“You will always pass failure on the way to success.”

“Had I been brighter, the ladies been gentler, the liquor weaker, the gods kinder, the dice hotter - it might have all ended up in a one-sentence story.”

“Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.”

“I'm always on the lookout for something good about people. Often months go by.”

“My mother always called me 'sturdy' and said I have big bones. A little fat is what I am.”

“Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'.”

“Guys like you can't escape the city. Hell, you a got a blood contract with this place. You're married to the old girl.”