[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fS70NMYzqTngbyCAM3FtoeYtW6yhCSQiC26EX6QHsTRQ":3,"$fYJqd8P3hwPil3XJuN9OTD8flxGFn9GohIbjakiKyU-4":12},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},18078,"Alice McDermott","A",115,null,"alice-mcdermott",[],{"quotes":13,"pagination":77},[14,22,28,34,40,46,52,58,64,71],{"id":15,"quote_text":16,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":19,"source":20,"quote_tag":21,"commentary":9},2838707,"She liked the salty taste of contradiction on her tongue.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":23,"quote_text":24,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":25,"source":26,"quote_tag":27,"commentary":9},2838691,"For one of us at least, we knew, we were certain – this is how we saw the world – there would never again be loneliness in life.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":29,"quote_text":30,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":31,"source":32,"quote_tag":33,"commentary":9},2838682,"It had been raining, that gray, unpoetic rain of midwinter in a dreary suburb.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":35,"quote_text":36,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":37,"source":38,"quote_tag":39,"commentary":9},2838671,"There was... her capacity to believe. There was as well her capacity to be deceived, since you can’t have one without the other...",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":41,"quote_text":42,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":43,"source":44,"quote_tag":45,"commentary":9},2838663,"There was tremendous affection in Billy’s eyes, or at least they held a tremendous offer of affection, a tremendous willingness to find whomever he was talking to bright and witty and better than most.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":47,"quote_text":48,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":49,"source":50,"quote_tag":51,"commentary":9},2838644,"The owner’s wife gave me a container of chicken soup and a quart of rice pudding to take home. She was a broad, solid woman with thick arms and legs. She swiped vigorously at the stain on my coat with a wad of dampened paper towel, and I remembered Pegeen then: There’s always someone nice.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":53,"quote_text":54,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":55,"source":56,"quote_tag":57,"commentary":9},2838640,"It’s sometimes more torment for a man, Mr. Fagin said, to consider what might have been than to live with what is.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":59,"quote_text":60,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":61,"source":62,"quote_tag":63,"commentary":9},2838636,"The devil loves these short, dark days.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":65,"quote_text":66,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":67,"source":68,"quote_tag":69,"commentary":70},2838631,"Isn’t it funny how we all die at the same time? Always at the end of our lives. Why worry?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\n\nThis enigmatic quote is reminiscent of Alice McDermott's writing style, which often navigates the complexities of human experience with a blend of philosophical introspection and humorous irreverence. While we don't have a specific origin for this quote from McDermott, it aligns with her characteristic exploration of life's mysteries and our tendency to find comfort in absurdity. It was likely written during a time when McDermott reflected on the human condition and our existential predicaments.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nOn the surface, the quote seems to dismiss worry about mortality by pointing out that death is an inevitable end point for all of us. However, the hidden insight lies in the way this observation dissolves the notion of individual anxiety over one's own demise. The paradoxical truth is that it's not our personal fear of death that's the problem, but rather how we collectively invest emotional energy into something we can't control or change.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nTo apply this mindset today, a modern professional or creative might benefit from shifting their focus away from personal fears and toward a more collective, existential perspective. By acknowledging that our individual lives are part of a larger, universal experience, we may find it easier to cultivate a sense of detachment from our own mortality and worry less about what lies ahead.",{"id":72,"quote_text":73,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":74,"source":75,"quote_tag":76,"commentary":9},2838616,"This was, I thought, the language of shy men, men too much alone with their reading and their ideas – politics, war, distant countries, tyrants. Men who would bury their heads in such stuff just to avert their eyes from a woman’s simple heartache.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":78,"totalPages":79,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":80},1,12,10]