“The marriage seemed to flourish on Fathers extended absences. Ragtime”

“Satire's nature is to be one-sided, contemptuous of ambiguity, and so unfairly selective as to find in the purity of ridicule an inarguable moral truth.”

“Someone dying asks if there is life after death. Yes, comes the answer, only not yours.”

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing.”

“I am telling you what I knowwords have music and if you are a musician you will write to hear them.”

“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...”