I’m too greedy to wish you much luck, but if you can break through without stepping on my head, I hope you make it.

—Hunter S. Thompson.

This is from a letter to William J. Kennedy on 10 August 1960, collected in The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967. Lines like this one are why I’ve become a fan of HST this year. This is what complimenting or well-wishing looks like when the garbage is stripped away, and what is really felt is said.