“We get together with people because they're the same or because they're different, and in the end we split with them for exactly the same reasons.”

“The same crime element that white people are scared of black people are scared of. While they waiting for legislationto pass, we next door to the killer. All them killers they let out,they're in that building. Just because we black,we get along with the killers? What is that?”

“Writing nonfiction means I tell people's stories for them, not because they're special but because we all are.”

“But there are roughly two sorts of informed people, aren't there? People who start off right by observing the pitfalls and mistakes and going round them, and the people who fall into them and get out and know they're there because of that. They both come to the same conclusions but they don't have quite the same point of view.”

“I wanted to tell them that the reason they get hounded by their women is because they truly care about the world we live in, that they're the dispensers of the details that keep us human.”

“He shakes his head. "They're hunting the Enkis. I know that. And I get that. But . . . we're special.""The reason they want them is because they're special. Anchovies aren't going to cure anyone.""That's not the special I mean." He catches another fish and hugs it to his chest.I'm trying to be gentle. "They're only special to you because they're yours.""I could say the same thing about that cute kid you were holding."Well, shit.”