It's been my habit of mind, over these years, to understand that every situation in which human beings are involved can be turned on its head. Everything someone assures me to be true might not be. Every pillar of belief the world rests on may or may not be about to explode. Most things don't stay the way they are very long. Knowing this, however, has not made me cynical. Cynical means believing that good isn't possible ; and I know for a fact that good is. I simply take nothing for granted and try to be ready for the change that's sure to come.
Dell Parsons, in Canada by Richard Ford
