My
favorite fictional character in a series of books is a guy called Spenser,
created by Robert B. Parker. My second favorite is Travis McGee, who
appeared in 21 novels by a genius named John D. MacDonald. MacDonald
passed away in 1986 but I'm grateful I can read and reread what he left
us, including these quotes from the inimitable Travis McGee:
"The only thing in the world worth a damn is the strange, touching, pathetic, awesome nobility of the individual human spirit."
"Education is something
that should be apart from the necessities of earning a living, not a
tool therefor. It needs contemplation, fallow periods, the measured and
guided study of the history of man’s reiteration of the most agonizing
question of all: Why?"
"All the little gods
of irony must whoop and weep and roll on the floors of Olympus when they
tune in on the night thoughts of a truly fatuous male."
"I can bend my own rules way, way over, but there is a place where I finally stop bending them."
"I
know just enough about myself to know I cannot settle for one of those
simplifications which indignant people seize upon to make understandable
a world too complex for their comprehension."
"Every day, no matter how you fight it, you learn a little more about yourself, and all most of it does is teach humility."
"If
there was one sunset every twenty years, how would people react to
them? If there were ten seashells in all the world, what would they be
worth? If people could make love just once a year, how carefully would
they pick their mates?"
"Appreciate
the therapeutic value of silence. It is the McGee version of being a
loner: merely having some people about to whom you don’t have to
constantly react."
"Somebody
has to be tireless, or the fast-buck operators would asphalt the entire
coast, fill every bay, and slay every living thing incapable of
carrying a wallet."
"I
wanted to be stable as all hell, but the world was on a slight tilt. It
was like being yanked around an unexpected curve. You lean for a long
time. My friend Meyer, the economist, says that cretins are the only
humans who can be absolutely certain of their own sanity. All the rest
of us go rocketing along rickety rails over spavined bridges and along
the edge of bottomless gorges. The man who believes himself free of any
taint of madness is a damned liar. The trouble is, you never know
exactly what might tip you off those rails."
"I had thought that I
was in fine balance.... I had even believed I had grown another little
layer of hide over those places where I could be hurt."
"Acquaintance
rather than friend. The dividing line is communication, I think. A
friend is someone to whom you can say any jackass thing that enters your
mind. With acquaintances, you are forever aware of their slightly
unreal image of you, and to keep them content, you edit yourself to fit.
Many marriages are between acquaintances. You can be with a person for
three hours of your life and have a friend. Another one will remain an
acquaintance for thirty years."
"I
think there is some kind of divine order in the universe. Every leaf on
every tree in the world is unique. As far as we can see, there are
other galaxies, all slowly spinning, numerous as the leaves in the
forest. In an infinite number of planets, there has to be an infinite
number with life forms on them. Maybe this planet is one of the
discarded mistakes. Maybe it's one of the victories."
"Newsmen have a very
short attention span. It is a prerequisite in the business. That is why
the news accounts of almost anything make sense to all ages up to the
age of twelve. If one wishes to enjoy newspapers, it is wise to halt all
intellectual development right at that age."
"We're
all children. We invent the adult facade and don it and try to keep the
buttons and the medals polished. We're all trying to give such a good
imitation of being an adult that the real adults in the world won't
catch on. Each of us takes up the shticks that compose the adult image
we seek."
"Old friend, there are
people — young and old — that I like, and people that I do not like. The
former are always in short supply. I am turned off by humorless
fanaticism, whether it's revolutionary mumbo-jumbo by a young one, or
loud lessons from scripture by an old one. We are all comical,
touching, slapstick animals, walking on our hind legs, trying to make it
a noble journey from womb to tomb, and the people who can't see it at all
that way bore the hell out of me."
"Up with
life. Stamp out all small and large indignities. Leave everyone alone to
make it without pressure. Down with hurting. Lower the standard of
living. Do without plastics. Smash the servomechanisms. Stop grabbing.
Snuff the breeze and hug the kids. Love all love. Hate all hate."
"Being an adult means accepting those situations where no action is possible."
"People take you at the value you put upon yourself."
"Nobody can ever get too much approval."
"At
times it seems as if arranging to have no commitment of any kind to
anyone would be a special freedom. But in fact the whole idea works in
reverse. The most deadly commitment of all is to be committed only to
one's self. Some come to realize this after they are in the nursing
home."
And a quote about MacDonald from Lee Child, the creator of Jack Reacher, another unforgettable, resourceful, resilient, principled, tough character in fiction that is just rich and wise:
"The fight was never easy and, one
feels, never actually winnable. But it had to be waged. This strange,
weary blend of nobility and cynicism is MacDonald's signature emotion."
— Lee Child
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