Had one of those nights when I couldn’t sleep. Something I’ve put up with for years. My doctor once asked me what it was I thought about when I lay there, awake at night, and I said, “Same as most people, I guess. God and the universe.”
She gave me a strange look and stood there, clicking her pen. Then she turned back to her clipboard. While I was getting dressed she informed me that I was way off the mark. That most people thought about their kids, or their spouses, or their finances. Not about God. And especially not about the universe.
I was reading “On the Nature of Things” at the time this examination took place. Which accounted—in part, I’m sure—for my answer. But after the initial look she shot my way, I figured it wasn’t worth explaining. Tossing out a name like Lucretius would've only made things worse.