“That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heav...” — John Updike Quote

That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and if temporality is held to be invalidating, then nothing real succeeds.

There's something very reassuring... about the written record.

Imagine writing a poem with a sweating, worried-looking boy handing you a different pencil at the end of every word. My golf, you may say, is no poem; nevertheless, I keep wanting it to be one.

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of his verse, the poet walks gagged through his own biography.

I see no intrinsic reason why a doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic-strip novel masterpiece.

Marriage, n: the state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two.

Traditionally, marriage is one arena where states have all but plenary power; it took until 1967 for the Supreme Court to tell states they could not prohibit interracial marriage.

There are lots of different ideas, lots of different opinions about the First Amendment Defense Act and what it should be. There were a lot of different forms of it while I was on the Hill. But I would say that I agree that the decision on gay marriage does mean that we need to take some steps to defend religious liberty.

I think what's dangerous about marriage is the way it can make you feel like you've got it all wrapped up. Like you're done: you've found your spouse, you've married him or her, and you don't need to think too much more about it.