This afternoon I was interviewed in a synagogue in the Dutch city of Arnhem.
I spoke about my religious past, in my youth I went to synagogue every Shabbat, I took Mishnah lessons, I learned Hebrew etcetera etcetera.
But I could not remember the last time I had been to synagogue. Was it in 2003 in Lima? Then the interviewer -- a lovely and well-manicured lady -- wanted to know whether I consider myself a genius or not.
I answered: “As an author you have to switch continuously between overconfidence and self-hate.” But it’s good to be stingy with overconfidence.