The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The scien...
When my head is in the typewriter the last thing on my mind is some imaginary reader. I don’t have an audience; I have a set of standards. But when I think of my work out in the world, written and published, I like to imagine it’s being read by s...
Mr. X: The girls have heard this before but... 14 years ago I had an operation on my left arm here. The doctors said that I wouldn't be able to ever use it. But what the hell do they know, I said. So I rubbed it for a half-hour every day. And slowly ...
Walt Kowalski: You wanna know what it's like to kill a man? Well, it's goddamn awful, that's what it is. The only thing worse is getting a medal... for killing some poor kid that wanted to just give up, that's all. Yeah, some scared little gook just ...
Scarlett: You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her. Ashley: You mustn't say unkind things about Melanie. Scarlett: Who are you to tell m...
Quint: Hooper, what exactly can you do with these things of yours? Hooper: Well, I think I can pump 20 cc's of strictnine nitrate into him, if I can get close enough. Quint: Can you get this little needle through his skin? Hooper: No, I can't do that...
Lindsey: We are dealing with a bona fide case of mistaken identity here. Slevin: Yeah. Lindsey: Things like that aren't supposed to be real. It's like amnesia. Lindsey: Not withstanding, here you are and Nick's nowhere to be found, so... I'd say you'...
Jacob Marley: Why do you doubt your senses? Ebenezer Scrooge: Because a little thing can effect them. A slight disorder of the stomach can make them cheat. You may be a bit of undigested beef, a blob of mustard, a crumb of cheese. Yes. There's more g...
Johnny: [while putting the wreath on their father's grave] I wonder what happened to the one from last year. Each year, we spend good money on these things. Then, we come out here and the one from last year's gone. Barbara: Well, the flowers die and ...
[last lines] Childs: Fire's got the temperature up all over the camp. Won't last long though. MacReady: Neither will we. Childs: How will we make it? MacReady: Maybe we shouldn't. Childs: If you're worried about me... MacReady: If we've got any surpr...
Ryan Bingham: [on getting through airport security] Never get behind people traveling with infants. I've never seen a stroller collapse in less than 20 minutes. Old people are worse. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to ...
Little Bill Daggett: [to W. W. Beauchamp, referring to the passage in Beauchamp's book where English Bob claims to have killed "Two Gun" Corcoran because Corcoran insulted a lady's honor] Yeah, well, a lotta folks did call him "Two Gun," but that was...
Sid Loomis: It's a little idea she's wanted to do for years. She plays Jesus' mother. Partygoer: Oh. Sid Loomis: It's a whole Oedipal thing - he loves her, wants to do in the father. Well, you can see the complications. Of course, we're talking to Ir...
W.P. Mayhew: Mister Fink, they have not invented a genre of picture that Bill Mayhew has not, at one time or other, been invited to essay. Yes, I have taken my stab at the rasslin' form, as I have stabbed at so many others, and with as little success...
Grandma: I sometimes wonder if this is all down to me, making you those costumes for your little plays when you were tiny. You used to adore all that dressing up. Does it still make you feel special, Ralph dear? The uniform... and what it stands for?...
Ken: [Ray walks into the bar high on cocaine] How'd your date go? Ray: My date involved two instances of extreme violence, one instance of her hand on my cock and my finger up her thing which lasted all too briefly - isn't that always the way? - , on...
Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.
It's just that if you're not disruptive everything seems to be repeated endlessly - not so much the good things but the bland things - the ordinary things - the weaker things get repeated- the stronger things get suppressed and held down and hidden.
It doesn't make sense to have to do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing.
Ray: Jesus, Ken, I'm trying to talk about... Ken: I know what you're trying to talk about. Ray: I killed a little boy. You keep bringing up the fucking lollipop man. Ken: You didn't mean to kill a little boy. Ray: I know I didn't mean to... but becau...
First things first.
