This Town Quotes

I'm a bad dater - I'm just not good at it. It's so weird dating in this town. It's like high school. I get a lot of people who have their publicist call my agent to ask, 'Is she dating anyone?' ~ Jules Asner

The great thing about this town hall format is that it allows us to hear what's on the minds of Americans. Tonight, it was clear - voters have quite a few questions about the direction in which the current administration is headed. ~ Janet Napolitano

From the moment Leo comes on screen in that navy blue suit, I have chest palpitations. He's like an angel, a beautiful, damaged angel.
"What's he so stressed out about?" Peter asks, reaching down and stealing a handful of Kitty's popcorn. "Isn't he a prince or something?"
"He's not a prince," I say. "He's just rich. And his family is very powerful in this town."
"He's my dream guy," Kitty says in a proprietary tone.
"Well, he's all grown up now," I say, not taking my eyes off the screen. "He's practically Daddy's age." Still…
"Wait, I thought I was your dream guy," Peter says. Not to me, to Kitty. He knows he's not my dream guy. My dream guy is Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. Handsome, loyal, smart in school.
"Ew," Kitty says. "You're like my brother."
Peter looks genuinely wounded, so I pat him on the shoulder.
"Don't you think he's a little scrawny?" Peter presses.
I shush him.
He crosses his arms. "I don't get why you guys get to talk during movies and I get shushed. It's pretty bullshit."
"It's our house," Kitty says.
"Your sister shushes me at my house too!"
We ignore him in unison. ~ Jenny Han

You ain't too smart, are ya boy? I'm Javier "Bones" Jones. I'm the baddest man there is in this town or any town through The Mississippi. You thinking you're gonna waltz up on me and kill me? Ha! I'll do for you like I did for my late dog and put you out of your misery. ~ Justin Bienvenue

This town needs an enema! ~ Jack Nicholson

Nothing much bothered you for a while and you kept walking like a silhouette through this town, saying hi's and goodbyes, acting polite at all times. But there is no fire in your heart; you are not very concerned. ~ Charlotte Eriksson

There's so few people in this town with a conscience. ~ Blake Edwards

And after I dropped him off, I took the longest possible route home ... I explored alleys and hidden roads I never knew existed. I discovered neighborhoods entirely new to me. And finally ... I discovered I was sick of this town and everything in it. ~ Jay Asher

The idol of Authority must be shattered in this town. ~ Henrik Ibsen

Talk. I'll just wait' shall I? Because my mission to save this town is of no importance whatsoever next to your girl talk."- Myrnin
"Oh, shut up, you medieval drama queen" - Claire ~ Rachel Caine

People want to forget. No one would ever say it, but I think this town will be glad to see our class leave. They put up all the memorials you'd expect, but there was no need: we're living reminders. ~ Joseph Moldover

I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody;
I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life;
I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;
I read because I have friends who don't, and young though they are, they're beginning to run out of material;
I read because every journey begins at the library, and it's time for me to start packing;
I read because one of these days I'm going to get out of this town, and I'm going to go everywhere and meet everybody, and I want to be ready. ~ Richard Peck

I can't help wishing that the killer had waited until after this weekend to do him in. Or, better yet, had murdered him somewhere else entirely. Neither the Highland games nor this town needs the bad publicity murder generates."
"I'm sure Jason Graye would have preferred not to be murdered at all. ~ Kaitlyn Dunnett

It's not the job of this town to make me feel happy. It's not this town´s fault that I don't feel I fit in. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, because it's about where you are in your head. It's about the other world I inhabit. The world of dreams, hope, imagination, and memories. I'm happy up here, and because of that I'm happy up there too ~ Cecelia Ahern

I read all these stories that I don't know anything about politics. But I must know something. I've had some good victories in Congress, and I've survived this town for four years. ~ Donald T. Regan

But after Mr. Evers got shot a week ago, lot a colored folk is frustrated in this town. Especially the younger ones, who ain't built up a callus yet. ~ Kathryn Stockett

I went through the process of auditioning like every other struggling actress in this town. ~ Taryn Manning

If you can sell yourself as someone who knows how Washington works, someone who has these relationships, that's a very marketable commodity. If you're seen as someone who knows how this town works, someone who is a usual suspect in this town, you can dine out for years - that's why no one leaves. ~ Mark Leibovich

Everyone in this town is afraid of me. Do I scare you, Elizabeth?" he whispered, his breaths brushing against my lips.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I see you."
The coldness in his stare softened for a split second, almost as if he was confused by those four words. But I did see him. I saw past the hate in his stare and noticed the hurt in his frown. I saw the broken parts that somehow matched my own. ~ Brittainy C. Cherry

I appreciate good criticism and I think it's really important. I don't like it when it's consumer advocacy, like how you should spend your $60. Great criticism is a kind of literature. I've written some criticism, and I really enjoy it because I think it's important for people to know that theatre is vital. Criticism is really unevenly distributed in this town. Obviously the power of the Times is discouraging. It's killing new plays, demolishing one after another. ~ Adam Rapp

Just remember that you're on my list, Marcone. Soon as I get done with all the other evils in this town, you won't be the lesser of them anymore."
Marcone stared at me with half-lidded eyes and said, "Eek. ~ Jim Butcher

The Strip was still lit by a million neon lights, though the crowds on the sidewalk had greatly decreased by this hour. Still, Bosch was awed by the spectacle of light. In every imaginable color and configuration, it was a megawatt funnel of enticement to greed that burned twenty-four hours a day. Bosch felt the same attraction that all the other grinders felt tug at them. Las Vegas was like one of the hookers on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Even happily married men at least glanced their way, if only for a second, just to get an idea what was out there, maybe give them something to think about. Las Vegas was like that. There was a visceral attraction here. The bold promise of money and sex. But the first was a broken promise, a mirage, and the second was fraught with danger, expense, physical and mental risk. It was where the real gambling took place in this town. ~ Michael Connelly

I think this is the sweetest tribute I have ever seen in this town. ~ Don Ameche

If I am still doing what I'm doing and I still have respect in this town, haven't done anything completely and utterly stupid, then I'll be happy with myself. ~ Jeremy London

You've had some terrific print information that gets everybody's attention in this town. ~ Charlie Norwood

And you don't ever have to worry about what I feel. The way I feel about you won't change. You can do whatever you like to me. You could turn this town to dust, burn the woods until they were cinders, you could cut out my heart. It wouldn't matter. It would not change a thing."
"What if I ate a baby?"
Jared's mouth curved up at the corners, slow and not cruel at all. "I'm sure you'd have a good reason," he said. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan

I reckon you could go ahead and shoot that dog and git you another one with regular anal sacs and wouldn't nobody be the wiser.' And I tell him, 'Starnes, this town ain't got any men worth loving, so I might as well love my dog."' The ~ John Green

In the courtyard there was an angel of black stone, and its angel head rose above giant elephant leaves; the stark glass angel eyes, bright as the bleached blue of sailor eyes, stared upward. One observed the angel from an intricate green balcony - mine, this balcony, for I lived beyond in three old white rooms, rooms with elaborate wedding-cake ceilings, wide sliding doors, tall French windows. On warm evenings, with these windows open, conversation was pleasant there, tuneful, for wind rustled the interior like fan-breeze made by ancient ladies. And on such warm evenings this town is quiet. Only voices: family talk weaving on an ivy-curtained porch; a barefoot woman humming as she rocks a sidewalk chair, lulling to sleep a baby she nurses quite publicly; the complaining foreign tongue of an irritated lady who, sitting on her balcony, plucks a fryer, the loosened feathers floating from her hands, slipping into air, sliding lazily downward. ~ Truman Capote

My god
is frozen-mouth. She is get-out-of-this-town-

or-hell-freezes-over. She is paycheck
to paycheck. Each night when she goes to bed, my god

kisses her kids' clean faces, then, thanking herself, her own. ~ Jennifer Givhan

White America looks at the Vietnamese, the Irish, the Jews, and they say, 'What's the problem with the blacks?' The resentment you hear around this town is based on that, not on old ideas of superiority. ~ Greg Iles

At the end, you flip over and start again because now you are not isolated. They have gone to work so that you can go home. High above, the day turns pink and you feel your feet lift above the ground as new roads open up in front of you. In this town, the jury is always rigged but the people know. They always know the truth. Believe. Belief. Beyond. Their morning glory. ~ Noel Gallagher

In this town, a successful marriage is one that lasts longer than ice. ~ Lois Greiman

That's the problem with this whole country. Fucking vast prosperity. No one has any real problems anymore. Ninety percent of the damn politicians in this town either think there's no war on terror, or if we'd just be nice to these zealots they'll leave us alone. Well, that ain't going to fucking happen. The Huns are circling, and we're sitting around arguing about gay rights and prayer and guns and global warming and all kinds of bullshit. These idiots will eventually wake up to the threat, but by then it might be too late. (Stan Hurley) ~ Vince Flynn

Don't tell me this town 'aint got no heart ~ Jerry Garcia

There's no such thing as God, Charlie, at least not how they say. Just like there's no such thing as Zeus or Apollo or bloody unicorns. You're on your own. And that can make you feel either lonely or powerful. When you're born, you wither luck out or you don't. It's a lottery. Tough shit or good on yer. But from there, it's all up to you… soon as you can walk and talk, you start makin your own luck. And I don't need some spirit in the sky to help me do that. I can do it on me own. But see, that's what I reckon God really is, Charlie. It's that part inside me that's stronger and harder than anything else. And I reckon prayer is just trusting in it, having faith in it, just asking meself to be tough. And that's all you can do. I don't need a bunch of bullshit stories about towers and boats and floods or rules about sin. It's all just a complicated way to get to that place in you, and it's not honest either. I don't need to trick meself into thinking anyone else is listenin', or even cares. Because it doesn't matter. I matter. And I know I'll be alright. Because I got a good heart, and fuck this town for making me try and believe otherwise. It's what you come with and what you leave with. And that's all I got. ~ Craig Silvey

There were only two other Chinese families in this town of 25,000, but to our parents, the determining factor was the quality of the public school system. ~ Steven Chu

Really, Mr. Grant. One would think that after living in this town for nearly a week and making numerous visits to my library, you would extend me the courtesy of learning my name." "I know your name, Eden." Her eyes shot to his. "I know your name." The intensity in his gaze left no doubt of his sincerity. ~ Karen Witemeyer

The secret of my success is my mother, who was from Dublin. All my relations are in Dublin or in the west, or as I found out, we went to Rostrevor in Northern Ireland to film and I got out, while they changed cars around, and this man said to me: "You know you have cousins in this town? And they're coming down to see you ... " And so they did. I'm sorry we didn't go to a lot more places, so that I could find a lot more cousins. So, that was good. It's entirely because my father was also brought up in Dublin. So, that's my link. ~ Judi Dench

People in this town saw only what they'd all agreed to see, they believed what was on the tube or in the morning papers half of them read while they were driving to work on the freeway, and it was all their dream about being wised up, about the truth setting them free. ~ Thomas Pynchon

Emmies, for example, most of that's bullshit. Oscars are even worse. We have a strange, terrible affliction in this town. Everybody walks around bent-backed from slapping each other on the backs so much. It looks like arthritis but it isn't. It's hunger for recognition. And it's sort of like, well, I'll scratch you this time if you'll scratch me next time. That kind of thing. ~ Rod Serling

If everybody in this town connected with politics had to leave town because of chasing women and drinking, you would have no government. ~ Barry Goldwater

Winners have a tendency to be forgiven in this town. ~ Fredrik Backman

Look," said Mary Ann evenly, "if I think you're really attractive, there must be plenty of men in this town who feel the same way."
"Yeah," said Michael ruefully. "Size queens."
"Oh, don't be silly!" Sometimes Michael was sensitive about the dumbest things. He's at least five nine, thought Mary Ann. That's tall enough for anybody. ~ Armistead Maupin

I have lived through an eventful year, yet understand no more of it than a babe in arms. Of all the people of this town I am the one least fitted to write a memorial. Better the blacksmith with his cries of rage and woe. ~ J.M. Coetzee

I stood in your doorway this morning
dreaming you'd turn around
you'd tilt your head
you'd softly whisper "stay"

or that you'd grab my arms
to shake me while asking
what the hell are we doing
we love
each other
and this is not right
so we will make this work
now stay!

You poured your coffee. Stirred the spoon like a crystal man
with your back to me and not a sound. the fridge humming elegies while the clock ticked on
and the streets are so clean here people rushing to work
and maybe I should be too
by now
at this age
this stage
this town.

I will stand in that doorway
dreaming
for many nights to come. ~ Charlotte Eriksson

Haven't you ever wanted something so bad that it becomes more than a want? I need to get out of this town. I need it like I need to breathe. ~ Alwyn Hamilton

The true value of somebody in this town is very hard to determine. It's all smoke and mirrors. ~ Mark Ruffalo

We don't have our children. We have the faint, distorted echoes of our children that this town has sent back to us. ~ Joseph Fink

So i sneak out to the garden to see you, we keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew, so close your eyes, escape this town for a little while. ~ Taylor Swift

There's not a single job in this town. There's nothin', nada, zip. Unless you wanna workforty hours a week. ~ Jeff Daniels

Already she is adapting herself, as she will adapt herself to very new régime. This morning I even heard her talking reverently about 'Der Führer' to the porters' wife. If anybody were to remind her that, at the elections last November, she voted communist,she would probably deny it hotly, and in perfect good faith. She is merely acclimatizing herself, in accordance with a natural law, like an animal which changes its coat for the winter. Thousands of people like Frl. Schroeder are acclimatizing themselves. After all, whatever government is in power, they are doomed to live in this town. ~ Christopher Isherwood

He sounds like Jesus. Except rich and sexy."
"Watch it, Meg. In this town joking about Jesus could get you shot. You've never seen so many of the faithful who're armed. ~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips

His pacing stopped. The mattress sighed as he sat on the edge. seconds ticked by before he spoke so softly she could barely hear. Sometimes I want to leave this town so bad I can taste it. ~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This town, this country, this world, is full to the brim with clever people, and just look at it. Never been in such awful shape. Clever people don't give a damn about anybody but themselves. Too busy being clever. The world doesn't need anymore clever people. It needs people with wisdom. ~ Jon Steele

Dad always said this town could wreck a person, it's what happens when you're playing a rigged game. I convinced myself winning meant getting out.
But in what world do you get to leave the ring and declare victory? This is where I belong, in the fight. It's who I am.
I've rolled around in the mud for so long, wash me clean and I don't recognize myself. So how about I just accept the mud and the tendency I have to find myself rolling in it. My name is Veronica and I'm an addict. Hello Veronica. ~ Rob Thomas

That's when I lost my faith in this town, in these people. They're friends until it counts. ~ Holly Hall

The great thing about Los Angeles is that you can get so much money in this town by constantly failing. You can get a lot of television deals that don't go anywhere, but you still get paid. ~ Daniel Tosh

She had understood all that he had said, with no way of knowing what he meant. It was as though he himself existed here in this town in this state in translation, ambiguous, slightly wrong, too highly colored or wrongly nuanced. Within him was the original, which no one could read. ~ John Crowley

Nothing ever gets settled in this town. a seething debating society in which the debate never stops, in which people never give up, including me. And so that's the atmosphere in which you administer. ~ George P. Shultz

I started after him ... and the clown looked back. I saw Its eyes, and all at once I understood who It was."
"Who was it, Don?" Harold Gardner asked softly.
"It was Derry," Don Hagarty said. "It was this town. ~ Stephen King

I was never afraid of dead folk. You know that? They never hurt you. So many things in this town can hurt you, but the dead don't hurt hurt you. Living people hurt you. They hurt you so bad. ~ Neil Gaiman

December 21, 1970 well, the amateur drunks have taken over and will hold this town until Jan. 2 ... driving on the wrong side of the street, running red lights, bellowing the same songs. figs of people, twigs of people, shits of people ... MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Christomighty, yeah. ~ Charles Bukowski

In this town of towheaded drunks, [his daughter] would bear the weight of her difference, doled out in murmurs, taunts, and shoves. But now it occurred to Victor that she would suffer more than he ever had because, unlike him, she had been loved, and her punishment would come as a surprise. ~ Anya Ulinich

There is such a cool vibe in Nashville. It is has the excitement of a big city, but also has this amazing small town feel. I have definitely come to call it my home, and have my favorite go-to spots. But most of all it's the people. The southern charm, and hospitality. And some great shopping never hurts. As fun as Music City is during the day, the real magic happens at night ... The lights, the energy, the music, how could you not love this town? ~ Hayden Panettiere

Sometimes, I wonder where my place in this town called 'Hollywood' is - and that can give you a really dull headache. ~ Pierce Brosnan

What do you do for fun in this town?
Well, you know. Wash dishes. Wipe up baby drool, put a new quart of oil in him once in a while. Watch the Weather Channel to see if any of the neighbors have been blown away by a tornado. Eat too much cheese and get cheese farts.
Keeps you busy, huh? ~ Nick Wilgus

The law enforcement in this town is terrific. All through prohibition Eddie Mars' place was a night club and they had two uniformed men in the lobby every night-to see that the guests didn't bring their own liquor instead of buying it from the house. ~ Raymond Chandler

I've been in this business for years and I'm still befuddled by the ways of this town. ~ Meg Ryan

You always see actors complaining about being typecast and ruining their career. Really, I don't see the point in complaining. If the only role you can play well is a black dude, you're never going to get ahead in this town, and you should just accept it. ~ Zach Braff

He thought: This town has the wrong name. It ought to be Time. ~ Stephen King

It's a dirty little secret that most New Yorkers are pleasant, thoughtful, patient, and polite. The Chamber of Commerce must work overtime to maintain the surly, off-putting image that is widely believed to define the city. In truth, niceness is nearly epidemic in this town. ~ Judith Kelman

His father's made us paint half this town and if we stick around any longer he'll make us paint the rest of it. -Jonah Griggs ~ Melina Marchetta

Make sure your soul is attached at all times - this town will steal it in a second, given the chance. ~ Ted Dekker

Spirals.... this town is contaminated with spirals. ~ Junji Ito

There's a reason that I love this town. ~ Joel Plaskett

Do you remember how the sun, set
On the occasion, we last conversed?

First, it hid behind some lousy clouds
As I was uttering my dying words

Then, out it came with a shiny glare
As I grasped the truth of your beauty

'Twas nothing but my own reflection
To my surprise and curiosity.

Now the sun's told our tale to this town
And I heard how it had made you smile

So if the thought of me drew a smile
Then, I have mastered true lover's guile ~ Zubair Ahsan

I started falling for you as soon as you bumped into me. I knew I could be a goner so easily."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. And when I pictured you in shoulder pads and a helmet--"
I shoved his shoulder. "You did not!"
"Oh, yeah, I did. And I thought, of all the girls in this town, she is the one that I absolutely can't find fascinating. ~ Rachel Hawthorne

There are too many people for this town. - China, about Roarhaven ~ Derek Landy

Let any one who is acquainted with what multitudes of people get their daily bread in this city by their labour, whether artificers or meer workmen - I say, let any man consider what must be the miserable condition of this town if, on a sudden, they should all be turned out of employment, that labour should cease, and wages for work be no more.

This was the case with us at that time; and had not the sums of money contributed in charity by well-disposed people of every kind, as well as abroad as at home, been prodigiously great, it had not been in the power of the Lord Mayor and sheriffs to have kept the publick peace. Nor were they without apprehensions, as it was, that desperation should push the people upon tumults and cause them to rifle the houses of rich men and plunder the markets of provisions; in which case the country people, who brought provisions very freely and boldly to town, would have been terrified from coming any more, and the town would have sunk under an unavoidable famine. ~ Daniel Defoe

There's only one woman in this town that has kept me awake at night. ~ Sibylla Matilde

They got ninjas working as strippers in this town or something? Well. ~ L.A. Witt

A little white woman, . . . [a] tiny little white woman I could fit in my pocket.' . . . 'And I don't know why I'm surprised. You don't even notice it – you never notice. You think it's normal. Everywhere we go, I'm alone in this… this sea of white. I barely know any black folk any more, Howie. My whole life is white. I don't see any black folk unless they be cleaning under my feet in the fucking café in your fucking college. Or pushing a fucking hospital bed through a corridor . . . 'I gave up my life for you. I don't even know who I am any more.' . . . 'Could you have found anybody less like me if you'd scoured the earth? . . . My leg weighs more than that woman. What have you made me look like in front of everybody in this town? You married a big black bitch and you run off with a fucking leprechaun? ~ Zadie Smith

My position now, especially in this town, adds an element of skepticism with people you meet - especially girls. I mean, it becomes a lot more difficult. ~ Jason Biggs

Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town ~ Ernest Hemingway,

Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide. ~ David Mamet

... Well, some day i'm going to get in with that wild artistic group. It's the only thing that makes this town different."

"The 'wild artistic group,' as you put it, has an average age of fifty-seven, and most of us have heart disease and bladder trouble... ~ Richard Bradford

This town of Sheffield is very populous and large, the streets narrow, and the houses dark and black, occasioned by the continued smoke of the forges, which are always at work: Here they make all sorts of cutlery-ware, but especially that of edged-tools, knives, razors, axes, &. and nails ~ Daniel Defoe

In this town to know three languages is an unnecessary luxury. It's not even a luxury, but a sort of unnecessary addition, like a sixth finger. We have a great deal of superfluous knowledge. ~ Anton Chekhov

And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it. ~ George W. Bush

Fuck's sake." Vaughan hefted me up, holding me closer. "No one in this town respect property rights anymore?"
"You should really lock your doors," I mumbled, giving up the struggle. "Windows too." He grunted, unamused. ~ Kylie Scott

I did not have all the answers. I did not know if I'd deserved God's grace or wrath, or what would become of me if I ever fled this town.
But I did know how to shoot a gun. - Skylla Warden ~ Rachael Wade

When you bring an act into this town, you want to bring it in heavy. Don't waste any time with cheap shucks and misdemeanors. Go
straight for the jugular. Get right into felonies. ~ Hunter S. Thompson

She hadn't gotten his expression quite right in her imagination, because the stunned, vacant expression on Shane's face when she started down the stairs was even better than fantasy. His mouth actually dropped open. Next to him, Michael turned around, and although she hadn't counted on it, there was a warm fuzzy to making a hot golden-angel vampire blink and give her a quick, involuntary once-over.
Claire stopped on the steps above them and did a tentative hip-shimmy. "Okay?" she asked. Shane's mouth shut with a snap, and Michael actually cleared his throat.
"Fine," Michael said.
"Fine?" That was Eve, coming down the stairs behind Claire. She moved around the roadblock and punched Michael in the arm. "She looks amazing. I'm not half g*y and I think she's hot."
Shane wasn't saying anything. Claire felt warm and a little dizzy, the way he was looking at her. She resisted the urge to check to see if her skirt was straight -- she'd done it a dozen times already --and forced herself to meet his gaze and smile.
"You sure this is smart?" Shane asked, which was not what she'd expected, not at all. "You look fantastic."
"Thanks -- "
He interrupted her. "Fantastic in this town pops you to the top of the take-out menu."
She held up her left hand and pointed to her wrist. The gold bracelet was clearly visible. "I'll be okay," she said. "The vamps won't bother me."
"Not even talking about the vamps. You're going to be drawing every guy there wh ~ Rachel Caine

Within half a century after Butler sent Charles Mallory away from Fortress Monroe empty-handed, the children of white Union and Confederate soldiers united against African-American political and civil equality. This compact of white supremacy enabled southern whites to impose Jim Crow segregation on public space, disfranchise African-American citizens by barring them from the polls, and use the lynch-mob noose to enforce black compliance. White Americans imposed increased white supremacy outside the South, too. In non-Confederate states, many restaurants wouldn't serve black customers. Stores and factories refused to hire African Americans. Hundreds of midwestern communities forcibly evicted African-American residents and became "sundown towns" ("Don't let the sun set on you in this town"). Most whites, meanwhile, believed that ~ Edward E. Baptist

In this town [L.A], I guess it takes homosexuals to be discriminated against in order for someone to finally step UP and wanna do something. ~ Tyrese Gibson

The handful of people in this town who say that fair is not marked White Only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lord's kindness am I." Miss Maudie's old crispness was returning: "The handful of people in this town with background, that's who they are. ~ Harper Lee

The food thing is crazy to me. In this town the beer thing is also crazy to me. Frankly even with Brightest Young Things, it's such a celebration of [beer and food], all this stuff. I don't think it's bad or evil, but there's something out of bounds. It's like, "A bar opened!" Who cares? Think about that. ~ Ian MacKaye

When I come home from school, I take my Doc Martens off and put on fake satin mules with the marabou trim, slip into my dressing gown and my movie, and I feel serene. I hold a glass of Coke to my cheek and pretend it is a glass of bourbon and I am in New Orleans. My bedroom door is the doorway onto the street and at night I can't sleep because of the heat and the commotion in this town. So I go down to the river and dance as a man with scars on his face plays an accordion. People clap along and wolf-whistle and I whip my skirt around my thighs, which are long and lean because I barely get a chance to eat, what with all my bourbon and afternoon baths. I dance until my mules get muddy, then I tiptoe home, followed by sailors and men who have hundreds and thousands of dollars playing stud poker. Steve McQueen might be there. I can't remember. I get confused at this point. Too much drink. I'm sure Karl Malden is lurking in the background, gazing at me longingly. I am kind to him because his mother is dying. ~ Emma Forrest

I asked a coughing friend of mine why he doesn't stop smoking. 'In this town it wouldn't do any good,' he explained. 'I happen to be a chain breather.' ~ Robert Sylvester

I'm Galileo in prison. I'm a supercomputer in a junkyard. I'm being wasted, Irene. This town is killing me by inches, turning my mind to mush. ~ Eva Morgan