Ross Thomas > Quotes

“I think she must have lived where all the sad poets live, in that secret place where everything hurts all the time.”
― Ross Thomas

“The redheaded homicide detective stepped through the door at 7:30 A.M. and out into the August heat that already had reached 88 degrees. By noon the temperature would hit 100, and by two or three o'clock it would be hovering around 105. Frayed nerves would then start to snap and produce a marked increase in the detective's business. Breadknife weather, the detective thought. Breadknives in the afternoon.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“Dying in vain isn't really all that bad since nearly everyone does it. It's the living in vain you really have to watch out for.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“The eyes were large and gray and in a certain light looked soft, gentle, and even innocent. Then the light would change, the innocence would vanish, and the eyes looked like year-old ice.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“Very well, sir, to crime.”
― Ross Thomas, The Singapore Wink

“The rain was steady and unrelenting and, like all steady and unrelenting things, boring.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“In its first postwar year Bonn remained what it had always been since the Romans founded it in 12 B.C.—sleepy, which was a guidebook euphemism for dull. And if Bonn was sleepy, Bad Godesberg was unconscious.”
― Ross Thomas, The Eighth Dwarf

“They were the only kind he ever wore, primarily because they were all exactly alike and when he reached into the sock drawer, he didn’t have to worry about whether they matched.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“The eyes were larger and gray and in a certain light looked soft, gentle, and even innocent. Then the light would change, the innocence would vanish, and the eyes looked like year-old ice.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“Old habits, good or bad, die hard.” “But as Proust noted, they also fill up time. This way, please.”
― Ross Thomas, Twilight at Mac's Place

“What I figure I’m really doing is growing my own briarpatch. Grow it high enough and thick enough, there ain’t nobody gonna come poking around in it.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“She was wearing a dark-red swimsuit consisting of two small triangles up above and a mere suggestion of something down below. If she took everything off, Dill thought, she would look a lot less naked.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“The laugh came then, a marvelous honking hoorah so infectious that Dill felt it should be quarantined.”
― Ross Thomas, Briarpatch

“a Debs socialist. His son—my old man—sat down and cried when Taft lost the nomination to Eisenhower in ‘fifty-two.” She leaned back in the leather chair. “So when did the vote bug bite?” “In high school. I was a pretty fair debater and I got the notion of becoming a lawyer and maybe going into politics after I discovered how good winning made me feel. Winning anything. Later, I discovered there’s nothing like winning an election. Absolutely nothing.” “How old were you?” “When I first ran? Twenty-seven. I got elected county attorney, served a couple of two-year terms, sent some rich crooks to jail, got my name in the paper and then went back into private practice where I made a nice living defending the same kind of rich crooks I’d once prosecuted. When I thought I’d made enough money, I ran for the supreme court and won.” “How much was enough?” Adair shrugged. “Two or three million, around in there.” “How’d you get to be chief justice?” “The members of the court elect one of their own every four years.” “Sounds weird.” “It’s a weird state. After I’d served on the court four years, they always elected me for some reason.” “For some reason,” she said. Adair nodded and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He made no attempt to hide his curiosity when he said, “I’m obliged to hear about it.” “About what?” “How you really got elected mayor.” Huckins examined Adair dispassionately, as if he were some just-caught fish that she could either keep or toss back into the lake.”
― Ross Thomas, The Fourth Durango