The Tower, and other pieces - 6. Maxims and other fragments III

.

"Only fools ask the question

They are not prepared to

Hear the answer for."

"The man who said money

Can't buy happiness,

Obviously wasn't thinking about

His favorite restaurant."

"Only fools ask the question

They do not already know

The answer for."

"When I was boy – circa 1978 – there was only one African American family in my town of twenty-five-hundred people. The two children were boys, and attended my Catholic elementary school.

These brothers made a study in contrasts. The younger brother was one or two grades below me, and the older was two years above. The smaller was free and easy, befriended everyone equally, and never knew any reticence at all. His juvenile laugh came naturally with bending shoulder movements, and a big upward flash of pearly whites.

His older brother was magnificent. Handsome and composed, he held himself upright. He did not allow much arm swinging, and I can still see him today in my mind's eye, as he strode down the sidewalk after school, his wrist bent hard over the small pile of books he carried home for his assignments. He walked the ordinary and chipped pathways of my town as if his Hush Puppies barely needed to touch the pavement; like a taught dancer gracefully unwinding the coiled tension of his body. He rarely smiled, rarely let his guard down, but he always protected his brother.

They would walk together, side-by-side, the small one like a yapping puppy at the heels of his sire. In his little hands would be artwork the teacher had praised – and at those moments, the noble impulse in the still and placid big brother made a hand go to the top of Sibling's head. He would slip it down to the boy's back, jostle the lagging but radiant young man forward a bit, and utter a phrase like: "Good job." And then, like storm clouds parting, he would smile."

"Bigots may not need a reason to hate,

But do non-haters need a reason to love?"

"Nothing that comes from the heart

Deserves to be called wretched."

"Every person is a lens for what they see;

Every memory a chance for fresh creation."

"Despondency is a hellish feeling

Because we shut off all connections."

"The love that can be impinged upon

by pride

Is not a love strong enough to

long survive."

"The best part of writing –

Reading other people's work.

The worst part of writing –

Having to read your own."

"You cannot tell an individual's

story with a universal voice –

Style in writing must be unique

and not beaten to a pulp by "Guides

to Writing," via Chicago, or

Elbow, or anybody else."

"We all can relate to a person's shortcomings,

but few can do so with a person's perfections."

"We may be born with innocence,

but it's our regrets we die with."

"There is nothing that more

tempts ridicule

than another's sincerity."

_