Germanic peepholes

“Let them think what they liked, but I didn't mean to drown myself. I meant to swim till I sank -- but that's not the same thing.”
― Joseph Conrad, The Secret Sharer and other stories

“She quoted a dead playwright and called me a bullet with nothing but a future. She understood my lack of self-pity. She knew why I despised everything that might restrict my forward momentum. She knew that bullets have no conscience. They speed past things and miss their marks as often as they hit them.”
― James Ellroy, My Dark Places

“Heroes only come in three kinds:dead, damaged or dubious.”
― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

“Powerful people have no regrets.”
― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram