All Serious Daring Starts From Within

'Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'
--Samuel Beckett

'I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.'
--Eudora Welty, in One Writer's Beginnings

'The writer, perhaps more than any of his fellow artists, has access to the human subconscious. His words sink deep, shaping dreams, easing the pain of loneliness, banishing incantations and omens, keeping alive the memories of the race, providing intimations of immortality, nourishing great anticipations, sharpening the instinct for justice and imparting respect for the fragility of life. These functions are essential for human evolution. Without them, civilization becomes brittle and breaks.'
--Norman Cousins