“The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him... [from Macbeth]”

“In an era of stress and anxiety, when the present seems unstable and the future unlikely, the natural response is to retreat and withdraw from reality, taking recourse either in fantasies of the future or in modified visions of a half-imagined past.”

“This city is dying of rabies. Is the best I can do to wipe random flecks of foam from its lips?”

“Truly, whoever we are, wherever we reside, we exist upon the whim of murderers.”

“I am brother to dragons, and companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.”

“In 1965, worked with Nite Owl bringing street gangs under control. Tackled the Big Figure together. Brought down Underboss together. Good team.Until he got soft, like rest. Until he quit.No staying power. None of them. Except Comedian. Met him in 1966. Forceful personality. Didn't care if people liked him. Uncompromising. Admired that.Of us all, he understood most. About world. About people. About society and what's happening to it.Things everyone knows in gut. Things everyone too scared to face, too polite to talk about. He understood.Understood man's capacity for horrors and never quit. Saw the world's black underbelly and never surrendered. Once man has seen, he can never turn his back on it. Never pretend it doesn't exist.No matter who orders him to look the other way.We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to.We do it because we are compelled.”

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! YOU'VE READ ABOUT IT IN THE NEWSPAPERS! NOW, SHUDDER AS YOU OBSERVE, BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES, THAT MOST RAREAND RAGIC OF NATURE'S MISTAKES!I GIVE YOU... THE AVERAGE MAN! PHYSICALLY UNREMARKABLE , IT HAS INSTEAD A DEFORMED SET OF VALUES. NOTICE THE HIDEOUSLY BLOATED SENSE OF HUMANITY'S IMPORTANCE. THE CLUB-FOOTED SOCIAL CONSCIENCE AND THE WITHERED OPTIMISM. IT'S CERTAINLY NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH IS IT?MOST REPULSIVE OF ALL , ARE ITS FRAIL AND USELESS NOTIONS OF ORDER AND SANITY. IF TOO MUCH WEIGHT IS PLACED UPON THEM...... THEY SNAP. HOW DOES IT LIVE , I HEAR YOU ASK?HOW DOES THIS POOR, PATHETIC SPECIMEN SURVIVE IN TODAY'S HARSH AND IRRATIONAL WORLD?THE SAD ANSWER IS 'NOT VERY WELL. ”