“It's very simple. If you learn how to write well, to write with depth, cream will rise to the top. You'll get published. But, there is no secret.” IfsWritingWellsSimpleSecretDepthCream Author:Dennis Lehane
“It had occurred to Sean once - on a bender about ten years before with some buddies, Sean and a bloodstream full of bourbon turning philosophical - that maybe they HAD gotten in that car. All three of them. And what they now thought of as their life was just a dream state. That all three of them were, in reality, still eleven-year-old boys trapped in some cellar, imagining what they'd become if they ever escaped and grew up.” IfsYearsStillsStatesDreamRealityThreeBoysCarGrewTenGrew UpPhilosophicalTrappedBuddyElevenSeanJust A DreamCellarsBourbon Author:Dennis Lehane
“I held her, he wanted to say, and if I knew for certain that all it would take to hold her again would be to die, then I couldn't raise the gun to my head fast enough.” IfsEnoughWould BeWantedCertainDiesGunRaises Author:Dennis Lehane
“He wanted to ask her what sound a heart made when it broke from pleasure, when just the sight of someone filled you the way food, blood, and air never could, when you felt as if you'd been born for only one moment and this, for whatever reason, was it.” IfsWayLoveHeartMadeReasonMomentsWantedAsksFeltSoundBornPleasureAirBloodSightFilledBroke Author:Dennis Lehane
“Believe it or not, Marshal, I believe in talk therapy, basic interpersonal skills. I have this radical idea that if you treat a patient with respect and listen to what he's trying to tell you, you just might reach him. (87)” IfsTryingBelieveIdeasMightI BelieveSkillsTreatsPatientI Believe InRadicalTherapyInterpersonalInterpersonal SkillsRadical Ideas Author:Dennis Lehane
“She smiled darkly and shook her head. 'I'm not crazy. I'm not. Of course what else would a crazy person claim? That's the Kafkaesque genius of it all. If you're not crazy but people have told the world you are, then all your protests to the contrary just underscore their point. Do you see what I'm saying?” PeopleIfsWorldPersonsCoursesCrazyGeniusClaimsContraryProtestCrazy Person Author:Dennis Lehane
“The world according to Bubba is simple - if it aggravates you, stop it. By whatever means necessary.” IfsWorldMeanSimpleBubba Author:Dennis Lehane
“A pretty face had been damaged by acne scars and she wore and extra forty pounds on her frame like a threat. Her eyes were dull with anger disguised as apathy. If she kept on her current path, she'd grow into the type of person who fed her kids Doritos for breakfast and purchased angry bumper stickers with lots of exclamation points. But right now, she was just another in a long line of pissed-off small-town girls with a shitty outlook.” IfsPersonsLongEyeKidsFacesGirlGrowsLinesPathTypeRight NowTownsAngryThreatCurrentsExtrasDullFortyPoundsFedsBreakfastScarApathyHer EyesSmall TownOutlookPissed OffBumperStickerBumper StickerExclamationLong LinesPretty FaceAcneExclamation PointsDoritos Author:Dennis Lehane
“My daughter squealed again and both Bubba and I winced. It’s not an attractive sound, that. It’s high-pitched and it enters your ear canals like hot glass. No matter how much I love my daughter, I will never love her squealing. Or maybe I will. Maybe I do. Driving down 93, I realized once and for all, that I love the things that chafe. The things that fill me with stress so total I can’t remember when a block of it didn’t rest on top of my heart. I love what, if broken, can’t be repaired. What, if lost can’t be replaced. I love my burdens.” IfsHeartI CanMatterRememberLostSoundBrokenMy HeartDaughterEarsStressHotGlassesBurdenI RealizedDrivingBlockAttractiveWhat IfMy DaughterReplacedRemember WhenCanalsBubbaLove My DaughterI Love My DaughterSquealing Author:Dennis Lehane
“Do you honestly think Lenin is any different from J.P. Morgan? That you, if you were given absolute power, would behave any differently? Do you know the primary difference between men and gods?...Gods don't think they can become men.” IfsThinkingKnowsMenDifferentGivenDifferencesAbsolutesHonestlyPrimariesBehaveDo You KnowAbsolute Power Author:Dennis Lehane
“The brain controls pain. It controls fear. Sleep. Empathy. Hunger. Everything we associate with the heart or the soul or the nervous system is actually controlled by the brain. Everything. What if you could control it?” IfsHeartSoulPainSleepBrainEmpathyHungerNervousWhat IfControlledAssociatesNervous System Author:Dennis Lehane
“If you are deemed insane, then all actions that would oherwise prove you are not do, in actuality, fall into the framework of an insane person’s actions. Your sound protests constitute denial. Your valid fears are deemed paranoia. Your survival instincts are labeled defense mechanisms. It’s a no-win situation. It’s a death penalty really.” IfsPersonsActionFallWinningSoundSituationProveSurvivalInstinctDefenseInsaneDenialProtestMechanismPenaltiesFrameworkDeath PenaltyParanoiaSurvival InstinctActualityDefense MechanismsInsane Person Author:Dennis Lehane
“He wondered if this was what clinical depression felt like, a total numbness, a weary lack of hope.” IfsFeltDepressionWearyNumbnessClinicalsClinical Depression Author:Dennis Lehane
