Quotes by Dennis Lehane

“The harsh light above them caught her face, and Sean could see what she'd look like when she was much older - a handsome woman, scarred by wisdom she never asked for.”

“Joe closed his hand over the watch and it was still warm from his father's pocket, ticking against his palm like a heart.”

“She told him that he had the most beautiful voice she'd ever heard, that it sounded like whiskey and wood smoke.”

“Men. If you give them half a chance, they'll fuck you over just to prove they can.”

“Do you know the primary difference between men and gods? ... Gods dont think they can become men”

“Maybe honor was in its twilight. Maybe it had always been heading that way. Or worse, maybe it had always been an illusion.”

“Angie was where most of me began and all of me ended.”

“There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.”

“Brendan knew about the truth. In most cases, it was just a matter of deciding whether you wanted to look it in the face or live with the comfort of ignorance and lies. And ignorance and lies were o...”

“All the stuff our fathers took for granted as long as you worked hard, the great safety net and the fair wage and the gold watch at the end of it all? That's all gone around here, my friend.”

“When a child disappears, the space shed occupied is immediately filled with dozens of people. And these peoplerelatives, friends, police officers, reporters from both TV and printcreate a lot of en...”

“I go on the presumption that everyone's full of shit until proven otherwise, and this usually serves me in good stead.”

“Luther had passed many a white church in his day, heard them singing their hymns and chanting their "Amens" and seen them gather on a porch or two afterward with their lemonade and piety, but he kn...”

“Men who believe that the way to the mind is not by way of ice picks through the brain or large dosages of dangerous medicine but through an honest reckoning of the self.”

“How much violence, Marshal, do you think a man can carry before it breaks him?”

“It's hard to close the door on optimistic expectations when you love someone.”

“Jesus, Dolores, you've got to get yourself together. You've got responsibilities. Think about those sometimes - okay? - and get your fucking head right."Those were the last words his wife heard fro...”

“What's your name?""Emma Gould," she said. "What's yours?""Wanted.""By all the girls or just the law?”

“Choice, I've always believed, is all that separates us from animals.”

“There's always a 'she'. Isn't there?”