“It's said that the worst thing one can do to a man is to kill his self-respect. But that's not true. Self-respect is something that can't be killed. The worst thing is to kill a man's pretense at it.”
“Self respect is something that can't be killed. The worst thing is to kill a man's pretense at it.”
“Killing you is not the worst thing they can do to you," I say. "Controlling you is.”
“Because it was the right thing?""Oh shit, I hope not.""Afraid of becoming noble?" he asked, his eyes twinkling."That too. But basically, that's the worst reason I can think of for killing. 'That its the right thing to do'. You kill out of outrage or fury or to keep from dying or something like it, that's fine. Hell, kill them rather than bother with them - or be bothered by them. But if you're killing them because 'its the right thing to do', its only the right thing because you've done so many wrong things up until then to make that spot. It's not the right thing to do. It's the best of the last of your choices.""That's the longest I've ever heard you talk at one time.""That's because you never ask me about my hair.”
“Man kills, the things he love the most, sometimes by the virtue of hatred, crime, anger and war and sometimes by dramatizing his activities. But he is not aware that his killings are his own self-image.”
“I have no self-respect. But can a man of acute sensibility respect himself at all?”