Sidan 188 - 190 ur "The Catcher in the Rye"

""And I hate to tell you," he said, "but I think that once you had a fair idea where you want to go, your first mobe will be to apply yourself in school. You'll have to. You're a student - whether the idea appeals to you or not. You're in love with knowledge. And I think you'll find, once you get past all the Mr. Vineses and their Oral Comp - "
"Mr. Vinsons," I said. He meant all the Mr. Vinsons, not all the Mr. Vineses. I shouldn't have interrupted him, though.
"All right - the Mr. Vinsons. Once you get passt all the Mr. Vinsons, you're going to start getting closer and closer - that is, if you want to, and if you look for it and wait for it - to the kind of information that will be very, very dear to your heart. Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You'ree by no means alone on that score, men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry." He stopped and took a big drink out of his highball. Then he started again. Boy, he was really hot. I was glad I didn't try to stop him or anything. "I'm not trying to tell you," he said, "that only educated and scholary men are able to contribute something valuable to the world. It's not so. But I do say that educated and scholary men, if they're brilliant and creative to begin with - which, unfortunately, is rarely the case - tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men do who are merely brilliant and creative. They tend to express themselves more clearly, and they usually have a passion for following their thoughts through to the end. And - most important - nine times out of ten they have more humility than the unscholary thinker. Do you follow me at all?"
"Yes, sir.""

Detta har jag läst om och om igen nu. Detta är nog något av min absoluta sanning. Åh, vad jag står i tacksamhet till J.D. Salinger!!!