Like Jordan Baker, people with self-respect have the courage of their mistakes. They know the price of things. If they choose to commit adultery, the… - Joan Didion

Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.

People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues.... character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.

I remember thinking I needed to discuss this with John.

The objects for which there is no satisfactory resolution… In theory, these mementos serve to bring back the moment. In fact they serve only to make clear how inadequately I appreciated the moment when it was here.