“If Jesus Christ treated me like you do, I’d drive in the nails myself.”

“Heroin got the drive awright-but there’s not a tingle to a ton-you got to get M to get the tingle-tingle.”

“I bet you think fellas are the ones to remember a girl -- don't you?"He shook his head hurriedly, that he'd always thought that."Fellas have all the fun 'n she just sees one right after another, so it seems like HE'D remember her, better 'n SHE'D remember him, only it works the other way around. I ain't forgot one single fella, all these years. But I bet there ain't TWO 'd know me from a big of bananas this minute.”

“Any writer who knows what he's doing isn't doing very much.”

“Yet once you've come to be part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.”

“When I burn please bury me deepSomewhere on West Division StreetPut a bottle beneat' my head'n a bottle beneat' my feet”

“If you feel you belong to things as they are, you won’t hold up anyone in the alley no matter how hungry you may get. And you won’t write anything that anyone will read a second time either.”