"These days, Clarissa believes, you measure people first by their kindness and their capacity for devotion. You get tired, sometimes, of wit and intellect; everybody's little display of genius."
-Michael Cunningham, The Hours, p. 18

This line is just plain beautiful. Where Cunningham could add subtle symbolism to his meditation, he instead says exactly what he means, and what I think we all need to hear.

What if we all gave up the academic discourse for a simple "How are you" or "It's nice to see you"? As much as I love reading, it saddens me when people constantly try to impress each other at cocktail parties with esoteric fluff. It takes far less energy, simply, to be a caring person. Let's take a lesson from this gifted writer and go out of our ways to be thoughtful and compassionate every day. Maybe we can even bring the beauty of literature to real life.