I knew he was unreliable, but ...

I knew he was unreliable, but he was fun to be with. He was a child’s ideal companion, full of surprises and happy animal energy. He enjoyed food and drink. He liked to try new things. He brought home coconuts, papayas, mangoes, and urged them on our reluctant conservative selves. On Sundays he liked to discover new places, take us on endless bus or trolley rides to some new park or beach he knew about. He always counseled daring, in whatever situation, the courage to test the unknown, an instruction that was thematically in opposition to my mother’s.
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 E. L. Doctorow

Quotes from the same author

We are able to walk on air, but only as long as our illusion supports us.
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 E. L. Doctorow
An Animated Cartoon Theology: 1. People are animals. 2. The body is mortal and subject to incredible pain. 3. Life is antagonistic to the living. 4. The flesh can be sawed, crushed, frozen, stretched, burned, bombed, and plucked for music. 5. The dumb are abused by the smart and the smart destroyed by their own cunning. 6. The small are tortured by the large and the large destroyed by their own momentum. 7. We are able to walk on air, but only as long as our illusion supports us.
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 E. L. Doctorow
Anyone at any age is able to tell the story of his or her life with authority.
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 E. L. Doctorow
A new reader shouldn't be able to find you in your work, though someone who's read more may begin to.
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 E. L. Doctorow
I have committed many sins in my life. This precise sin-the sin against poets-is without absolution.
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 E. L. Doctorow