It was becoming a habit-this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had. *Milkman*

...when the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier -- that only birds and planes could fly -- he lost all interest in himself.

So this is what insanity is. Not goofy behavior, but watching a sudden change in the world you used to know.

There is really nothing more to say - except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.

I don't do the things other people call "play."

I'm just trying to look at something without blinking, to see what it is like, or it could have been like, and how that had something to do with the way we live now. Novels are always inquiries for me.

But maybe a man was nothing but a man, which is what Baby Suggs always said. They encouraged you to put some of your weight in their hands and soon as you felt how light and lovely that was, they studied your scars and tribulations, after which they did what he had done: ran her children out and tore up the house. [...] A man ain't nothing but a man,' said Baby Suggs. 'But a son? Well now, that's somebody.