An affair wants to spill, to share its glory with the world. No act is so private it does not seek applause. - John Updike

No act is so private it does not seek applause.

His wife is, it occurs to Harry, a channel that can't be switched. The same slightly too-high forehead, the same dumb stubborn slot of a mouth, day after day, same time, same station.

But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it.

Charlie interrupts impatiently, "Pain is where it's at for punks. Mutilation, self-hatred, slam dancing. For these kids today, ugly is beautiful. That's their way of saying what a lousy world we're giving them. No more rain forests. Toxic waste. You know the drill."