A Cesspool > A Cesspool's Quotes

“Just tell the truth, and they'll accuse you of writing black humor. ”
― Charles Willeford

“Nothing human surprises me.”
― Charles Willeford

“A pistol ain't good for nothin' but killing other human beings, man.”
― George Pelecanos, Right as Rain

“Parker simply went where money was and took it away.”
― Richard Stark, The Handle

“There is something about a man with a beard I cannot stand. No particular reason for it. Prejudice, I suppose. I feel the same way about cats.”
― Charles Willeford, Pick-Up

“He's a man who didn't hear the twig snap.”
― Richard Stark, Butcher's Moon

“...at Warner Brothers, the casting debate for the bad guy’s off-sider continued unabated. Jon Peters suggested Gary Busey. Now Gary was the villain’s off-sider in Under Siege, and was killed at the end of that movie when he was hit by a 16-inch shell from the USS Missouri while in a submarine. The scene seemed to leave little chance that he could have survived. Jon was undeterred by this and suggested we give him a scar. He then went ahead and unilaterally made Gary an offer. It turned out that Seagal had a clause in his contract that gave him right of approval over decisions concerning the key cast members, and he regarded this as such a decision. He was enraged: his contract had been violated by Jon’s unilateral action. He had been fighting with Jon over a number of issues for some time and had had enough — it was time for a showdown.”
― Geoff Murphy, Geoff Murphy: A Life on Film - I'm taking this bloody car to Invercargill

“Turturro is coming in to play the pederast," Joel said. "He said he’d do his best F. Murray Abraham.”
― Alex Belth, The Dudes Abide: The Coen Brothers and the Making of The Big Lebowski

“George Ellard, the chief author of the inspector general’s report, has heard that almost two decades of twenty-three-hour-a-day solitary confinement have sharply diminished Hanssen’s cognitive skills. FBI profiler Kathleen Puckett says much the same: “Now he’s like a zombie. He doesn’t speak in coherent sentences. He’s almost catatonic,” although no one knows for sure if it’s a pose Hanssen has consciously adopted or real.”
― Lis Wiehl, A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of America's Most Damaging Russian Spy and the Implications for National Security Today

“Don’t put yore fingers in my nose no more, Mister — that hurts!”
― Charles Willeford, Deliver Me from Dallas

“What about me?" Skinner said, in a hoarse whisper.

"What's going to happen to me?"
Hoke hit Skinner again with a hard right fist, and Skinner, clutching his stomach, fell to the floor. Hoke picked up the skinny sculpture and opened the door, Figueras came back in for the paintings, then rejoined Hoke at the elevator. If he was curious about Skinner, writhing and groaning on the parquet, he didn't say anything.”
― Charles Willeford, Sideswipe

“By now Moonves must have been far beyond his third vodka of the evening. In his last text of the day, to Schwartz at 10:36 p.m., he was all but incoherent: “We need to lay their clowns think early on we are no hardship Barr no and will ill them handcuffs off. If they want to bring it n watch out. We will decimate. Old Sara we haven’t done anything but party with you. Now we will kill Scarw her big. All of them scare them. I am going to prevent this public bulls hit rightbaway. And let’s go after them head on NOW.”
― James B. Stewart, Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy

“The tip of a cane is the dirtiest thing in the world.”
― Charles Willeford, Sideswipe: A Hoke Moseley Detective Thriller by Charles Willeford

“By the end of a short walk, the septic tip of a cane probably collects enough germs to destroy a small city.”
― Charles Willeford, Sideswipe

“You aren't worth much,' he said, and turned around, and walked away.”
― Richard Stark, Firebreak

“All I want is to be in a place I’m not trying to get out of.”
― Richard Stark, Breakout

“George Lucas had a very Old Testament view of not forgiving,” Gary Kurtz said. “Once he was wronged, he would always remember it.”
― Steve Kozak, A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened

“According to biographer Dale Pollock, George Lucas’s career is full of people leaving his projects feeling bitter and resentful: “He tends to use people up and move on.”
― Steve Kozak, A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened

“JAKE DOVER: "The important thing was to be alive at the end; and in this respect, the Yankee and your father were both victors. And in war, or in just plain old day-to-day living, the important thing is to win—not how you win.”
JOHNNY SHAW: “No, sir. I don’t believe that, Mr. Dover.”
JAKE DOVER: “Don’t start jumping to any quick decisions yet; I’ve got more to say. When I get through talking, you can do as you please. And I don’t care what you decide to do. You’ll find that not caring balances off caring too much, when it comes to survival in this world.”
― Charles Willeford, The Difference

“No whiskey, no religion, nothing.”
― Charles Willeford, Pick-Up

“I owe David Geffen big, with regard to my growing self­ awareness at the time.
One night we were having dinner and in the course of talking about something or other, he said, "Angry people like us..."

I couldn't get the phrase out of my mind:

"Angry people like us..."

Finally, I realized that I wasn't angry. I was furious.”
― Dawn Steel, They Can Kill You..but They Can't Eat You

“Deal-making is not so much about negotiation as it is about putting a price on your appetite and then sticking to it in every deal.”
― Dawn Steel, They Can Kill You..but They Can't Eat You

“David Kirkpatrick, a bald, former Jesuit student, whose smile never looked real, had the dubious distinction of being the executive with the longest run without a hit. We used to have a pool: When will Kirkpatrick get a hit? It didn't happen during my tenure. In fact, he became known as "The Teflon Executive, " because wherever he went, failure always followed. But for the longest time, it seemed that the bombs never stuck to him.”
― Dawn Steel, They Can Kill You..but They Can't Eat You

“...every time I exhaled, I either peed or farted.”
― Dawn Steel, They Can Kill You..but They Can't Eat You

“I called Matthew Broderick. The radiophone was working again.
'Hi, Matthew, I hear you want to talk about the script. Over.'
'Yeah, well, I have a lot of notes…'
He neglected to say “over.” In fact, in all our conversations on the radiophone, he petulantly refused to say it, so I never quite knew when he was done talking and it was time for me to PTT (push to talk).”
― Ed Zwick, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood

“One of Patsy Broderick's choicer comments was to describe my writing as 'limp as a penis.”
― Ed Zwick, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood

“Who found the material, who pursued the material and how, who bought the material, whose account is true or accurate: these might not seem consequential questions now. But they have definite implications on the other side of the film’s making and marketing, and in the wake of relationships that sustained, and relationships that broke, in the years after.”
― Glenn Kenny, Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas

“

Irwin Winkler did not share the credit of “Producer.” He had the power to do that because he had control of the book’s movie rights. Barbara De Fina’s credit was changed to “Executive Producer.” Additionally, once CAA (Scorsese's talent agency) got into it, her profit participation points on the movie were decreased.

Recounting the situation thirty years after the fact, De Fina fumes. 'Winkler just — I mean, I — and everyone else that had been working on it. And then he wasn’t even there. He visited the set a few times, got his picture taken in the director’s chair.'

”
― Glenn Kenny, Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas

“Barbara De Fina said that Irwin Winkler was, and has been, “nothing but nasty” to her. She told the story of a party that Winkler and his wife, Margo, attended; on seeing Barbara, Margo said, “The two producers are here,” and Winkler responded with words to the effect that there was only one producer. (De Fina retains affection for Margo, whom she calls “lovely.”)”
― Glenn Kenny, Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas

“I’ve got my wife, Judy, in the car,” John said.
“I’ve heard of her,“ a young man shouted from the crowd.
“What you heard about her is not true,” John replied. “They never went to bed.”
Smokey was astonished. John was crazy drunk, making no sense.
“This guy is a killer,” John said, pointing at Smokey and throwing the problem of the stranger his way. Smokey backed away and guided John outside.
“What the hell was that about Judy?” Smokey asked. “It’s between us,” John replied.
In the limousine, the others were drinking champagne. “ I’m tired of you fooling around ,” John said to Judy.
She threw her glass of champagne in his face.
John leapt out of the car and ran toward the club. Smokey followed and grabbed John in a full body embrace, locking his arms at his side.
“Let me celebrate my birthday!” John yelled. He broke loose, turned and clutched Smokey’s jacket. “You piss me off,” he said. “Don’t ever grab me again—never, never!”
Smokey nodded. They walked to the car. Before they had driven the four blocks to Morton Street, John had passed out. Smokey carried him inside, undressed him and put him into bed.”
― Bob Woodward, Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi