"I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect."
— J.D. Salinger

"Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry."
— J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye)

"I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut."
— John Berryman

"Literature is news that stays news."
— Ezra Pound (ABC of Reading)

"Permit me voyage, love, into your hands... "
— Hart Crane