Quotessence
Home / Authors / Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsWayPeopleWorldKnowsMenSeemsTwoWantAnswers

Famous Jim Thompson Quotes

“People looking for easy answers to big problems. People that blame the Jews or colored folks for all the bad things that happen to ‘em. People that can’t realize that a heck of a lot of things are bound to go wrong in a world as big as this one. And if there is any answer to why it’s that way – and there ain’t always – why, it’s probably not just one answer by itself, but thousands of answers. But that’s the way my daddy was – like those people. They buy some books by a fella that don’t know a god-danged thing more than they do (or he wouldn’t be having to write books). And that’s supposed to set ‘em straight about everything. Or they buy themselves a bottle of pills. Or they say the whole trouble is with other folks, and the only thing to do is to get rid of ‘em. Or they claim we got to war with another country.”

WarPillsEasy AnswersComplex Issues
Book:Pop. 1280
Create image

“You go into the office and take a book or two from the shelves. You read a few lines, like your life depended on reading 'em right. But you know your life doesn't depend on anything that makes sense, and you wonder where in the hell you got the idea it did; and you begin to get sore.”

KnowsTwoBookIdeasReadingLinesWonderHellLike YouDependsOfficeMake SenseEmsShelves
Book:Crime novels: American noir of the 1950s
Create image

“Dad always said that he had enough trouble sorting the fiction out of so-called facts, without reading fiction. He always said that science was already too muddled without trying to make it jibe with religion. He said those things, but he also said that science itself could be a religion, that a broad mind was always in danger of becoming narrow.”

TryingMindSaidEnoughFactsReadingFictionTroubleDangerBecomingDadBroadsHad EnoughSortingReading Fiction
Book:Crime novels: American noir of the 1950s
Create image

“In lots of books I read, the writer seems to go haywire every time he reaches a high point. He’ll start leaving out punctuation and running his words together and babble about stars flashing and sinking into a deep dreamless sea. And you can’t figure out whether the hero’s laying his girl or a cornerstone. I guess that kind of crap is supposed to be pretty deep stuff—a lot of the book reviewers eat it up, I notice. But the way I see it is, the writer is just too goddam lazy to do his job. And I’m not lazy, whatever else I am. I’ll tell you everything.”

WayKindBookSeemsRunningTogetherJobsGirlStarsStuffSeaFiguresHeroLeavingSupposed To BeLazyCrapSinkingCornerstonesPunctuationReviewersHigh PointsBook Review
Book:Crime novels: American noir of the 1950s
Create image

“We're living in a funny world kid, a peculiar civilization. The police are playing crooks in it, and the crooks are doing police duty. The politicians are preachers, and the preachers are politicians. The tax collectors collect for themselves. The Bad People want us to have more dough, and the good people are fighting to keep it from us. It's not good for us, know what I mean? If we had all we wanted to eat, we'd eat too much. We'd have inflation in the toilet paper industry. That's the way I understand it. That's about the size of some of the arguments I've heard.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWorldWayWantMeanKidsWantedFightingToo MuchHeardDutyIndustryPoliticianCivilizationTaxesPaperArgumentPoliceSizePeculiarGood PeoplePreacherInflationToiletsBad PeopleCollectorsCrooksDoughToilet Paper
Author:Jim Thompson
Create image

“I looked at her, with her hair spilled out on the pillows and the warmth of her body warming mine. And I thought, god-dang, if this ain't a heck of a way to be in bed with a pretty woman. The two of you arguing about murder, and threatening each other, when you're supposed to be in love and you could be doing something pretty nice. And then I thought, well, maybe it ain't so strange after all. Maybe it's like this with most people, everyone doing pretty much the same thing except in a different way. And all the time they're holding heaven in their hands.”

PeopleIfsWayWellsTwoDifferentBodyHandsHeavenNiceMinesStrangeHairBedMurderArguingSupposed To BeDifferent WaysWarmthThreateningPillowPretty Woman
Author:Jim Thompson
Create image