Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring.

The Impossible Generalized Man today is the critic who believes in loving those unworthy of love as well as those worthy -yet believes this only insofar as no personal risk is entailed. Meaning he loves no one, worthy or no. This is what makes him impossible.

... Chicago divided your heart. Leaving you loving the joint for keeps. Yet knowing it never can love you.

Never lie down with a woman who's got more troubles than you.

For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart.

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

You don't write a novel out of sheer pity any more than you blow a safe out of a vague longing to be rich. A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery.