The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.

My life feels, week to week, incomplete to the level of being pointless if I am not in preparation for the next play or, ideally, into it.

When you meet with someone and you try to assess whether they're telling you the truth or not, there's several things you can do. You judge demeanor and credibility. You look at corroboration.

China itself is now in the process of sloughing off not only the communist system, but also those outdated parts of Confucianism that prevent the rapid acquisition of knowledge needed to adjust to new ways of life and work.

Nothing fortifies scepticism more than the fact that there are some who are not sceptics; if all were so, they would be wrong.