Ultimately a hero is a man who would argue with the gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision. The more a man can achieve, the more he may be… - Norman Mailer

Ultimately a hero is a man who would argue with the gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision.

Roth was irritated. Just because he was a Jew too, they always assumed he felt the same way about things. It made him feel a little frustrated. No doubt some of his bad luck had come because he was one, but that was unfair; it wasn’t as if he took an interest, it was just an accident of birth.

Writing can wreck your body. You sit there on the chair hour after hour and sweat your guts out to get a few words.

Piety can also serve as a wall to keep the pious from recognizing how profoundly angry they are at God — this God who has failed to treat them by what they see as their proper right.