I Think It's Quite Difficult

I Think It's Quite Difficult To Understand What Kind Of Life A Writer Leads. They Might Be Millionaires, Or They Might Be Starving People.

When I Got To 40 Or So... I Had The Sense When I Looked Back Over My Life I Would Actually See A Mess Of Decisions, A Few Of Which I Had Thought About, Some Of Which I Had Sort Of Stumbled On, And Many That I Had No Control Over Whatsoever.

What I Wished More Than Anything Was That The Thing Hadn't Happened At All, And I Thought That By Not Mentioning It I'd Be Doing Everyone Else A Favor.

I Quizzed Him A Lot On This Point And I Suspect The Truth Was That It Was Like A Lot Of Things At That Age: You Don't Have Any Clear Reason, You Just Do It. You Do It Because You Think It Might Get A Laugh, Or Because You Want To See If It'll Cause A Stir. And When You're Asked To Explain Afterwards, It Doesn't Seem To Make Any Sense.

There Is Certainly A Satisfaction And Dignity To Be Gained In Coming To Terms With The Mistakes One Has Made In The Course Of One’s Life