To live in this world is to be an editor, not a writer

You can bluff your way through most any circumstances if you'll simply pay attention. "Steal with your eyes," it was once explained to me. But paying attention to what? That's the big question. First day on the job, first date, whatever. What do you pay attention to, and to whom? Who's a sage, and who's a doofus? I swear this is the only kind of wisdom you can pick up in this world. You tune out one thing after another, one philosophy followed by another, stop reading bad books, stop wasting your time caring what flavor of imbecilic pop songs comes out of someone else's radio. To live in this world is to be an editor, not a writer.

Sippican Cottage pulls out a bit of his life and flings it on the internet floor.