Never in his life had occasion to ask himself，'Why are things the way they are?' Why should he bother， when the way they were was always perfect? Why are things the way they are? The question to which there is no answer， and up till then he was so blessed he didn't even know the question existed.

——American Pastoral， Novelist， Philip Roth

他這一生都沒有機會問自己：“為什么會是這樣？”當一切總是完美的時候，他為什么要費心呢？為什么事情會變成這個樣子？這個問題沒有答案。在那之前，上帝是如此眷顧他，以至于他根本不知道這個問題的存在。

——《美國牧歌》菲利普?羅斯，小說家