In one of Edward St. Aubyn’s novels, a man is asked if he was his own worst enemy. “I certainly hope so,” the man replies. “I dread to think what would happen if somebody else turned out to be better at it than me.” In the life of the mind, one way to be your own worst enemy is by means of self-defeating statements, such as, “I am not writing in English right now” or “I never, never, never use the word never.”