Stanley Wheeler > Quotes

“I’ve never cared for kisses on the cheek. That’s the sort of thing you expect from a parent, a sister, or an aunt with bad teeth. It’s about as satisfying as pouring whiskey into your sock.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“I kept watching those pliable lips to see if they would speak again, but she didn’t say anymore. It’s a rare thing that, a dame who won’t tell you more than you want to know. I could tell there was something special about her. But I was troubled…troubled by the thought that she had a husband…and that she wanted me to find him.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“I brought a hand to my cheek and watched them go. But I didn’t wipe away the lipstick; for the moment, it was all that I had.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“Unfortunately, I could tell that she was not the kind of girl to introduce herself with a kiss.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“That’s the thing with dames…they often want you to know that they have something on their mind; but that’s all they want you to know. They don’t want you to know what it is; they don’t want to talk about it…except, of course, for when they do want to talk about it.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“there was something intelligent…and slightly terrifying behind those eyes. But it was the sort of terrifying that begged to be explored, like a book with an interesting title. She was one of those titles that, once you had seen it, called for you to thumb through the pages to read a paragraph here and there; before you knew it, you were marching in obedient lockstep with the lines of print as they led you to battle the demons of the writer’s tormented soul.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke

“I’d seen men siphon gasoline with less effort than she put into draining that Chesterfield; she didn’t let any of it go to waste. That cigarette knew that it had been smoked, smoked to the bitter end.”
― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke