Could a person really be cynical about everything in the world and still expect to have friends? - Richard Yates

In later years the only regret Yates would allow himself to express publicly was over "the desolate wastes of time" that had diminished his productivity.

After a while he stopped listening. His ears took in only the rise and fall of her voice, the elaborate, familiar, endless rhythm of it; but from long experience he was able to say "Oh yes" or "Of course," in all the right places.

He seemed decent and kindly enough, but Prentice was cautioned by an old and trusted rule of his schooldays: Beware of the first friendly one; he's probably an outcast himself.