Status Updates From The Silence of the Lambs (H...

"inattention can be a stratagem to avoid pain, and that it is often misread as shallowness and indifference,"

"When her pupils darkened, Dr Lecter took a single sip of her pain and found it exquisite. That was enough for today. He went on,"

"A lock of Dr Lecter's hair fell between his maroon eyes. He was as pale as the mask. Senator Martin and Hannibal Lecter considered each other, one extremely bright and the other not measurable by any means known to man."

"a middle-aged man can be so desperate for wisdom he may try to make some up, and how deadly that can be to a youngster who believes him. So he spoke carefully, and only of things he knew."

“‘She’s glorious, isn’t she? Remote and glorious. A winger sunset of a girl, that’s the way I think of her,’”

“She didn’t look at him. She didn’t want to match stares now. This was not a confrontation.”

“Silence can mock.”

“Dr Lecter, murderer of nine, had his fingers steepled beneath his nose and he was watching her. Behind his eyes was endless night,”

"she envied Barney's enormous calm. His eyes read negative for dope and there was considerable intelligence behind them."

"'This is about my crucifixion watch,' Dr Lecter said…'Jesus is on the cross, as you see there, and the arms revolve to indicate the time, just like the arms on the popular Disney watches.'"

"'Hold on, girl,' she said aloud. She said it to Catherine Martin and she said it to herself. 'We're better than this room. We're better than this fucking place,' she said aloud. 'We're better than wherever he's got you. Help me. Help me. Help me.'"

"We rarely get to prepare ourselves in meadows or on graveled walks; we do it on short notice in places without windows…in rooms like this, with so little time, we prepare our gestures, get them by heart so we can do them when we're frightened in the face of Doom. Starling was old enough to know that; she didn't let the room affect her."