Search quotes

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
4364d96	So many changes, eating away at the world like water dripping on a rock.		Lawrence Block
7954ed2	My glass was empty. I poured more scotch into it, took a small sip, and all at once the silly thing was empty again. Strange. Then it was full again. And then it was empty again. Strange, I thought. Fool glass must have a hole in it. Scotch disappears the instant it's poured. Strange. Then I was stretched out on the bed, too tired and too drunk to bother removing my shoes. My eyes closed themselves and the world crept away on little c..		Lawrence Block
7820eaf	Imaginative persons could probably find interesting things to do with handcuffs and a nightstick.		Lawrence Block
9e9c9db	Being dead means never having to do anything sneaky.	humor sneaky	Lawrence Block
54b5043	When writing functions in this fashion as self-directed psychotherapy, we err if we demand that people be entertained and enlightened by the process.		Lawrence Block
a84b222	When someone put money in your hand you closed your fingers around it and put it in your pocket.		Lawrence Block
159de89	He's got a new BMW now, thanks to the Galaxy. He can't spell it, but he can drive it like crazy.		Lawrence Block
41103eb	The moving finger writes, and having writ Moves on. Nor all your piety and wit Can call it back to cancel half a line Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.		Lawrence Block
481441e	Forcible sodomy and illegal entry, you put them both down and you get a jury confused. They figure it's two ways of saying the same thing.		Lawrence Block
24c7066	Come on in," Elaine said. "She's already here. Pam, this is Mr. Scudder, Matthew Scudder. Matt, I'd like you to meet Pam."		Lawrence Block
872120b	WHEN you hit a gay bar in the middle of a weekday afternoon you wonder why they don't call it something else.		Lawrence Block
7110a3e	People go through changes and life does the damnedest things to us all.		Lawrence Block
4f975ca	And I won't deny your neighbors will take you more seriously if you tell them you've written a novel. (Of course if that's the main concern, just go and tell them. You don't have to write anything. Just lie a little. Don't worry--they won't beg to read the manuscript.)		Lawrence Block
0d699b0	any departure from reality that could easily be avoided ought to be avoided.		Lawrence Block
8339ac1	You know what I realized?" "What?" "Most of the people I know are dead. I guess that happens"		Lawrence Block
b9e5aa9	novels pass in and out of my hands while volumes of poetry are mine for life.		Lawrence Block
7137fd3	It was still there, a low-grade fever in the blood, an itch somewhere down beneath the skin, where you couldn't scratch it.		Lawrence Block
d5a41be	A treat indeed, to read Raymond Chandler for the first time. I almost envied the man,		Lawrence Block
a6f1b43	I find him whelming, personally. Neither overwhelming nor underwhelming but somewhere in the middle.		Lawrence Block
75f7b54	Life, I announced, is not a B picture. Well, it ain't no De Mille epic either, boss. Things'll work out, Bernie.	life	Lawrence Block
ab7cd8d	Being broke is not a crime, nor is it proof of one's inadequacy as a writer or as a human being. If you go around with an attitude of implicit apology for being temporarily without funds, it's going to do you more harm than good.		Lawrence Block
422d45d	You got to ask a street question to get a street answer.		Lawrence Block
8ca31dc	Faith and fear, they tell me, can't coexist. I try to practice by doing what I'm afraid to do, and I manage (now and then, anyway) by means of faith. Faith that I will do myself more good than harm by the risks I am willing to take as a writer. And faith, finally, that the best service I can do myself is to do the best and most honest work of which I am capable.		Lawrence Block
b8d0861	I looked down into my glass. It held club soda, but the way I was gazing into it you'd have thought it was filled with something stronger. I used to stare like that into glasses of whiskey, as if they contained coded answers. All they did was dissolve the questions, but there was a time when that was enough.		Lawrence Block
a714f5f	Well, you live and you learn, and generally in that order. I		Lawrence Block
13078aa	I haven't seen her in five years. Well, hell, I haven't had a cigarette in twelve, and I damn well wanted one for a minute there. Sometimes I don't think anybody ever gets over anything.		Lawrence Block
e9ab29a	shylocking		Lawrence Block
6f7d3d1	But whenever there's the right kind of nut making headlines, a Slasher or an Icepick Prowler, a certain number of people get pistol permits and a certain number of others buy illegal guns. Then some of them get drunk and shoot their wives. None of them ever seems to wind up nailing the Slasher. I		Lawrence Block
af665b7	all six of them a license." "That"		Lawrence Block
e45c1a6	Forgiving himself came easy to him. His, he'd come to realize, was a forgiving nature.	fiction human-nature humanity new-york-city short-stories	Lawrence Block
30eabd9	He was always inclined to be a moody man, very exuberant when things were going right, very depressed when they weren't.		Lawrence Block
d8fbad9	Hopper was neither an illustrator nor a narrative painter. His paintings don't tell stories. What they do is suggest--powerfully, irresistibly--that there are stories within them, waiting to be told. He shows us a moment in time, arrayed on a canvas; there's clearly a past and a future, but it's our task to find it for ourselves.		Lawrence Block
0eb781e	Too damn long.' He put his coat on an empty chair, settled a slim attache case on top of it, and placed a narrow-brimmed gray hat on top of the attache case. He seated himself across the table from me and dug his lucky charm out of his pocket. I watched him set it spinning. 'Too goddamned long, Matt,' he told the coin.		Lawrence Block
616a6f4	If you cannot stand the spoon upright in the cup, then the coffee is too weak.		Lawrence Block
db6fcc2	coffee must be 'hot as hell, black as sin, and sweet as love.		Lawrence Block
1aac4f3	you have a better chance to get pregnant if you keep your knees way up and stay that way as long as you can.		Lawrence Block
e7ad218	I rode to the fourth floor, poked around until I found the stairway, and walked down a flight. I almost always do this and I sometimes wonder why. I think someone must have done it in a movie once and I was evidently impressed, but it's really a waste of time, especially when the elevator in question is self-service.	humor	Lawrence Block
54928c6	Tomorrow's always there, just over the horizon. Until the tomorrows run out.		Lawrence Block
413d945	l'fkr ljyd@ tHy wtnmw, 'm l'fkr Gyr ljyd@ fttsqT wtDy` `l~ lTryq.		Lawrence Block
a579724	I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.		Lawrence Block
919b48b	They've transformed the weather into some sort of celestial crap game.		Lawrence Block
0cfd2e1	My crime seemed destined to remain a secret forever.		Lawrence Block
fa904f9	I don't sleep, have not slept in sixteen years--		Lawrence Block
089a5e2	Your mother loves to perform fellatio upon syphilitic dogs.		Lawrence Block

So many changes, eating away at the world like water dripping on a rock.

Lawrence Block

7954ed2

My glass was empty. I poured more scotch into it, took a small sip, and all at once the silly thing was empty again. Strange. Then it was full again. And then it was empty again. Strange, I thought. Fool glass must have a hole in it. Scotch disappears the instant it's poured. Strange. Then I was stretched out on the bed, too tired and too drunk to bother removing my shoes. My eyes closed themselves and the world crept away on little c..

Lawrence Block

7820eaf

Imaginative persons could probably find interesting things to do with handcuffs and a nightstick.

Lawrence Block

9e9c9db

Being dead means never having to do anything sneaky.

humor sneaky

Lawrence Block

54b5043

When writing functions in this fashion as self-directed psychotherapy, we err if we demand that people be entertained and enlightened by the process.

Lawrence Block

a84b222

When someone put money in your hand you closed your fingers around it and put it in your pocket.

Lawrence Block

159de89

He's got a new BMW now, thanks to the Galaxy. He can't spell it, but he can drive it like crazy.

Lawrence Block

41103eb

The moving finger writes, and having writ Moves on. Nor all your piety and wit Can call it back to cancel half a line Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

Lawrence Block

481441e

Forcible sodomy and illegal entry, you put them both down and you get a jury confused. They figure it's two ways of saying the same thing.

Lawrence Block

24c7066

Come on in," Elaine said. "She's already here. Pam, this is Mr. Scudder, Matthew Scudder. Matt, I'd like you to meet Pam."

Lawrence Block

872120b

WHEN you hit a gay bar in the middle of a weekday afternoon you wonder why they don't call it something else.

Lawrence Block

7110a3e

People go through changes and life does the damnedest things to us all.

Lawrence Block

4f975ca

And I won't deny your neighbors will take you more seriously if you tell them you've written a novel. (Of course if that's the main concern, just go and tell them. You don't have to write anything. Just lie a little. Don't worry--they won't beg to read the manuscript.)

Lawrence Block

0d699b0

any departure from reality that could easily be avoided ought to be avoided.

Lawrence Block

8339ac1

You know what I realized?" "What?" "Most of the people I know are dead. I guess that happens"

Lawrence Block

b9e5aa9

novels pass in and out of my hands while volumes of poetry are mine for life.

Lawrence Block

7137fd3

It was still there, a low-grade fever in the blood, an itch somewhere down beneath the skin, where you couldn't scratch it.

Lawrence Block

d5a41be

A treat indeed, to read Raymond Chandler for the first time. I almost envied the man,

Lawrence Block

a6f1b43

I find him whelming, personally. Neither overwhelming nor underwhelming but somewhere in the middle.

Lawrence Block

75f7b54

Life, I announced, is not a B picture. Well, it ain't no De Mille epic either, boss. Things'll work out, Bernie.

life

Lawrence Block

ab7cd8d

Being broke is not a crime, nor is it proof of one's inadequacy as a writer or as a human being. If you go around with an attitude of implicit apology for being temporarily without funds, it's going to do you more harm than good.

Lawrence Block

422d45d

You got to ask a street question to get a street answer.

Lawrence Block

8ca31dc

Faith and fear, they tell me, can't coexist. I try to practice by doing what I'm afraid to do, and I manage (now and then, anyway) by means of faith. Faith that I will do myself more good than harm by the risks I am willing to take as a writer. And faith, finally, that the best service I can do myself is to do the best and most honest work of which I am capable.

Lawrence Block

b8d0861

I looked down into my glass. It held club soda, but the way I was gazing into it you'd have thought it was filled with something stronger. I used to stare like that into glasses of whiskey, as if they contained coded answers. All they did was dissolve the questions, but there was a time when that was enough.

Lawrence Block

a714f5f

Well, you live and you learn, and generally in that order. I

Lawrence Block

13078aa

I haven't seen her in five years. Well, hell, I haven't had a cigarette in twelve, and I damn well wanted one for a minute there. Sometimes I don't think anybody ever gets over anything.

Lawrence Block

e9ab29a

shylocking

Lawrence Block

6f7d3d1

But whenever there's the right kind of nut making headlines, a Slasher or an Icepick Prowler, a certain number of people get pistol permits and a certain number of others buy illegal guns. Then some of them get drunk and shoot their wives. None of them ever seems to wind up nailing the Slasher. I

Lawrence Block

af665b7

all six of them a license." "That"

Lawrence Block

e45c1a6

Forgiving himself came easy to him. His, he'd come to realize, was a forgiving nature.

fiction human-nature humanity new-york-city short-stories

Lawrence Block

30eabd9

He was always inclined to be a moody man, very exuberant when things were going right, very depressed when they weren't.

Lawrence Block

d8fbad9

Hopper was neither an illustrator nor a narrative painter. His paintings don't tell stories. What they do is suggest--powerfully, irresistibly--that there are stories within them, waiting to be told. He shows us a moment in time, arrayed on a canvas; there's clearly a past and a future, but it's our task to find it for ourselves.

Lawrence Block

0eb781e

Too damn long.' He put his coat on an empty chair, settled a slim attache case on top of it, and placed a narrow-brimmed gray hat on top of the attache case. He seated himself across the table from me and dug his lucky charm out of his pocket. I watched him set it spinning. 'Too goddamned long, Matt,' he told the coin.

Lawrence Block

616a6f4

If you cannot stand the spoon upright in the cup, then the coffee is too weak.

Lawrence Block

db6fcc2

coffee must be 'hot as hell, black as sin, and sweet as love.

Lawrence Block

1aac4f3

you have a better chance to get pregnant if you keep your knees way up and stay that way as long as you can.

Lawrence Block

e7ad218

I rode to the fourth floor, poked around until I found the stairway, and walked down a flight. I almost always do this and I sometimes wonder why. I think someone must have done it in a movie once and I was evidently impressed, but it's really a waste of time, especially when the elevator in question is self-service.

humor