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4da95ab
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the seven of them rode for two hours into country that seemed to contain nothing except itself.
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Larry McMurtry |
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d16effb
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It was as if his whole life had suddenly lodged in his throat, a raw bite he could neither spit out nor swallow.
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Larry McMurtry |
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646f091
|
Best to help such boys have their moment of fun, before life's torments snatched them.
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Larry McMurtry |
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7983b79
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He didn't feel sad. The one thing he knew about Texas was that he was lucky to be leaving it alive--and, in fact, he had a long way to go before he could be sure of accomplishing that much.
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Larry McMurtry |
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6b9862c
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It's funny, leaving a place, ain't it?" he said. "You never do know when you'll get back."
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funny-idea
getting-back
going-somewhere
leaving-a-place
never-know
thought-to-ponder
missed
ride
leaving
leave
traveling
home
thought
journey
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Larry McMurtry |
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6016f4d
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perhaps as he grew older he would learn to trust mysteries and not fear them.
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Larry McMurtry |
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1c13479
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Many white men could not trust things unless they could be explained; and yet the most beautiful things, such as the trackless flight of birds, could never be explained.
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Larry McMurtry |
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bc63f96
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We mostly quarreled. He wanted what I wouldn't give. I wanted what he didn't have.
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Larry McMurtry |
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a7ca9d1
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As she was finishing her song, the notes dipped down low--they carried a sadness that was more than a sadness at the death of men; rather it was a sadness at the lives of men, and of women. It reminded those who heard the rising, dipping notes, of notes of hopes that had been born, and, yet, died; of promise, and the failure of promise.
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Larry McMurtry |
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15a89fe
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He thought living in a place where there were eagles to watch might encourage some pretty good dreams.
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Larry McMurtry |
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413df1b
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Several times in his life he had felt an intense desire to start over, to somehow turn back the clock of his life to a point where he might, if he were careful, avoid the many mistakes he had made the first time around.
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Larry McMurtry |
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0321346
|
He remembered the cold nights in their Arkansas cabin when he was a boy--how his mother piled quilts on top of him and his brothers, how peaceful it seemed under the quilts. Then it seemed like sleep was one of the most wonderful things in life.
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Larry McMurtry |
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5dc278c
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Maude Jones, had killed herself with a shotgun one morning, leaving a note which merely said, 'Can't stand listening to this wind no more.
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Larry McMurtry |
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e925af2
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And yet death was not something you could ignore. It had its weight. It was a dead man lying upstairs, not a man who was sick. It seemed to her she had better not form the practice of ignoring death. If she tried it, death would find a way to answer back--it would take another of her loved ones, to remind her to respect it.
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Larry McMurtry |
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dd6be4e
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It ain't a mistake to behave like a human being once in a while,
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Larry McMurtry |
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aee391a
|
The other men were easy to talk to, but they didn't know anything. If one stopped to think about it, it was depressing how little most men learned in their lifetimes.
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Larry McMurtry |
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5cf1651
|
My main skills are talking and cooking biscuits," Augustus said. "And getting drunk on the porch."
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Larry McMurtry |
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ceafce1
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In the last year or two he had not only grown indifferent to company, he had begun to find it irritating.
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Larry McMurtry |
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b244437
|
The first difference Newt noticed about being grown up was that time didn't pass as slow.
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Larry McMurtry |
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7688a58
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His purpose was to get done what needed to be done, and what needed to be done was simple, if not easy.
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needed-to-be-done
not-easy
needed
simple
purpose
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Larry McMurtry |
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db8c2ec
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But then July accepted it and never scolded back, so perhaps that was the way of the world: women scolded, and men kept quiet and stayed out of the way as much as possible.
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Larry McMurtry |
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677c4a8
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However, he didn't have a high opinion of the average man's ability as a fighter. The majority of men couldn't fight at all and even most outlaws were the merest amateurs when it came to battle. Few could shoot well, and even fewer had any mind for strategy.
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Larry McMurtry |
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e269bdf
|
I pride myself on being able to put up with a lot," Nellie said. "But bagpipers are pretty much my limit."
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Larry McMurtry |
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16207c5
|
We might all get killed this afternoon, for all I know. That's the wild for you - it's got its dangers, which is part of the beauty.
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Larry McMurtry |
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5af0a85
|
Even experienced men were apt to flounder badly in crises if they lacked leadership.
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Larry McMurtry |
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926a0be
|
He had hit with his closed fist and knocked her sprawling. It took talent to make Wyatt lose his temper, but Jessie knew just how to do it, and did it mainly just to have something happening. Pouring whiskey from bottle to glass was boring work.
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temper
hit
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Larry McMurtry |
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d451667
|
It's very peculiar, the situations life presents one with, Father Geoff reflected.
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Larry McMurtry |
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d6fcc43
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In fact, July felt he had reached a point in his life where virtually nothing was known.
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Larry McMurtry |
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5c8da7d
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One reason I've hung on to book selling is that it's progressive--the opposite of writing, pretty much. Eventually all novelists, if they persist too long, get worse. No reason to name names, since no one is spared. Writing great fiction involves some combination of energy and imagination that cannot be energized or realized forever. Strong talents can simply exhaust their gift, and they do.
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Larry McMurtry |
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8ef8b5d
|
I'd like to see you think the roof back on that barn," Call said."
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Larry McMurtry |
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58ce6cc
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Give Call a grievance, however silly, and he would save it like money.
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Larry McMurtry |
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44b6c47
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They respected only the strong men who could not be insulted without a price being paid in blood.
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Larry McMurtry |
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6d8f407
|
Now speech had left her; fear took its place.
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Larry McMurtry |
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2db3b77
|
In the night Lorena tried to sort it out in her mind. She had been hungry so much, tired so much, scared so much, that her mind didn't work well anymore. Sometimes she would try to remember something and couldn't--it was as if her mind and memory had gone and hidden somewhere until things were better.
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Larry McMurtry |
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20636cb
|
Occasionally the very youngness of the young moved him to charity--they had no sense of the swiftness of life, nor of its limits.
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Larry McMurtry |
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f1ff7db
|
I would prefer to be shot, myself, if I get that sick," Call said. "Once there's no avoiding death I see no point in lingering." Augustus smiled at the comment, and poured himself a little more whiskey. "We're all just lingering, Woodrow," he said. "None of us can avoid dying--though old Scull did the best job of it of any man I know, while that old bandit had him."
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Larry McMurtry |
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8ad41b2
|
The woman had won. In the end, it seemed they always did.
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Larry McMurtry |
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0406078
|
For a time Dish lost all sense of what life was about. He even lost the sense that he was a cowboy, the strongest sense he had to work with. He was just a fellow with a glass in his hand, whose life had suddenly turned to mud. The day before he had been a top hand, but what did that mean anymore?
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Larry McMurtry |
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265ad04
|
She had a beautiful face, a beautiful body, but also a distance in her such as he had never met a woman.
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woman
beautiful-body
beautiful-face
face
pretty
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Larry McMurtry |
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6c934e2
|
If you're planning on dying today I hope you dig your grave first.
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Larry McMurtry |
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3d3fdf9
|
He was annoyed with his mind--it would be a lot easier to do his task well if his mind would just behave and not keep making him scared.
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Larry McMurtry |
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5664ae9
|
That things were mysterious did not make them less valuable.
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Larry McMurtry |
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edfb10e
|
Everyone who came to see him asked questions that were either stupid or impertinent. Better to see no one than to see fools.
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Larry McMurtry |
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b8b03d1
|
If you want one thing too much it's likely to be a disappointment. The healthy way is to learn to like the everyday things, like soft beds and buttermilk
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Larry McMurtry |