“He would conclude that nothing was real except chance.”

“I'm frightened of nothing anymore," answered Fell simply, "except lies. For they're the real killers.”

“The exception is more interesting than the rule. The rule proves nothing; the exception proves everything. In the exception the power of real life breaks through the crust of a mechanism that has become torpid by repetition.”

“The real question is what to live for. And I can't answer it. Except another one of your records. And another chance for me to write. Art for art's sake, corny as that sounds.”

“The American white relegates the black to the rank of shoeshine boy; and he concludes from this that the black is good for nothing but shining shoes.”

“There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.”