Andrew Vachss > Andrew's Quotes

“In my world, people are always plotting. You
have no idea of all the crimes people in business commit every
day. Like it was nothing. Or there’s a set of special rules for them.
Remember when Bush made that whole speech about ‘corporate
ethics’ last year? What a fraud. You think stuff like Enron or
WorldCom is an aberration? It’s only the tip. Business is a religion.
Probably the only one practiced all over the world.”
― Andrew Vachss, Down Here

“When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.”
― Andrew Vachss, Sacrifice

“Most investigators don't even know what the word means. You stop the cops from using informants and the only crimes they'd ever solve would be those by deranged postal workers who come to work once too often.”
― Andrew Vachss, False Allegations

“People who don't have much get ugly about giving up the little they have left.”
― Andrew Vachss

“Fear is an enemy that can be killed only at close range. The closest range of all is intimacy. The deeper the fear is embedded in one’s spirit, the more vulnerable it is.”
― Andrew Vachss, Haiku

“I wanted to ask her what the fuck was wrong but I had a date with a pack of skittish whores.”
― Andrew Vachss, Pain Management

“It's the family you choose that counts.”
― Andrew Vachss

“Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand," the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce Wayne”
― Andrew Vachss, Batman: The Ultimate Evil

“Life is a fight, but not everyone’s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.”
― Andrew Vachss, Terminal

“The Bowery station on the J line is what happens to a neighborhood once politicians realize the people who live there don’t vote.”
― Andrew Vachss, Terminal

“A dog is like a person—he needs a job and a family to be what he’s meant to be.”
― Andrew Vachss

“Cats are the lap-dancers of the animal world. Soon as you stop shelling out, they move on, find another lap. They're furry little sociopaths. Pretty and slick -- in love with themselves. When's the last time you saw a seeing-eye cat?”
― Andrew Vachss, Safe House

“Stealing to eat ain’t criminal—stealing to be rich is.”
― Andrew Vachss, A Bomb Built in Hell

“I want to disabuse people of the idea that knowledge is power. Knowing how to get to Detroit is not the same thing as having the bus fare.”
― Andrew Vachss

“The Humane Society of America thinks Michael Vick should have a dog. I think whoever's in charge there should have a lobotomy.”
― Andrew Vachss

“It isn’t much use writing slogans on a wall if you plan to total the building.”
― Andrew Vachss, A Bomb Built in Hell

“If a train is coming at you, closing your eyes won't save you ... but if you look right at it, you at least have a chance to jump.”
― Andrew Vachss, The Weight

“The more bullets flying, the less accurate each individual slug has to be.”
― Andrew Vachss

“That’s Manhattan today—all the money goes up top, while the infrastructure wastes away from neglect. The famous skyline is a cheap trick now, a sleight-of-hand to draw your eye from the truth, as illusory as a bodybuilder with osteoporosis.”
― Andrew Vachss, Mask Market

“Perfection cannot be achieved by men," he told me. "Our highest calling is the pursuit of perfection. My haiku will be finished when I die, but it will never be perfect.”
― Andrew Vachss, Haiku

“Lawyers for abused kids can challenge bad agency decisions because they can always bring a lawsuit. A volunteer cannot.#barahona”
― Andrew Vachss

“You want proof evolution is for real, don’t waste your time with fossils; just check out the New York City rat. They started out as immigrants, stowaways in some ship’s cargo hold. Only the survivors got to breed, and they’ve been improving with every new
litter. Smarter, faster, stronger. Getting ready to rule. Manhattan wouldn’t be the first island they took over.”
― Andrew Vachss, Another Life

“[I] settled down with the Daily News and the Post, glad to be back with journalism where all murders are “brutal,” all prosecutors are “tough,” and all blondes are
“attractive.” And any lawyer who cooperates with the reporter is
“high-powered.”
― Andrew Vachss, Only Child

“The worst place to be is in the middle. When elephants fight, the grass
gets trampled.”
― Andrew Vachss, Footsteps of the Hawk

“Family' is not just a biological word, it's an an operative one.”
― Andrew Vachss

“Camouflage doesn't help when the other guy is willing to defoliate the whole jungle.”
― Andrew Vachss, False Allegations