“And, as I have said, it’s made me think twice about the imagination. If the spirits aren’t external, how astonishing the mediums become! Victor Hugo said of his voices that they were like his own mental powers multiplied by five.James Merrill
“Proust’s Law (are you listening?) is twofold: (a) What least thing our self-love longs for most Others instinctively withhold; (b) Only when time has slain desire Is his wish granted to a smiling ghost Neither harmed nor warmed, now, by the fire. James Merrill
“Strange about parents. We have such easy access to them and such daunting problems of communication.James Merrill