Andrew Solomon
Andrew Solomon
Andrew Solomonis a writer on politics, culture and psychology, who lives in New York and London. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, Travel and Leisure, and other publications on a range of subjects, including depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan, Libyan politics, and Deaf politics. His book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression won the 2001 National Book Award, was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, and was included in...
ProfessionWriter
would-be betrayed doe
I understand why there would be prohibitions on straying from monogamy because of the harm that it does not only to the person who is betrayed, but also to the person who is betraying. "Betray" is a sort of shorthand for what happens.
hurt husband wife
If you are married and you go off and have an affair with someone, if you are a husband who does that, it may potentially hurt your wife enormously. But it seems to me likely also to compromise your marriage. That seems to me to be a harm.
errors looks done
I just look at my own life, which is full of error as all life is. I have done plenty of things that I am not proud of.
art sublime lines
There is a line that I always loved from Lucretius. He said, "The sublime is the art of exchanging easier for more difficult pleasures." The presumption of that formulation is that the more difficult pleasures are actually better than the easier pleasures. That is why one makes the exchange.
children ice-cream eating
Being in a marriage and having children is the greatest pleasure, but it is certainly not the easiest pleasure. It is not like eating ice cream.
moving suicidal self
I hope the Church will examine what is good and what is ill, and what good could be achieved by getting the suicidal, self-destructive, possibly carnal, or celibate to move toward this experience of love.
believe dont-believe
I don't believe that there is anyone of faith whose faith would not be strengthened by those experiences of family.
thinking goal strengthening
The strengthening of faith, I think, is the ultimate goal of organized religion altogether.
realizing humbling
It's deeply humbling to realize that there is no such thing as a society with a purchase on truth.
responsibility luxury anxiety
In these xenophobic times, when politicians are stoking everyone's anxiety about threats from abroad, I would argue that engaging with the rest of the world is not only a luxury, in the way that travel is, but actually a moral responsibility.
children different parenthood
Parenthood always involves recognizing your child as separate and different from you.
tragedy benefits
The tragedies that are being brought about vastly outweigh the benefits that are being achieved.
differences people comforting
I found it very comforting to see that there is no such thing as a completely normal family. People find their way through whatever the differences may be.
children grief gay
I had always wanted to have children, so it caused me a lot of grief when I was younger, and I had supposed that gay people could not be parents.