I write to make sense of my life." -John Cheever, quoted in _Cheever - A Life_ (2009) by Blake Bailey

When the beginnings of self destruction enter the heart, it seems no bigger than a grain of sand.

The writer cultivates, extends, raises and inflates his imagination, sure that this is his destiny, his usefulness, his contribution to the understanding of good and evil. As he inflates his imagination he inflates his capacity for evil.

How can a people who do not mean to understand death hope to understand love, and who will sound the alarm?

I have always been the lover - never the beloved - and I have spent much of my life waiting for trains, planes, boats, footsteps, doorbells, letters, telephones, snow, rain, thunder.

Admite the world. Relish the love of a gentle woman. Trust in the lord.

I was here on earth because I chose to be.