“This sky, Sid.It's the sky of the great epics.The great Polish epics. Of Pan Tadeusz”

“It's like that, I guess, when the past come to collect what you owe.”

“Folks think a lifetime is a thing stretched out over years. It ain't. It can happen quick as a match in a dark room.”

“There's all sorts of ways to live, Chip. Some of them you give a lot. Some of them you take a lot. Art, jazz, it was a kind of taking. You take from the audience, you take from yourself.”

“The only time I ever saw him untidy was after a fight. What a sight that was. James Bond run through a blender. You know the other fella probably got off worse.”

“Chip recons that he is charming as hell, and who am I to poke holes in his theory. That means that sometimes lies leave his mouth dressed like truth. He just can’t help it.”

“She laughed. I closed my eyes. It sounded damn mournful, that laugh of hers echoing off the square.”