The magic of procedure: do this after that and thus before so; then your wish will be granted.
The Ordinary Life: the misery seems planned, the happiness accidental.
Boredom turns to panic if my beloved leaves before the usual time.
The same old thing – even if it’s champagne – is still the same old thing.
Repetition comforts me for a time, then closes in.
My regimen is lust and avarice for exercise, gluttony and sloth for relaxation.
The public is a hibernating bear, hard to awaken and fond of honey.
Boast quietly, with decorum.
Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.
The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not looking back.
The nudes of art are not so distant from pornography as prudish pedants pretend.
Every time I change the way I explain myself to myself, I have to rearrange the story of my life.
Explanations comfort us by giving the impression that there is an order in things.
Diplomats lie with a heavy sense of destiny.
Free competition exists inside shelters of law, custom, insurance, political approval, and carefully protected status.
The telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.
The desire to be significant casts a pall.
You gave me a significant look, but significant of what?
Clouds of flavors and savors float around the thing-in-itself.
The best hand always believes in playing by the rules.