Back Alleys Quotes

Bryant wanted to be outside digging up corpses and chasing (as much as his bad leg would allow) unscrupulous but fiendishly brilliant villains through the back alleys of the city. Instead he was meeting a clerk about forgotten bits of paperwork. ~ Christopher Fowler

An enormous round egg snatching and castrating the agile sperm;
monstorous and stuffed, the queen termite reigning over the servile
males; the praying mantis and the spider, gorged on love, crushing
their partners and gobbling them up; the dog in heat running through
back alleys, leaving perverse smells in her wake; the monkey showing
herself off brazenly, sneaking away with flirtatious hypocrisy. And
the most splendid wildcats, the tigress, lioness, and panther, lie
down slavishly under the male's imperial embrace, inert, impatient,
shrewd, stupid, insensitive, lewd, fierce, and humiliated ~ Simone De Beauvoir

An icy slither ran up my core as I stared at my right hand, its tremors Richter scale violent. Was this my demon-killing ability? Destined to be some supernatural whore luring hell spawn into back alleys for deadly rub and tugs? ~ Deborah Wilde

When abandoned babies were left out on the streets and back alleys, the Christians in North Africa organized baby runs and brought these babies to nursing mothers. The pagans were overwhelmed with the caring attitude of the Christians. Just as Peter predicted, unbelievers were led to faith in Christ and "glorified God" in the day of visitation. The excellencies of Christ are best revealed through the lives of those who are compassionate because they themselves are profoundly aware of their own shortcomings. The world can out entertain us; outnumber us; out finance us, but let it never be said that they can out-love us, for "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:5). ~ Erwin W. Lutzer

I always wish the hotels were like they are in movies and TV shows, where if you're in Paris, right outside your window is the Eiffel Tower. In Egypt, the pyramids are right there. In the movies, every hotel has a monument right outside your window. My hotel rooms overlook the garbage dumpster in the back alley. ~ Gilbert Gottfried

We leave this behind in your capable hands, for in the black-foaming gutters and back alleys of paradise, in the dank windowless gloom of some galactic cellar, in the hollow pearly whorls found in sewer like seas, in starless cities of insanity, and in their slums ... my awe-struck little deer and I have gone frolicking. ~ Thomas Ligotti

Lost in Venice
I found you the same way I found Venice,
Lost in the skein of her back alleys,
Secret gardens, shadowy passageways,
A pleasant discovery at every turn.
You too were a city of bridges,
Oflimitless connection to my heart,
Which floated like a palazzo on the Adriatic,
Kept afloat by the spells you cast in your sleep.
Yes, you were this mystical city in microcosm,
A serene Vitruvian woman,
Truest measure of man,
Sipping your espresso in Piazza San Marco
And slowly vanishing under the flood waters
Like Atlantis. ~ Beryl Dov

That moment - to this ... may be years in the way they measure, but it's only one sentence back in my mind - there are so many days when living stops and pulls up and sits and waits like a train on the rails. I pass the hotel at 8 and at 5; there are cats in the alleys and bottles and bums, and I look up at the window and think, I no longer know where you are, and I walk on and wonder where the living goes when it stops. ~ Charles Bukowski

It was like two drunks in a back alley throwing punches at each other. ~ Eamon

Where do any of us come from in this cold country? Oh Canada, whether you admitted it or not, we come from you we come from you. From the same soil, the slugs and slime and bogs and twigs and roots. We come from the country that plucks its people out like weeds and flings them into the roadside. We grow in ditches and sloughs, untended and spindly. We erupt in the valleys and mountainsides, in small towns and back alleys, sprouting upside-down on the prairies, our hair wild as spiders' legs, our feet rooted nowhere. We grow where we are not seen, we flourish where we are not heard, the thick undergrowth of an unlikely planting. Where do we come from Obasan? We come from cemetaries full of skeletons with wild roses in their grinning teeth. We come from our untold tales that wait for their telling. We come from Canada, this land that is like every land, filled with the wise, the fearful, the compassionate, the corrupt. ~ Joy Kogawa

It takes more courage to dig deep in the dark corners of your own soul and the back alleys of your society than it does for a soldier to fight on the battlefield. ~ William Butler Yeats

Aunt Amelia would perish on the spot if she walked in on such… impropriety."
"Hmm. Her untimely end would excuse you from any more embroidery lessons, would it not? Perhaps we should skip the dancing and passionately embrace instead."
"Thomas," I chided. I told myself the sooner we discovered who the murderer was, the sooner I'd be rid of Thomas Cresswell and his devious ways. We'd be kissing in back alleys before I knew it. Then my reputation would truly be in the gutter. ~ Kerri Maniscalco

Down in Texas, Rick Perry announced he will not run for reelection. He said 'I executed one last woman, that fertilizer plant exploded, I returned abortions to back alleys where it belongs, my work here is done.' I think that's what he said, he was chewing a crayon. ~ Bill Maher

Unsettled heart. The fetishism of secrecy. These people understood - as I did - the back alleys of the soul, whispers and shadows, money slipping from hand to hand, the password, the code, the second self, all the hidden consolations that lifted ~ Donna Tartt

She kept me from living in back alleys and going back to drugs. I paid her back, but I owed her a lot more than the money. Emily saved my life." Buck Jamison in Goodbye Emily ~ Michael Murphy

The social sciences were for all those who had not yet decided what to do with their lives, and for all those whose premature frustrations led them into the sterile alleys of confrontation. ~ Peter Ustinov

He'd taken a wrong turn somewhere and found himself wandering the back alleys of hell. ~ Tiffany Reisz

No more junk talk, no more lies. No more mornings in the hospital getting bad blood drained out of me. No more doctors trying to analyse what makes me a drug addict. No more futile attempts at trying to control my heroin use. No more defending myself when I know I am practically indefensible. No more police using me as practice. No more ODs, no more losses. No more trying to take an intellectual position on my heroin addiction when it takes more than it gives. No more dope-sick mornings, no more slow suicide, no more pain without end.
No more AA. No more NA. No more mind control. No more being a victim, no more looking for reasons in childhood, in God in anything but what exists in HERE. No more admitting I am powerless.
Down the dusty Los Angeles sidewalks, down the urine stained London back alleys ... there goes the connection fading into the crowd like a 1960's Polaroid.
"Business ... ?"
"Whachoo need ... ?"
"Chiva ... ? ~ Tony O'Neill

But I always liked side-paths, little dark back-alleys behind the main road- there one finds adventures and surprises, and precious metal in the dirt. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Jared had his back to the wall, which Kami thought was a reflex when he was uncomfortable. She wanted to shield him. "He was doing some - Zen jogging," she claimed.
Jared flicked her an incredulous glance. "Yes," he said slowly. "Zen jogging. I wasn't wearing that many clothes because - that's part of the process. You're meant to commune with the elements. Normally, I wouldn't have worn my jeans, but I put them on because I know the English are a modest people. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan

You can't go through a divorce and then get back together. ~ Peter Andre

People may correctly remember the events of twenty years ago (a remarkable feat), but who remembers his fears, his disgusts, his tone of voice? It is like trying to bring back the weather of that time. ~ Martha Gellhorn

We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back. ~ Tracy Chevalier

Years later, after other experiences with dogs, I wondered if their species were shaped and charmed to serve as four-legged guides able to assist in leading humanity back to our first - and lost - home. By the example of their joy and humility, by wanting nothing more than food and play and love, by the deep satisfaction that they take from those humble things, they belie all creeds of power and fame. Although they have the teeth to tear, it is by swish of tail and yearning eyes that they most easily get what they want. ~ Dean Koontz

He's psychologically damaged, I suppose, if you stand back and look objectively at him, but then, who isn't? ~ Paul Darrow

Since life is a dream I think I'll stop eating and drinking so much
do some ethereal daydreaming instead
go in the mansion of the mind and close all the doors, as if I was traveling in the back of a bus for 4 days & 4 nights, broke. ~ Jack Kerouac

She was wet for him. Ready. This is a mistake. Julia raked her nails down his back.

"Fuck, you feel good."

This is the best idea I've ever had. ~ Eve Dangerfield

Those who succeed after a rare opportunity, only succeed on the back of a plan they already had or one they craft and begin to pursue after receiving the windfall. ~ Archibald Marwizi

Most fantasy is incredibly derivative of Tolkien, so when you read a lot of fantasy, it's really just elves and gnomes, and it all goes back to Tolkien. ~ John Orloff

God's irresistible grace binds our wandering hearts to himself and frees us to love him back and overflow in love to our neighbors. ~ Gloria Furman

Most of the hotel gym's are not adequate. I mean you might be able to train your arms, but you aren't going to be able to train legs, back, or even chest if they don't have dumbbells and benches. ~ Warren Cuccurullo

I love L.A. - don't get me wrong. But I miss everything about New York. I don't eat cheese, but I miss the smell of pizza in the city. I'm a really big fan of Latino food. I want to go back home and have some good arroz con pollo. ~ Tristan Wilds

I looked up, but had to crane my head back, leaving the features above me wrong-side up. The clear green eyes were the same, and, unfortunately, so was the spiky blond hair. It didn't look any better from this angle, I decided. ~ Karen Chance

Hastings is going to go to a half-wit," the duke moaned. "All those years of praying for an heir, and now it's all for ruin. I should have let the title go to my cousin." He turned back to his son, who was sniffling and wiping his eyes, trying to appear strong for his father. "I can't even look at him," he gasped. "I can't even bear to look at him." And with that, the duke stalked out of the room.
Nurse Hopkins hugged the boy close. "You're not an idiot," she whispered fiercely. "You're the smartest little boy I know. And if anyone can learn to talk properly, I know it's you."
Simon turned into her warm embrace and sobbed.
"We'll show him," Nurse vowed. "He'll eat his words if it's the last thing I do. ~ Julia Quinn

We were walking away from the car together when Margo reached down for my hand,laced her fingers in mine,and squeezed.I squeezed back and then glanced at her.She nodded her head solemnly,and I nodded back,and then she let go of my hand. ~ John Green

There are words in my life that I wish I'd never said. I wish I'd never told my wife that I loved her, because then I had to line up all my actions with those words. I had to always act like that was true. And those three words, I love you, should never be used if you don't mean them. My lying has meant I will never get to use them on anyone else. I went against my own truth, my own heart, and there is really no coming back from that. ~ Helen Humphreys

men have never seemed to object to women going off to difficult missionary assignments in the far corners of the earth. The matter of women preachers became a problem only when women wanted to be pastors back home, in the sometimes affluent neighborhoods that typically had churches pastored by men. ~ Alan F. Johnson

You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Life would be awfully dull if we could look back without regretting at least one affair. ~ J.D. Robb

Maybe that's partly why I'm an actor, I'm a fairly empathetic, emotional person, so I get very, very involved when it's really, really great when I'm watching - so it takes me a second to click back into reality again. ~ Gabriel Mann

Edie was a gorgeous, avant-garde girl back in the day when that could be a full-time occupation, but in marriage she slowly became less wild. To Manny's great disappointment, though, her domestic skills didn't rise to the fore as her sexual and artistic ones receded. ~ Meg Wolitzer

When, one otherwise ordinary day, she tentatively stepped back into the world, she left behind, deep within the walls of that ancient monastery, more than the simple white habit the Sisters had made for her. ~ Mary Ann D'Alto

Do what you please in the City, it is there to back and frame you no matter what you do. ~ Toni Morrison

When someone hurts us, our natural instinct is to strike back - but when we do, we not only destroy any possibility of reconciliation, but we also allow anger and hate to control us. ~ Billy Graham

Smile and the world smiles back. ~ Andre Aciman

I stood before the canvas, admiring what Emma had unleashed. She'd gone back to the one place that would always be waiting for her. ~ Rebecca Donovan

Why the hell do women always have to bring back up? It's not as if I'm going to molest her at the opera. ~ Poppet

My man got close to my back and his mouth came to my ear where he said quietly, "Hurry this shit up, baby, 'cause what you got last night after I watched you slide down a pole upside down while straddling it is gonna be nothin' to what I give you tonight watchin' you be badass."
I turned and glared up at him. "Don't turn me on while I'm working, Zano."
His lips quirked.
"Jesus," Mace muttered. ~ Kristen Ashley

He threw up the conkers into the air in his great happiness. In the tree above him they disturbed a roosting crow, which erupted from the branches with an explosive bang of its wings, then rose up above him towards the sky, its harsh, ambiguous call coming back in long, grating waves towards the earth, to be heard by those still living. ~ Sebastian Faulks

At this, the duke stopped mid-step and nearly choked with laughter. "Beg your pardon, Sheffield." He cast a speaking glance at his sister then turned his merry gaze back to Benedict. "Did you try to get your way?"
Benedict lifted a shoulder with a self-deprecating smile.
The duke clapped him on the shoulder, unabashed. "You'll learn soon enough."
Benedict gazed down at Lady Amelia. "I believe I already have. ~ Erica Ridley

There was no way I was going back to school to study anything for another three or four years. I was done with that. So I tried working on other people's projects, but didn't find any where I felt I could learn what I needed to learn. ~ Chika Anadu

A definition is death. A definition is the answer to which you must look up the question in the back of your book. ~ Peter Hammill

It's the same as when I broke the melding bond. Our love doesn't trump the millions of people in the seven worlds. We must think of the greater good."
He pulled back from me and before I could blink he held my chin in his gentle grip. "And I will tell you again, Abigail, that nothing trumps our love. Nothing. ~ Jaymin Eve

What," Mick said softly, "is Lad doin' in me bed?"

Hearing his name, Lad opened small, piggish, upside-down eyes, gazing with idiotic adoration as his whip-thin tail thumped the covers.

"Ah." Harry scratched behind one ear. "Well, see, 'e was lookin' so forlorn, like, out in the courtyard by 'imself. Seemed an awful shame to leave 'im there all alone."

"Off!" Mick roared at the dog.

Lad's transformation was instantaneous. His tiny triangle ears folded back, his eyes narrowed worriedly, and he rolled so that he could crawl toward the edge of the bed on his belly.

"Is that mud on his paws?" Mick asked in outrage.

Harry glanced at the dog. "I do believe it is," he said as if making a discovery.

"Christ!" Mick watched disgustedly as Lad made the edge of the bed and slithered off, thumping to the floor. The dog seemed to think that his apology was done - or perhaps he'd already forgotten that Mick was mad at him - for he gamboled over as frisky as a lamb.

"He's not even me dog," Mick muttered.

Lad sat, one back leg sprawled out to the side, tongue hanging from his mouth, and grinned up at him. He completely ignored Harry, his supposed master.

"The dog 'as a wonderful affection for ye," Harry said brightly. ~ Elizabeth Hoyt

A faint rattling pulled me from sleep, which was a relief because I'd been caught in yet another nightmare. After what Rick, my now-former foster father, had done to me, one would think he'd be the one haunting my dreams. And he had something to do with it - he'd revived me the night I tried to kill myself. In the moments before he had, I was certain I'd been standing at the gates of hell, about to be sucked in. Unfortunately, when Rick revived me, I'd brought a piece of hell back with me. That was what I dreamed about. Every night. A dark, walled city. Wandering, lost, trapped. A voice whispering to me, You're perfect. Come back.
Stay. ~ Sarah Fine

We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost. ~ Jeremiah Wright

There were some days that deserved to be drowned at birth and everyone sent back to bed with a hot brandy, a box of chocolates and a warm, energetic companion. Today was without question one of those days. ~ Diana Pharaoh Francis

Jesse: " Hey Rose, welcome back. Still breaking hearts?"
Rose: " Are you volunteering? ~ Richelle Mead

Grimalkin sighed loudly, causing me to look back and Razor to hiss at him. "Am I the only one here who has any insight at all?" he said, looking to each of our faces. We stared at him, and he shook his head. "Drawing a blank, are you? Think about what you just said, human. Repeat that last phrase, if you would."
I frowned. "Isn't that where you want to be?"
He closed his eyes. "The next phrase, human."
"With all the other gremlins." He stared at me expectantly, and I raised my hands. "What? What are you getting at, Grim?"
Grimalkin thumped his tail. "It is times like these I am ever more grateful that I am a cat," he sighed. "Why do you think I brought you that creature, human? To keep up my stalking skills? I assure you, they are quite adequate already. Please attempt to use the brain I know is hidden somewhere in that head. ~ Julie Kagawa

They're talking about Marthe, Maître Gaultier's assistant. What's she like? Pretty?' 'She's pretty,' said the man. Philippa studied the taciturn face. 'Oh, I see,' she said. 'Mr Blyth wants her all to himself?' For a moment, she thought it hadn't worked. Then the man gave a snort.

'Mr Blyth want her? He held us up at Avignon for two days refusing to go on until she was sent back home, but Gaultier wouldn't do it, and he had to give in. Mr Blyth and Gaultier haven't spoken since. Aye,' said Jerott's man morosely. 'It's going to be a grand, sociable trip. ~ Dorothy Dunnett

I am the road running through Paris," says the Seine. 'I have carried off many images since you were a child and reflected many clouds. I am changeable, but as people are: I have my moments of happiness in the June dawn and my sinister times some December evenings. Above all I am inquisitive - you call it being in flood. We have something in common, you everlasting passers-by and I, the fleeing water, which is that we never go back: your time is my space. ~ Julien Green