Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. Mark Twain

I had to put “State of Denial” by Bob Woodward down because it was far too depressing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good book. I just found myself spending my nights worrying about which knucklehead in power is going to do something extremely stupid that will affect my world tomorrow.

So last night I pulled “Snow” by Orhan Pamuk off my library shelf and started in and by the time I got to page three I had a revelation.

As long as we have writers and poets and artists in the world who elevate mankind, who offer a balance to the madness we find in our political leaders, who expose the ugliness of the world not because they want to exact revenge, but because they want to encourage change, even at the risk of their own lives by sharing, I can sleep again.

And I feel safer just knowing they are out there.