Like A Bird On A Wire, Like

As I Grew Older, I Understood That Instructions Came With This Voice. What Were These Instructions? The Instructions Were Never To Lament Casually. And If One Is To Express The Great Inevitable Defeat That Awaits Us All, It Must Be Done Within The Strict Confines Of Dignity And Beauty.

I've Forgotten Most Of What I've Read And, Frankly, It Never Seemed Very Important To Me Or To The World.

I Am An Old Scholar, Better-looking Now Than When I Was Young. That's What Sitting On Your Ass Does To Your Face.

Most Of The Time One Is Discouraged By The Work, But Now And Again By Some Grace Something Stands Out And Invites You To Work On It, To Elaborate It Or Animate It In Some Way. It's A Mysterious Process.

You Who Wish To Conquer Pain, You Must Learn What Makes One Kind.