Does love of money replace creative consciousness, or does it destroy it? Is it symptom or cause?

The category of “creative” or “creative class” — do I occupy it? I hope to God not. I imagine the creative class all work at Vice and Buzzfeed and haven’t read a real book since 2005 when they were in AP English.

In the six years since I first moved here, among the least intellectually alive people I’ve met are those in the culture industry — editors, writers, critics, academics… the greater the pretense, the smaller the pragmatic output of the soul.

The culture industry is not culture. To find culture, you have to look outside culture.

Goethe: “Nothing is worse than active ignorance.” I agree. Living in New York only underscores how active, how profitable, how successful ignorance can be.

If you want to lose faith in the future of literature — attend a book party.

If you want to lose faith in philosophy — hang out with some graduate students.

If you want to lose faith in the level of conversation — attend a dinner party.