I found the various plebiscite regions of considerable interest before I owned any of their stamps. In the course of remaking the map of Europe after the World War—we wouldn’t come to call it World Wa...
He’d disposed of her corpse by feeding it to the hogs.
Faith and fear, they tell me, can't coexist. I try to practice by doing what I'm afraid to do, and I manage (now and then, anyway) by means of faith. Faith that I will do myself more good than harm by...
Everybody has mean little places inside himself.
Breakfast was always a slab of cold black toast and a cup of thick black coffee. Lunch and dinner were always the same—a tin plate piled with a suspicious pilaff, mostly rice with occasional bits of l...
Booze and tobacco and lots of sex. It keeps a lad young.
Being broke is not a crime, nor is it proof of one’s inadequacy as a writer or as a human being. If you go around with an attitude of implicit apology for being temporarily without funds, it’s going t...
And, as long as you can make yourself go on choosing the pain over the relief, you can keep going.
After all, doesn’t part of philately’s attraction lie in the grip it holds on us? It is our eagerness to locate and acquire and add to our albums that testifies to our commitment to the hobby. If we w...
That would have hidden the decades of filth that had left their stamp upon the wooden floor.
Philately is far and away the area of my life where I spend the most time and effort making genuinely inconsequential decisions.
Any departure from reality that could easily be avoided ought to be avoided.
You think he just died of natural causes?This is New York. Murder’s a natural cause in this city.
What time is it?Time?Time.Oh, She said. A quarter to four. Mr. Markham, something terrible has happened.She didn't have to tell me that. Something perfectly dreadful had happened, by God. Someone had...
One begins a journey with an eye on one’s destination. Somewhere along the way, one learns (if one’s lucky) that it’s the journey itself that’s important. One buys a stamp album with the intention of...
Oh, I don’t believe in anything. I especially don’t believe in astrology. Know why?Why?Because I’m a Saggitarius, and every Sagittarius knows astrology is a lot of hooey.
Is that what I am? I don’t know what the hell I am anymore.Oh, bullshit. You’re a guy, a human being. Just another poor son of a bitch who doesn’t want to be alone when the sacred ginmill closes.
I haven't seen her in five years. Well, hell, I haven't had a cigarette in twelve, and I damn well wanted one for a minute there. Sometimes I don't think anybody ever gets over anything.
I haven't got anything against cats. I haven't got anything against elk either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to keep one in the store so I'll have a place to hang my hat.
He's got a new BMW now, thanks to the Galaxy. He can't spell it, but he can drive it like crazy.