Elizabeth Bishop: Lota! The New Yorker wants me to write poems for them on a regular basis.
Lota de Macedo Soares: Wow! That’s fantastic, don’t they pay really well too?
Elizabeth Bishop: Yes, yes. It’s marvelous.
Lota de Macedo Soares: So, what’s the problem?
Elizabeth Bishop: I dunno. It’s a commitment.
Lota de Macedo Soares: You don’t like commitments?
Elizabeth Bishop: I already have a commitment to pessimism. A pessimist is never disappointed.