These mandarin-precious-princess-and-the-pea notions about a writer’s “special place” just didn’t match my life.

I was going to say work on what you love, but that's not really it. It's so easy to convince yourself that you love what you're doing — who wants to admit that they don't? When I think about it, the happiest and most successful people I know don't just love what they do, they're obsessed with solving an important problem, something that matters to them.

I am in favor of strengthening the freedom of the market. At the same time, I am very unhappy about the conceptual restrictions imposed on the players in the market. This originates from the assumption that entrepreneurs are one-dimensional human beings, who are dedicated to one mission in their business lives − to maximize profit.

pick one job and delegate all the other tasks.

I had help in the form of my friend and former editor Carrie Frye

I needed to physically be totally alone and be in a different place to get going.

You have kids and you’re forced to remember that time actually extends. The world extends, policy extends, stakes extend past your own life.

Carrie helped me keep to a strict rhythm, but all the essays took shape in very idiosyncratic ways.

I’m always afraid of false certainty about things

As a writer, the only thing that you can guarantee yourself pleasure and challenge from is inside your own writing process.