Vivian Gornick

What kind of a thing is it to say to another person who's told you she's in love, 'I hope you tell each other you love each other at least twice a day?'

The question is, 'what's love?' And not, 'what kind of language is this?'

We all should know what love is by now, but we don't.

There are some writers, not many but some, who make our lives more worthwhile by having read them.

One kind of writer is the one who says, I want you to tell me to write this and then I want you to tell me what to say. I promise I'll listen and then write what I hear, and only what I hear.

The other kind of writer, even more rare, is the writer who knows that he or she cannot provide another's salvation.

How do you become a real person? How do you become your self, and not somebody somebody else only tolerates?

This is the kind of question the other kind of writer asks.