“Lifethe way it really isis a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse”

“...in the business of writing what one accumulates is not expertise but uncertainties. Which is but another name for craft.”

“... Now to die of griefwould mean, I'm afraid, to die belatedly, while latecomersare unwelcome, particularly in the future. ...”

“[T]he accumulation of things not spelled out, not properly articulated, may result in neurosis.”

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”

“Man is what he reads.”

“Im not a woman you bring home to Mother, pick out china patterns with, or Mary forefend, breed. Ive seen a chunk of the universe, true, but theres still so much more to see. I doubt Ill ever cure t...”

“My hope, my heaven, my trust must be,My gentle guide, in following thee.”

“Amory took to writing poetry on spring afternoons, in the gardens of the big estates near Princeton, while swans made effective atmosphere in the artificial pools, and slow clouds sailed harmonious...”