The Exorcist

by William Peter Blatty

“Have you ever heard of exorcism, Mrs. MacNeil?”

“Who’s in there with her?” Karras asked. Chris looked up at him, expressionless. “No one.”

I tend to see possession most often in the little things, Damien: in the senseless, petty spites and misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Between husbands and wives. Enough of these and we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves … for ourselves.”