“This is a big old ship, Bill. She creaks, she rocks, she rolls, and at times she makes you want to throw up. But she gets where she’s going. Always has, always will, until the end of time. With or without you.”
–J.F. Powers’ Wheat that Springeth Green (New York: New York Review Books Classics edition of the 1988 original, 2000), p. 170
One of the great writers of the 20th century: To understand the mind of those clerics who love to mingle with the rich and powerful, read Morte d’Urban. He was particularly adept at portraying the foibles and self-deceptions of clerics compassionately but with a very sharp eye.