That was beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. I probably wouldn't write at all if not for him. One of the stories of which I am the proudest - even though it is not the best - is the one I tried to write in his style. I don't agree with everything he said, but then, you never do, do you? That's the beauty of it. He may be my favorite writer. He's certainly there at the top.
INTERVIEWER
How important has your sense of optimism been to your career?
BRADBURY
I don’t believe in optimism. I believe in optimal behavior. That’s a different thing. If you behave every day of your life to the top of your genetics, what can you do? Test it. Find out. You don’t know—you haven’t done it yet. You must live life at the top of your voice! At the top of your lungs shout and listen to the echoes. I learned a lesson years ago. I had some wonderful Swedish meatballs at my mother’s table with my dad and my brother and when I finished I pushed back from the table and said, God! That was beautiful. And my brother said, No, it was good. See the difference?
Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.
I think everyone needs to read this, if not the whole thing. Again, thank you.