The wet air was as cold as the ashes of love.

I hung up. It was a good start, but it didn’t go far enough. I ought to have locked the door and hidden under the desk.

If you don't leave, I'll get somebody who will.

I merely say that all reading for pleasure is escape, whether it be Greek, mathematics, astronomy, Benedetto Croce, or The Diary of the Forgotten Man. To say otherwise is to be an intellectual snob, and a juvenile at the art of living.

There ain't no clean way to make a hundred million bucks.... Somewhere along the line guys got pushed to the wall, nice little businesses got the ground cut out from under them... Decent people lost their jobs.... Big money is big power and big power gets used wrong. It's the system.

When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it stays split.

I knew one thing: as soon as anyone said you didn't need a gun, you'd better take one along that worked.