You're so American. You believe everything is possible, everything will come. I know differently. - James Salter

A writer cannot really grasp what he has written. It is not like a building or a sculpture; it cannot be seen whole. It is only a kind of smoke seized and printed on a page.

My own life suddenly seems nothing, an old costume, a collection of rags, and I walk, I breathe to the rhythm of his which is stronger than mine.

Their life was two things: it was a life, more or less — at least it was the preparation for one — and it was an illustration of life for their children.