Often it’s only when you tell something that you come to see its true shape. I believe this to be one of life’s great lessons. Thus nightly I narrate my story to the generations of kinfolk gathered around my hearth — really a hot-plate and the TV with the sound turned down.
“He who has talent in him must be purer in soul than anyone else. Another will be forgiven much, but to him it will not be forgiven. A man who leaves the house in bright, festive clothes needs only one drop of mud splashed from under a wheel, and people all surround him, point their fingers at him, and talk about his slovenliness, while the same people ignore many spots on other passers-by who are wearing everyday clothes. For on everyday clothes the spots do not show.”
Nikolai Gogol