Quote of the Day (Shirley Hazzard, on Confidence)

“ ‘Confidence is one of those things we try to instill into others and then hasten to dispel as soon as it puts in an appearance.’

‘Like love,’ she observed, turning to the door.

‘Like love,’ he said. ‘Exactly.’”— Australian-American fiction writer and essayist Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016), “The Party,” in Collected Stories, edited by Brigitta Olubas (2020)

(This photo of Shirley Hazzard was taken by Christopher Peterson at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction's Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner, held at the New York Tennis and Racquet Club at 350 Park Avenue, in New York, on Oct. 29, 2007.)