“mercy, I think, doesn't the human race know anything about mercy?”

“It began when they come took me from my homeAnd put me in Dead Row,Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.And I'll say it againI..am..not..afraid..to..die.And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of truth.An eye for an eyeA tooth for a toothAnd anyway I told the truthAnd I'm not afraid to die.And the mercy seat is burningAnd I think my head is glowingAnd in a way I'm hopingTo be done with all this weighing up of truth.An eye for an eyeAnd a tooth for a toothAnd I've got nothing left to loseAnd I'm not afraid to die.And the mercy seat is glowingAnd I think my head is smokingAnd in a way I'm hopingTo be done with all this looks of disbelief.An eye for an eyeAnd a tooth for a toothAnd anyway there was no proofNor a motive why.And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of truth.An eye for an eyeAnd a truth for a truthAnd anyway I told the truthBut I'm afraid I told a lie.”

“Sometimes a man doesn’t know what to do about things and sometimes it’s best to lie very still and try not to think at all about anything.”

“The fuckers. There, I feel better. God-damned human race. There, I feel better.”

“and when love came to us twice and lied to us twice we decided to never love again that was fair fair to us and fair to love itself. we ask for no mercy or no miracles; we are strong enough to live and to die and to kill flies, attend the boxing matches, go to the racetrack, live on luck and skill, get alone, get alone often, and if you can't sleep alone be careful of the words you speak in your sleep; and ask for no mercy no miracles; and don't forget: time is meant to be wasted, love failsand death is useless.”

“I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, Jesus Christ, now what?”

“young or old, good or bad, I don't think anything dies as slow and as hard as a writer.”