“It was shaping up as a beautiful morning. The last thing I wanted to hear about was murder.”

“The key to excellent report writing' he said between chews, 'is to take every bit of passion out of it. Use an extra heaping portion of superflously extraneous tautological redundancies in order to make it mind-numbingly boring. So that when one's superior officers read it, they zone out and start skimming and maybe don't notice the fact that one has been spinning one's wheels since the body turned up and hasn't solved a goddamn thing.”

“I'd long thought that a surfeit of sensitivity could be a killing thing, too much insight malignant in its own right. The best survivors--there are studies that show it--are those blessed with an inordinate ability to deny. And keep on marching.”

“Her basic disposition was a good deal sunnier than mine. But I was a better faker.”

“Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience"."What's pessimism?" I said."Religion without God.”

“I saw this cartoon in the paper, once. That Viking, Hagar the Horrible? He’s standing on the mountaintop, holding his hands to the heavens, shouting “Why me?” And down from the heavens comes the answer: “Why not?” Maybe that’s the ultimate truth; what right to do I have to expect a smooth ride?”

“Pessimism is not good for the soul.""I sold my soul years ago.""To whom?""The bitch goddess Success. She cut town before paying off.”