in order to survive there, in a new place, you had to cut off the past and to throw it to the dogs. (I could never do that.) To be merciless toward the past. Because the past itself is merciless. That obsolete organ, like some appendix, which otherwise would become inflamed, it would throb and ache. If you can survive without it, better to cut it out and get rid of it; if not, well, then you’d better suck it up.
