Did you ever get fed up?' I said. 'I mean did you ever get scared that everything was going to go lousy unless you did something?

I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It's nice.

I mean they don't seem able to love us just the way we are. They don't seem able to love us unless they can keep changing us a little bit. They love their reasons for loving us almost as much as they love us, and most of the time more.

This is a people shooting hat," I said. "I shoot people in this hat.

I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

I have scars on my hands from touching certain people…Certain heads, certain colours and textures of human hair leave permanent marks on me.

It was the last game of the year and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn't win.