143
" De repente, foi como se ela estivesse na sala ao lado e ele tivesse acabado de sair de junto dela. Sentiu um formigueiro nas mãos, como se lhe tivesse tocado. E a sensação de perda, que durante tanto tempo contivera dentro do si, jorrou em torrente, engoliu-o e ele deixou-se arrastar, sem se debater; não se queria salvar. Depois, sorriu com ternura, como que perante uma recordação. Pensou que tinha quase sessenta anos e que devia estar para lá da força de uma tal paixão, de um tal amor.
Mas não estava, sabia que não estava e que nunca estaria. "
― John Williams , Stoner
159
" As he got to know her better, he learned more of her childhood; and he came
to realize that it was typical of that of most girls of her time and circumstance. She was educated upon the premise that she would be protected from the gross events that life might thrust in her way, and upon the premise that she had no other duty than to be a graceful and accomplished accessory to that protection, since she belonged to a social and economic class to which protection was an almost sacred obligation. She attended private schools for girls where she learned to read, to write, and to do simple arithmetic; in her leisure she was encouraged to do needlepoint, to play the piano, to paint water colors, and to discuss some of the more gentle works of literature. She was also instructed in matters of dress, carriage, ladylike diction, and morality.
Her moral training, both at the schools she attended and at home, was
negative in nature, prohibitive in intent, and almost entirely sexual. The sexuality, however, was indirect and unacknowledged; therefore it suffused every other part of her education, which received most of its energy from that recessive and unspoken moral force.
She learned that she would have duties toward her husband and family and that she must fulfill them. "
― John Williams , Stoner
160
" Quand'era giovanissimo, Stoner pensava che l'amore fosse uno stato assoluto dell'essere a cui un uomo, se fortunato, poteva avere il privilegio di accedere. Durante la maturità, l'aveva invece liquidato come il paradiso di una falsa religione, da contemplare con scettica ironia, soave e navigato disprezzo, e vergognosa nostalgia. Arrivato alla mezza età, cominciava a capire che non era né un'illusione né uno stato di grazia: lo vedeva come una parte del divenire umano, una condizione inventata e modificata momento per momento, e giorno dopo giorno, dalla volontà, dall'intelligenza e dal cuore. "
― John Williams , Stoner