Hal Porter - The unwritten rules of behaviour are infinite in number, finely shaded, and

The unwritten rules of behaviour are infinite in number, finely shaded, and subtle to the last fraction of a degree. They are not to be broken. If broken, the rules of forgiveness leading to re-establishment are equally of air and iron. I learn these rules with rather less ease than my contemporaries because, in the back streets of my being, a duel is developing and increasing in fervour between my instinct which knows why something is so, and my hen-pecking intelligence which wishes to analyse why something is so.

- Hal Porter

source: Hal Porter, Mary Lord (1980). “Hal Porter”, Univ of Queensland Pr

topic: Art, Air, Iron, Unwritten Rules