Gold was not sure of many things, but he was definite about one: for every successful person he knew, he could name at least two others of greater ability, better, and higher intelligence who, by comparison, had failed.

Heller later remembered the war as "fun in the beginning. A. I.

Joseph Heller (May 1 1923 – December 12 1999) was an American satirical novelist short story writer and playwright. The title of one of his works Catch-22 entered the English lexicon to refer to a vicious circle where an absurd no-win choice particularly in situations in which the desired outcome of the choice is an impossibility and regardless of choice the same negative outcome is a certainty.