“He had never been a social man. He had shunned causes with contempt and disgust. They were for pig-simple suckers and people with too much time and money on their hands”

“He understood well enough how a man with a choice between pride and responsibility will almost always choose pride--if responsibility robs him of his manhood.”

“The woman had looked into the abyss and then walked out across it.”

“He removed his unvaluable valuables and dumped his shirt, pants, and skivvies into a letter slot.”

“Valuables. That was a hot one, Richards thought, unbuttoning his shirt. He had an empty wallet with a few pictures of Sheila and Cathy, a receipt for a shoe sole he had replaced at the local cobble...”

“Outside, daylight was bleeding slowly toward dusk.”

“Mr. Grace sounded like a very small child, helpless, hopeless. I had made him fuck himself with his own big tool, like one of those weird experiences you read about in the Penthouse Forum. I had ta...”

“Craziness is only a matter of degree, and there are lots of people besides me who have the urge to roll heads. They go to stock-car races and the horror movies and the wrestling matches they have i...”

“In the year 2025, the best men don't run for president, they run for their lives. . . .”

“The question was, could he forgive the past in order to have a future with her? Any future?”

“Are you okay?" I (Cassie) call up to him."Um. Define okay." (Ben)"Okay means you're not bleeding to death.""I'm okay.”

“You dont fucking get it, do you, Sparks? Out of sheer frustration, Ben thwacked the wall with his hand. Hard. So hard his palm stung. I love you. I am so goddamned, madly in love with you, I cant s...”

“Hate looks like everybody else until it smiles”

“The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.”

“Homo sapiens! The name itself was an irony. They had not been wise at all, but incredibly stupid. Lords of the Earth with their great gray brains, their thinking minds had placed them above all oth...”