For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain [and] the noise of battle. [It] has the power to give grief or universality that lends it a youthful beauty.
Source: Accepting National Medal for Literature; recalled on his death 18 Jun 1982.
-- 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.