I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of exceptional gifts.
Source: Interview in Writers at Work (First Series, ed. by Malcolm Cowley, 1958).
-- Thornton Wilder, (Apr 17 1897-1975), US playwright, novelist; He is well known for his plays Our Town, 1938 and The Skin of Our Teeth, 1942.