Even if I couldn't get my early novels published, I could still write. I went into newspapers, where I got paid to write every day. If there's a better school for would-be novelists, I don't know what it is.
Most New Yorkers want to look amazing, and they want you to understand that they look amazing, but they also want you to stop staring at them.
There is another side to chivalry. If it dispenses leniency, it may with equal justification invoke control.