“If I could be any kind of great artist,” I say, “I would be a musician. To write poetry— then to raise its emotional power through music— what higher form of art exists?”

He thinks for a moment, then replies, “That may be true, my aspiring writer. But a good song or a good movie fades with time— a good book lives much longer in your memory.”

“Aha!” I say. “Eureka!” I say, and “This is why I love you.”