Andrew Vachss

“From the very second that two people sat together around a fire in the forest, there was another human out there who felt better in the dark.”

“He said when the Lord made people He made them all the same for starters. But life marks people. If you know the way, you can read them like maps.”

“Roots are nice, but a tree can’t run.”

“A free press doesn't mean it's not a tame press.”

“Camouflage doesn't help when the other guy is willing to defoliate the whole jungle.”

“He had the radio turned to some Spanish-language station at a volume that reminded me of the holding tank at Riker's Island - and for an added touch of authenticity he screamed 'Maricon!' and waved his fist out the open window at another driver who had the audacity to attempt to share the road with us.”

“Family' is not just a biological word, it's an an operative one.”

“Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand," the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce Wayne”

“People who don't have much get ugly about giving up the little they have left.”

“Most investigators don't even know what the word means. You stop the cops from using informants and the only crimes they'd ever solve would be those by deranged postal workers who come to work once too often.”

“When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.”

“In my world, people are always plotting. Youhave no idea of all the crimes people in business commit everyday. Like it was nothing. Or there’s a set of special rules for them.Remember when Bush made that whole speech about ‘corporateethics’ last year? What a fraud. You think stuff like Enron orWorldCom is an aberration? It’s only the tip. Business is a religion.Probably the only one practiced all over the world.”

“The worst place to be is in the middle. When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.”

“[I] settled down with the Daily News and the Post, glad to be back with journalism where all murders are “brutal,” all prosecutors are “tough,” and all blondes are “attractive.” And any lawyer who cooperates with the reporter is “high-powered.”

“You want proof evolution is for real, don’t waste your time with fossils; just check out the New York City rat. They started out as immigrants, stowaways in some ship’s cargo hold. Only the survivors got to breed, and they’ve been improving with every new litter. Smarter, faster, stronger. Getting ready to rule. Manhattan wouldn’t be the first island they took over.”

“Lawyers for abused kids can challenge bad agency decisions because they can always bring a lawsuit. A volunteer cannot.#barahona”

“That’s Manhattan today—all the money goes up top, while the infrastructure wastes away from neglect. The famous skyline is a cheap trick now, a sleight-of-hand to draw your eye from the truth, as illusory as a bodybuilder with osteoporosis.”

“Perfection cannot be achieved by men," he told me. "Our highest calling is the pursuit of perfection. My haiku will be finished when I die, but it will never be perfect.”

“It's the family you choose that counts.”

“The more bullets flying, the less accurate each individual slug has to be.”

“If a train is coming at you, closing your eyes won't save you ... but if you look right at it, you at least have a chance to jump.”

“It isn’t much use writing slogans on a wall if you plan to total the building.”

“The Humane Society of America thinks Michael Vick should have a dog. I think whoever's in charge there should have a lobotomy.”

“I want to disabuse people of the idea that knowledge is power. Knowing how to get to Detroit is not the same thing as having the bus fare.”

“I wanted to ask her what the fuck was wrong but I had a date with a pack of skittish whores.”

“Stealing to eat ain’t criminal—stealing to be rich is.”

“A dog is like a person—he needs a job and a family to be what he’s meant to be.”

“Cats are the lap-dancers of the animal world. Soon as you stop shelling out, they move on, find another lap. They're furry little sociopaths. Pretty and slick -- in love with themselves. When's the last time you saw a seeing-eye cat?”

“The Bowery station on the J line is what happens to a neighborhood once politicians realize the people who live there don’t vote.”

“Life is a fight, but not everyone’s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.”

“Fear is an enemy that can be killed only at close range. The closest range of all is intimacy. The deeper the fear is embedded in one’s spirit, the more vulnerable it is.”