Richard Ford Quote

In the three boats story, a man is floating alone in an ocean without a life jacket when a boat passes by. Get in. I'll save you, the boatman says. Oh, no, it's fine, the floating man answers, I'm putting my faith in the Lord. In time, two more boats come along, and to each rescuer the man - usually me, in Wade's telling - says, No, no, I'm putting my faith in the Lord. Eventually, and it isn't very long in coming, the man drowns. Yet when he stands up to meet his Maker at the fated spot where some rejoice but many more cower, his Maker looks sternly down and says, You're a fool. You're assigned to hell forever. Go there now. To which the drowned man says, But your honor, I put my faith in you. You promised to save me. Save you!? fearsome God shouts from misty marmoreal heights. Save you? Save you? God thunders. I sent you three boats!

Richard Ford

In the three boats story, a man is floating alone in an ocean without a life jacket when a boat passes by. Get in. I'll save you, the boatman says. Oh, no, it's fine, the floating man answers, I'm putting my faith in the Lord. In time, two more boats come along, and to each rescuer the man - usually me, in Wade's telling - says, No, no, I'm putting my faith in the Lord. Eventually, and it isn't very long in coming, the man drowns. Yet when he stands up to meet his Maker at the fated spot where some rejoice but many more cower, his Maker looks sternly down and says, You're a fool. You're assigned to hell forever. Go there now. To which the drowned man says, But your honor, I put my faith in you. You promised to save me. Save you!? fearsome God shouts from misty marmoreal heights. Save you? Save you? God thunders. I sent you three boats!

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About Richard Ford

Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe.
Ford's first collection of short stories, Rock Springs, was published in 1987.
In the United States, Ford received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Independence Day. In Spain, he won the Princess of Asturias Award for 2016. In 2018, Ford received the Park Kyong-ni Prize, an international literary award from South Korea.
His novel Wildlife was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, and in 2023 Ford published Be Mine, his fifth work of fiction chronicling the life of Frank Bascombe.