Quote for Wednesday

John Updike has said that, on reading an unfavorable review of one of his novels, “My ears close up, my eyes go warm, my chest feels thin as an eggshell, my voice churns silently in my stomach.” Ah, yes. All right, so it hurts. But it is not a death sentence. It does not say that you will never write a good novel as long as you live. As novelists -- observers or listeners – we of all people should trust our ability to grow and change.

- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor