“You’re not the first person
J.D. Salinger
who was ever confused
and frightened
and even sickened
by human behavior.
You’re by no means alone
on that score.
Many, many 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 is history.
It is poetry.”
You Are Not Alone
“Many, many men
have been just as troubled
morally and spiritually
as you are right now.”