Somebody Has to be Committed to the Idea of Truth

Literature is still the source of my greatest excitement. My prayer is that it is irreplaceable. Literature can carry the consciousness of human times and social life better than anything else. Look at the movies of the 1920s, watch the Murrow broadcasts, you can't recognize any of the people. Now, read Fitzgerald—that's it. That is the truth of the times. Somebody has to be committed to the idea of truth.

THOMAS McGUANE