While it's still July 21 I want to say Happy Birthday to one of my favorites, born on this date in 1899. Like so many of his generation, his worldview was shaped by the horrors of world war, but he was not the dour pessimist many claim (don't hate on him!) . . .

He was a realist, which I suppose is one of the reasons I love him. He refused to romanticize the evil in the world, the evil of which men are capable, but he also saw & cherished & wrote stunning prose about the slivers of hope to which men cling - friendship, religion, love.

That the world will eventually bring you to your knees was a forgone conclusion in his mind; what matters is how you respond when the hits come. I honestly think he was a romantic at heart, but he'd seen too much, experienced too much heartache, to believe in happily ever after.

He was his harshest critic, & this is one of my favorite Hemingway quotes:

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."

Happy Birthday, Papa. Thank you for your words. I wish they'd been enough to resolve your demons.