Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.

There are novels that end well, but in between there are human beings acting like human beings. And human beings are not perfect. All of the motives a human being may have, which are mixed, that's the novelists' materials. That's where they have to go. And a lot of that just isn't pretty. We like to think of ourselves as really, really good people. But look in the mirror. Really look. Look at your own mixed motives. And then multiply that.

Jimmy had been full of himself back then, thinks Snowman with indulgence and a little envy. He’d been unhappy too, of course. It went without saying, his unhappiness. He’d put a lot of energy into it.

But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do it, for men.

A hot wind was blowing around my head, the strands of my hair lifting and swirling in it, like ink spilled in water.

There would be no Sherlock Holmes if it were not for serial publication.

and each of his voices left his body in a different colored soul and floated up towards the sun still singing.