But it is curious how you can see that an idea is absolutely true and correct and yet not believe it deeply enough to act on it.
Lydia DavisWe feel an affinity with a certain thinker because we agree with him; or because he shows us what we were already thinking; or because he shows us in a more articulate form what we were already thinking; or because he shows us what we were on the point of thinking; or what we would sooner or later have thought; or what we would have thought much later if we hadnโt read it now; or what we would have been likely to think but never would have thought if we hadnโt read it now; or what we would have liked to think but never would have thought if we hadnโt read it now.
Lydia DavisI am simply not interested, at this point, in creating narrative scenes between characters.
Lydia DavisI donโt like to hurt peopleโs feelings, and I donโt like to knock other writers as a matter of principle.
Lydia DavisYou know the pain is part of the whole thing. And it isnโt that you can say afterwards the pleasure was greater than the pain and thatโs why you would do it again. That has nothing to do with it. You canโt measure it, because the pain comes after and it lasts longer. So the question really is, Why doesnโt that pain make you say, I wonโt do it again? When the pain is so bad that you have to say that, but you donโt.
Lydia Davis