Documents create a paper reality we call proof.

In even the happiest love story, the World wins at last.

The absolute has moved into the fortress of the absurd.

Placing the extraordinary at the center of the ordinary, as realism does, is a great comfort to us stay-at-homes.

The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.

Realism absorbs the ideal by adding a few small imperfections. Example: it paints a few specks of mud on the white gown of the Lady in the Garden.

Realism: the wealth of detail guarantees the truth of the tale.

The realism of failure, the romance of success.

Sometimes the only way to become grounded is to hit bottom.