Thanks for passing that along, tsuwm.

Neal Stephenson is admirably modest, perhaps more modest than the Mayor of Des Moines, but, all things considered, he could have done himself even greater honor by honoring himself even less.

Those "few hundred thousand ... avid readers" of his may one day be gone, all gone, and few may search for "Quicksilver", if that is the judgment of history.

Neal Stephenson will be long dead, and you and I as well, before he knows the judgment of history. Good enough reason for him, and anyone enjoying the warm glow of approbation today, to be modest, I'd say.

Obviously we need something to sustain us, and drive us, which is larger than approbation. What drove Van Gogh who sold hardly a painting in his day? Could he possibly have known that one day one of his paintings would sell for more money than any painting in history?

How foolish it is, on the evidence of history, to judge our worth, assuming we strive with honor, on the favor or disfavor we harvest in our life-time.