If reassurances could dull pain, nobody would ever go to the trouble of pressing grapes.

I think it’s fairly common for writers to be afflicted with two simultaneous yet contradictory delusions, the burning certainty that we’re unique geniuses, and the constant fear that we’re witless frauds who are speeding toward epic failure.

There are only three people in life you can never fool--pawnbrokers, whores, and your mother. Since your mother's dead, I've taken her place. Hence, I'm bullshit-proof.

Maxilan, darling." Locke raised one eyebrow and smiled. "I knew you were driven, but I had no idea you could smoulder. Come, take me now! Jean won't mind; he'll avert his eyes like a gentleman.

Difficult" and "impossible" are cousins often mistaken for one another, with very little in common." (Locke Lamora to Requin)

You're ten pints of crazy in a one-pint glass.

Stand aside, and try not to catch fire if I shed sparks of genius.