I had never taken creative writing classes. Hadn't even considered it.

We are not strong enough to stand up against endless grief, And yet pain is the constant drone of life. So if we are to have any happiness at all, it is only in the passing instant.

It is a bad idea to live too long. Few carry it off well.

So of course time is necessary. But nevertheless damn painful, for it transforms all the pieces of your life - joy and sorrow, youth and age, love and hate, terror and bliss - from fire into smoke rising up the air and dissipating on a breeze.

Surely it is a sin to reject the few gifts we are given. Be happy in the flash of time granted to us or hurt forever.

Contentment is mostly a matter of talking yourself into believing that God will not strike you too hard for leaning in the direction of your hungers.

Needing and getting don’t seem likely to match up any time soon... What needs doing is mine to do.