It haunted him all night, while he slept alone; it was still there in the morning, when he swallowed his coffee and backed down the driveway in the crumpled old Ford. And riding to work, one of the youngest and healthiest passengers on the train, he sat with the look of a man condemned to a very slow, painless death. He felt middle-aged.
Richard YatesDying for love might be pitiable, but it wasn't much different, finally, from any other kind of dying.
Richard YatesRemember what Anatole France said about the dog masturbating on your leg--'Sure, it's honest, but who needs it?
Richard YatesShe just happened to feel like it. Wasnโt that after all, the only reason there was? Had she ever had a less selfish, more complicated reason for doing anything in her life?
Richard YatesYour cowardly self-delusions about โloveโ when you know as well as I do that thereโs never been anything between us but contempt and distrust and a terrible sickly dependence on each otherโs weakness- thatโs why. Thatโs why I couldnโt stop laughing about the Inability to Love, and thatโs why I canโt stand to let you touch me, and thatโs why Iโll never again believe in anything you think, let alone anything you say
Richard Yates