Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed despair and can perhaps in this case save the world.
Source: Entry in his journal before his last public appearance, the ceremony at which he received the National Medal for Literature, quoted by Susan Cheever in Home before Dark, 1984.
-- John Cheever, (May 27 1912-1982), US short-story writer, novelist; His work described, often through fantasy and ironic comedy, the life, manners, and morals of middle-class, suburban America.