There is talk of a new astrologer [Nicolaus Copernicus] who wants to prove that the earth moves and goes around instead of the sky, the sun, the moon, just as if somebody were moving in a carriage or ship might hold that he was sitting still and at r...
I wanted to do it once. Be a writer. Now I'm near 70, and the only thing I have to show for it is dictionary entries. Don't get me wrong -- I'm incredibly proud of it all. But let me say this, and I'll say it just once: don't fool yourself into think...
And then there are always clever people about to promise you that everything will be all right if only you put yourself out a bit... And you get carried away, you suffer so much from the things that exist that you ask for what can't ever exist. Now l...
O cousin Kate, my love was true, Your love was writ in sand: If he had fooled not me but you, If you had stood where i stand, He'd not have won me with his love, Nor bought me with his land; I would have spit into his face And not have taken his hand...
My Teacher Sees Right Through Me I didn’t do my homework. My teacher asked me, “Why?” I answered him, “It’s much too hard.” He said, “You didn’t try.” I told him, “My dog ate it.” He said, “You have no dog.” I said, “I wen...
The nights you fight best are when all the weapons are pointed at you, when all the voices hurl their insults while the dream is being strangled. The nights you fight best are when reason gets kicked in the gut, when the chariots of gloom encircle yo...
There are people everywhere who form a Fourth World, or a diaspora of their own. They are the lordly ones! They come in all colors. They can be Christians or Hindus or Muslims or Jews or pagans or atheists. They can be young or old, men or women, sol...
As is perhaps obvious, Morris Zapp had no great esteem for his fellow-labourers in the vineyards of literature. They seemed to him vague, fickle, irresponsible creatures, who wallowed in relativism like hippopotami in mud, with their nostrils barely ...
Crown Prince Leopold: Has he tricked you? Is that it? Chief Inspector Uhl: No, Your Highness. Crown Prince Leopold: Then why are you failing me? I thought I could trust you. I thought you were a man I could bring with me when I took the throne. Am I ...
Ellie Andrews: You think I'm a fool and a spoiled brat. Well, perhaps I am, although I don't see how I can be. People who are spoiled are accustomed to having their own way. I never have. On the contrary. I've always been told what to do, and how to ...
Isaac Davis: You certainly fooled me. [crosstalk] Mary Wilke: What do you mean? Isaac Davis: I mean, I was shocked. 'cause that's not what - this is not what I expected. Mary Wilke: What did you expect? Isaac Davis: I don't know. You said you, you kn...
[Caine Lawson reflecting after being shot] Caine: After stomping on Ilena's cousin like that, I knew I was gonna have to deal with that fool someday. Damn! I never thought he'd come back like this, blasting. Like I said, it was funny like that in the...
Stuka: [after getting shot with an arrow] Hey... Will ya look at that? It's right through me. Guys, look. It's cut a hole right through me. Schutz: There's something wrapped around it. Some kind of note. Manute: Give it to me. Stuka: Guys, this is st...
[Uncle Charlie visits the bank] Uncle Charlie: Hello, Joe. Can you stop embezzling a minute and give me your attention? Joseph Newton: Oh, uh, Charles, we don't joke about such things here. Uncle Charlie: Aw, what's a little shortage in the books at ...
Dutch Engstrom: [impressed] Well, I'd say those fellas know how to handle themselves! Sykes: They been fightin' Apaches for a thousand years; That's a sure way to learn. Pike Bishop: They ever get armed, with good leaders, this whole country'll go up...
["Snake" Jafar has Aladdin in a tight squeeze] Jafar: You little fool. You thought you could defeat the most powerful being on Earth. Iago: Squeeze him, Jafar. Squeeze him like a- Awk! [Genie elbows Iago and knocks him into the air] Jafar: Without th...
You say that Caesar Borgia suffered the just punishment of his crimes. He was destroyed not by his misdeeds, but by circumstances over which he had no control. His wickedness was an irrelevant accident. In this world of sin and sorrow if virtue trium...
Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because ...
Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because t...
For the anarch, little has changed; flags have meaning for him, but not sense. I have seen them in the air and on the ground like leaves in May and November; and I have done so as a contemporary and not just as a historian. The May Day celebration wi...
A rap at the back door made her jump, and she peered through the window for a long time before she eased open the door a crack. She left the security chain on. 'What do you want, Richard?' Richard Morrell's police cruiser was parked in the drive. He ...
