Hannibal Lecter: We live in a primitive time - don't we, Will? - neither savage nor wise. Half measures are the curse of it. Any rational society would either kill me or give me my books.

The worm that destroys you is the temptation to agree with your critics, to get their approval.

How seldom we recognize the sound when the bolt of our fate slides home.

I think it's easy to mistake understanding for empathy - we want empathy so badly. Maybe learning to make that distinction is part of growing up. It's hard and ugly to know somebody can understand you without even liking you.

When Will Graham could open his right eye, he saw the clock and knew where he was- an intensive-care unit. He knew to watch the clock. Its movement assured him that this was passing, would pass. That's what it was there for.

Over this odd world, this half the world that's dark now, I have to hunt a thing that lives on tears.

On a related subject, Signore Pazzi, I must confess to you: I'm giving serious thought to eating your wife.