The most heartbreaking thing about it is: the better you got, the harder you have to work–because your standards will rise with your ability. I mentioned 'work'–it's the wrong word: because if you're serious, the whole creative process is attended with pleasure in a form which very few people ever know. Putting two words together in a sequence that pleases you, really pleases you, brings a satisfaction which must be kin to what a businessman feels when he manages a sharp transaction...but on a higher plane...those two words which the writer set together have produced an effect will will never die as long as men can read with understanding.

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Said to Walker Percy.

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