Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. – John Updike
Customs and convictions change respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art. – John Updike
Now that I am sixty, I see why the idea of elder wisdom has passed from currency. – John Updike
What art offers is space — a certain breathing room for the spirit. – John Updike
Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the battle field. – James Baldwin