Worked hard and feel happier. Mother had the audacity to call at 9:15 AM, while I was still sleeping. Yes, I want to live like a professor—my quiet hours, my tea, my books, different projects, different studies. The only tumult should be internal. Life is tumultuous as is, but inner tumult is the only kind compatible with work.

Patricia Highsmith, 28 November 1943, in Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941–1995, edited by Anna von Planta