“Each nicety becomes more sterile and each withdrawal more permanent.”

— Maya Angelou , book Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), chapter 5.
Context: A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No truth seems true. A simple morning's greeting and response appear loaded with innuendo and fraught with implications.... Each nicety becomes more sterile and each withdrawal more permanent.

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Maya Angelou 247

American author and poet 1928–2014

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