PAPER TOWERS The library was on the second floor of the House, not far from my room. It had two floors—the first held the majority of the books and a balcony wrapped in a wrought-iron railing held another set. It was a cavalcade of tomes, all in im...
In my mind, she was Lebkuchen Spice—ironic, Germanic, sexy, and off beat. And, mein Gott, the girl could bake a damn fine cookie … to the point that I wanted to answer her What do you want for Christmas? with a simple More cookies, please! But no...
It’s not that fact of him telling me he’s not going to kill me that assures me I’ve got some time to breathe. Predo could look me in the eye and tell me whiskey’s good and cigarettes are better and I’d still need a drink and a Lucky to beli...
Our little tribal circles, bound by social contracts and selfish mutual need. Everyone working in their own greedy self-interests and huddling together with their tribe, at war with all those outside who they regard as barely human. What breaks a hum...
It’s sad really, trying to appreciate all of the great events in our lives and all the amazingly good days. Sometimes it seems like we take them for granted, until something bad comes along to put us back into perspective. Are these bad events cata...
Religious people tend to encounter, among those who are not, a cemented certainty that belief in God is a crutch for the weak and the fearful...Now the belief in God may turn out at the last trump to be a mistake. Meantime, let us be quite clear, it ...
Just when we are in many ways moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, our capacity to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals together is vanishing. This is in part because of the fact that our eth...
The summer I turned eleven, I found out that ghosts are real. Guess it's hard to rest nice and easy in your coffin if you got stuff on your mind. Your soul stays chained to earth instead of zipping up to heaven to sing in one of the angel choirs. Som...
I’m an observer. I am fascinated by people and how their minds work (and, of course, my own). Why we are the way we are, why we do the things we do – and that interest drives my writing. I was a physicist before fiction claimed my soul, so I’m ...
[Harry and Marv have caught Kevin in the Murphy's house and hung him on the basement door] Marv: What are we gonna do to him, Harry? Harry: We'll do exactly what he did to us: we're gonna burn his head with a blowtorch! Marv: And smash his face with ...
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all this again. Tony Stark: There is nothing except this. There's no art opening, no charity, nothing to sign. There's the nex...
Tony Stark: Am I making you uncomfortable? Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: Oh, no, I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in a room full of people I work with in a dress with no back. Tony Stark: Well, you look great, you smell great. But ...
Tony Stark: What are you trying to get rid of me for? You got plans? Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: As a matter of fact, I do. Tony Stark: I don't like it when you have plans. Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday. Tony Stark: I...
[first lines] Tony Stark: I feel like you're driving me to court martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest! Jimmy: We can talk, sir. Tony Stark: Oh, I see. S...
Zampanò: [reciting his act by rote before a crowd] Here we have a piece of chain that is a quarter of an inch thick. It is made of crude iron, stronger than steel. With the simple expansion of my pectoral muscles, or chest, that is, I'll break the h...
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris: To make a fighter you gotta strip them down to bare wood: you can't just tell 'em to forget everything you know if you gotta make 'em forget even their bones... make 'em so tired they only listen to you, only hear your voice,...
Nemo age 16: How did you know my name? Elise age 15: We go to the same school. You never notice me, you never notice anyone. Do you have a girlfriend? What, are you queer? Why don't you have a girlfriend? Nemo age 16: I don't know... I don't want one...
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo? Neo: No. Morpheus: Why not? Neo: 'Cause I don't like ...
Ultron: [Ultron pays Klaue] But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which." Ulysses Klaue: Stark... Ultron: What? Ulysses Klaue: Tony Stark used to say that... to me. You're one of his. Ultron: W...
Tre Styles: I get a discount on clothes, and shit. You like? Doughboy: Nigga, you look like you selling rocks! Chris: Yo, Tre' you be slinging that shit? Tre Styles: No, I don't sell that shit! Doughboy: You couldn't anyway! Pops will kick yo' ass! Y...
It's funny how a hello is always accompanied with a goodbye. It's funny how good memories can make you cry, it's funny how forever never seems to last, it's funny how much you would lose if you forgot about your past, it's funny how friends can just ...