The Exorcist Quotes

“God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“Perhaps evil is the crucible of goodness... and perhaps even Satan - Satan, in spite of himself - somehow serves to work out the will of God.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“We mourn the blossoms of May because they are to whither; but we know that May is one day to have its revenge upon November, by the revolution of that solemn circle which never stops---which teaches us in our height of hope, ever to be sober, and in our depth of desolation, never to despair.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us; but he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. His attack is psychological, Damien. And powerful.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“What looked like morning was the beginning of endless night”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“Yet I think the demon's target is not the possessed; it is us . . . the observers . . . every person in this house. And I think---I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial; as ultimately vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“You don't blame us for being here, do you? After all, we have no place to go. No home... Incidentally, what an excellent day for an exorcism...”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“As far as God goes, I _am_ a nonbeliever. Still am. But when it comes to a devil---well, that's something else.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“WHAT WE GIVE TO THE POOR IS WHAT WE TAKE WITH US WHEN WE DIE.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“There it lies, I think, Damien … possession; not in wars, as some tend to believe; not so much; and very rarely in extraordinary interventions such as here … this girl … this poor child. No, 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.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“The demon's target is not the possessed; it is us the observers..everyone in this house. I think the point is to make us despair..to reject our humanity: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial, vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“This century hasn't got the lock on insanity.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“How many husbands and wives must believe they have fallen out of love because their hearts no longer race at the sight of their beloveds!”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“We use concepts like "consciousness"---"mind"---"personality," but we don't really know yet what these things are.' He was shaking his head. 'Not really. Not at all.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“One death is the parent of a thousand lives”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror at all.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“From the cab stepped a tall old man. Black raincoat and hat and a battered valise. He paid the driver, then turned and stood motionless, staring at the house. The cab pulled away and rounded the corner of Thirty-sixty Street. Kinderman quickly pulled out to follow. As he turned the corner, he noticed that the tall old man hadn't moved but was standing under the streetlight glow, in mist, like a melancholy traveler frozen in time.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“The sun sinks to rise again; the day is swallowed up in the gloom of night, to be born out of it, as fresh as if it had never been quenched.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“The burnished rays of the setting sun flamed glory on the clouds of the western sky before shattering in gold and vermilion dapples on the darkening waters of the river. Once Karras met God in this sight. Long ago. Like a lover forsaken, he still kept the rendezvous.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“But a myth, to speak plainly, to me is like a menu in a fancy French restaurant: glamorous, complicated camouflage for a fact you wouldn't otherwise swallow, like maybe lima beans.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“In forgetting, they were trying to remember”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“the love had grown cold, and in the night he heard it whistling through the chambers of his heart like a lost and gently crying wind.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“How many husbands and wives,” Merrin uttered sadly, “must believe they have fallen out of love because their hearts no longer race at the sight of their beloveds. Ah, dear God!” He shook his head. And then he nodded. “There it lies, I think, Damien … possession; not in wars, as some tend to believe; not so much; and very rarely in extraordinary interventions such as here … this girl … this poor child. No, 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.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“The child was slender as fleeting hope.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“I think the demon’s target is not the possessed; it is us … the observers … every person in this house. And I think—I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial, vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy. And there lies the heart of it, perhaps: in unworthiness. For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love: of accepting the possibility that God could ever love us.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“In our sleep, pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. —Aeschylus”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“All I know is that things seem to happen. And, my dear, there are lunatic asylums all over the world filled with people who dabbled in the occult.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“Her shoes were comfortable. They reflected her hope for the evening.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“And I think—I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial, vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy. And there lies the heart of it, perhaps: in unworthiness. For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love: of accepting the possibility that God could ever love us.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist