and what I needed to do was something entirely different, and through reading Roussel I learned that I could do what I wanted all on my own and that I didn't have to rely on what had actually happened in my somewhat limited life and reading.

Harry Mathews