but isn't there always one good thing to look back on? think of how many cups of coffee we drank together.

It was better for me when I could imagine greatness in others, even if it wasn't always there.

Morals were restrictive, but they were grounded on human experience.

Trouble and pain were what kept a man alive. Or trying to avoid trouble and pain. It was a full time job.

I couldn't get myself to read the want ads. The thought of sitting in front of a man behind a desk and telling him that I wanted a job, that I was qualified for a job, was too much for me. Frankly, I was horrified by life, at what a man had to do simply in order to eat, sleep, and keep himself clothed. So I stayed in bed and drank. When you drank the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn't have you by the throat.

people are not good to each other. perhaps if they were our deaths would not be so sad.

People were usually much better in their letters than in reality. They were much like poets in this way.