The Cost of Greatness

Would it be possible, ever, to be a good person in life as well as a great person in art? Both seemed to require every ounce of her energy at all times. Neither came naturally.

maybe? I didn’t know. I also didn’t know what the cost of taking that road would be, that it would mean twenty years of missed weddings, missed birthdays, missed funerals. Twenty years of sleeping on planes and perpetual jet lag. Twenty years of praying alone in strange hotel rooms and being the lone person fasting during Ramadan at official events

As far as I can tell, the only thing more difficult than the emotional toil of pursuing true excellence is the emotional toil of not pursuing true excellence. And,