Then I’d throw my automatic down the elevator shaft-after I’d wiped off all the fingerprints and all. Then I’d crawl back up to my room and call up Jane and have her come over and bandage up my guts. I pictured her holding a cigarette for me to smoke while I was bleeding and all. The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I’m not kidding.

Franny was staring at the little blotch of sunshine with a special intensity, as if she were considering lying down in it.

An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.

Did you see more glass?

Do it for the fat lady!

Where do the ducks go in the winter?

That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any.