True solitude is a din of birdsong, seething leaves, whirling colors, or a clamor of tracks in the snow.
Edward HoaglandMany divorces are not really the result of irreparable injury but involve, instead, a desire on the part of the man or woman to shatter the setup, start out from scratch alone, and make life work for them all over again. They want the risk of disaster, want to touch bottom, see where bottom is, and, coming up, to breathe the air with relief and relish again.
Edward HoaglandAnimals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga - stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts.
Edward HoaglandSuicidal thinking, if serious, can be a kind of death scare, comparable to suffering a heart attack or undergoing a cancer operation. One survives such a phase both warier and chastened. When-ten years ago-I emerged from a bad dip into suicidal speculation, I felt utterly exhausted and yet quite fearless of ordinary dangers, vastly afraid of myself but much less scared of extraneous eventualities.
Edward Hoagland