Sue Grafton

“I can't stand a man who fawns, you know what I mean? I can't stand a man sucking up to me, but he was the kind who took you right on the floor and he didn't even look at you afterwards when he zipped up his pants.”

“These are the days that require discipline, when exercise is pure duty and the good feeling only comes later, consisting solely of self-congratulations for having done the job at all.”

“He stared at me. His breathing made that wheezing sound that fat people sometimes make.”

“I made a stop, ducking into the supermarket to pick up milk, Diet Pepsi, bread, eggs, and toilet paper. I was into my siege mentality, looking forward to pulling up the drawbridge and waiting out the rain. With luck, I wouldn't have to go out for days.”

“I think you'd best make your peace with the past since you've come this far. I think you know by now that you won't go back again.”

“While I'm not a big fan of nature, its intractability amuses me to no end. (Kinsey Millhone)”

“Personally, I'd rather grow old alone than in the company of anyone I've met so far. I don't experience myself as lonely, incomplete, or unfulfilled, but I don't talk about that much. It seems to piss people off--especially men. (Kinsey Millhone)”

“If love is what injures us, how can we heal?”

“Pretending to be 'normal' is a lot harder than you think.”

“I like difficulty. It's what makes my job fun.”

“Things can fool you sometimes.”

“We all do things we regret. It's part of growing up.”

“Sometimes being fooled by love is worth the price. At least you know you're alive and capable of feeling, even if all you end up with is chest pain.”

“What was done was done.”

“You can't believe everything you hear. Sometimes, you can't even believe your eyes.”

“Smile. It gives your face something to do.”

“The truth isn't always nice. It isn't always small enough to absorb at once. Sometimes the truth washes over you and threatens to take you right down with it.”

“There are days when none of us can bear it, but the good comes around again. Happiness is seasonal, like anything else. Wait it out. There are people who love you. People who can help.”

“Life is hard. Life hurts. So what? You tough it out. You get through and then you'll feel good again.”

“You never know which people will affect your life.”

“There's always something else. That's what makes life so much fun.”

“People make mistakes. People do things they never meant to do.”

“A woman should never, never, never be financially dependent to anyone, especially a man, because the minute you were dependent, you could be abused.”

“You can't go back to something once it's dead.”

“Some people die accidentally. It's a fact.”

“If you're unhappy, change something.”

“Life is simple. You're the one making things complex.”

“I've never been a big fan of exercise. I just can't think of any other way to feel good." Kinsey Milhone”

“I thought about the current contamination of beaches, raw sewage spilling into oceans and streams, the hole in the ozone, forests being stripped, the toxic-waste dumps, the merry plunder of mankind added to the drought and the famine that nature dishes up annually as a matter of course. It's hard to know what's actually going to get us first. Sometimes I think we should just blow the whole planet and get it over with. It's the suspense that's killing me.”

“Whatever the surface appearances, most human beings come equipped with convoluted emotional machinery. With intimacy, the wreckage starts to show, damage rendered in the course of passions colliding like freight trains on the same track.”

“Pain was better than anxiety any day of the week and sweat was better than depression.”

“I may have people lying to me, but since I don't really know the truth, I can't be sure.”

“You can believe anything you like.”

“It's fun to horse around with danger.”

“You can always push people around, but it's not a good idea. Better to let them volunteer information for reasons of their own. You get more that way.”

“Missing someone is a vague, unpleasant sensation, like gnawing anxiety. It isn't as concrete as grief, but it's just as pervasive and there's no escaping it.”

“Everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean there's a point.”

“Sometimes the noes are just as important as the yeses because they represent cul-de-sacs, allowing you to narrow your field of inquiry until you stumble into the heart of the maze.”

“The world is full of talented people.”

“When I'm with you, I don't feel self-conscious or like I'm crippled or ugly. I don't know how you do that, but it's nice.”

“Violent death is like a monster. The closer you get to it, the more damage you sustain if you survive at all.”

“I like my life as it is.”

“I did an about-face and veered into the sandwich shop. What I ordered is none of your business, but it was really good.”

“You don't have to justify yourself to me. You did what you did.”

“People can hold out just so long and then they fold.”

“I don't know what is love about and I'm not sure I believe in it anyway.”

“Ordinarily, an alibi is an account of suspect's whereabouts at the time a crime was committed and it's offered up as proof of innocence, but here it didn't matter where anyone was.”

“People get careless when they're feeling safe.”

“There were pieces missing yet but they would fall into place and then maybe the whole of it would make sense.”

“My own mystery, unplumed, undetected, was sorted into files that were neatly labeled but really didn't say much.”