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Grace and Serendipity

From the January 2023 Print Edition

When you’re a linguist, you get used to being asked how ­many languages you speak. But a few years ago I was asked for the first time, by a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, what my favorite words are. “Grace and serendipity,” I blurted out—not a graceful response, but a . . . . Continue Reading »

My Confessions

From the October 2021 Print Edition

A few years ago, in the middle of the journey of life—in modern terms, having a midlife crisis—I read St. ­Augustine’s Confessions for the first time since I was eighteen. I’d loved the work when I was young, but in what was hardly an original discovery, I found that I . . . . Continue Reading »