The Ballad of Black Tom Quotes

“Nobody ever thinks of himself as a villain, does he? Even monsters hold high opinions of themselves.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“I'll take Cthulhu over you devils any day.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“I bear a hell within me," Black Tom growled. "And finding myself unsympathized with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“What was indifference compared to malice?”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“You can’t choose blindness when it suits you. Not anymore.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Mankind didn’t make messes; mankind was the mess.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“This is how you hustle the arcane. Skirt the rules but don’t break them.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Give people what they expect and you can take from them all that you need.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“But a wealthy man’s reality is remade at will.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“There were others who would have called him a scammer, a swindler, a con, but he never thought of himself this way. No good charlatan ever did.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“How many times did you shoot my father?” Tester asked. “I felt in danger for my life,” Mr. Howard said. “I emptied my revolver. Then I reloaded and did it again.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Walking through Harlem first thing in the morning was like being a single drop of blood inside an enormous body that was waking up. Brick and mortar, elevated train tracks, and miles of underground pipe, this city lived; day and night it thrived.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Even monsters hold high opinions of themselves.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Destroy if all, then hand what was left over to Robert Suydam and these gathered goons? What would they do differently? Mankind didn't make messes; mankind was the mess.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“The veil of ignorance has been set over your face since birth. Shall I pull it free?”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“What was indifference compared to malice? “Indifference would be such a relief,” Tommy said.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Because to watch would be to understand the play isn't being staged for us.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“This was the first time in his life he ever played well. “Don’t you mind people grinning in your face,” Tommy sang. “Don’t mind people grinning in your face.” Few on the platform gave him their attention, another guitar man in Harlem being as unremarkable as the arc lights along the sidewalks. “I said bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find. Don’t you mind people grinning in your face.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“A Negro walking through this white neighborhood at damn near midnight? He might as well be Satan strolling through Eden.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“The Sleeping King is dead but dreaming.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“A good hustler isn't curious. A good hustler only wants his pay.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“He thought of himself as an entertainer. The were others who would have called him a scammer, a swindler, a con, but he never thought og himself this way. No good charlatan ever did.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“He had, in fact, expected to be paid to play for one evening because that's exactly what the man promised three days earlier. But a wealthy man's reality is remade at will.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“A fear of cosmic indifference seemed comical, or downright naive....Beyond them he saw the police forces at the barricade as they muscled the crowd of Negroes back; he saw the decaying facade of his tenement with new eyes; he saw the patrol cars parked in the middle of the road like three great black hounds waiting to pounce on all these gathered sheep. What was indifference compared to malice?”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“The Sleeping King. At some point Suydam called this being by another name, his true name, but Tommy Tester could never recall it. Or perhaps his mind chose to forget.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Guns and badges don’t scare everyone,”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“There is a King who sleeps at the bottom of the ocean.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Give people what they expect and you can take from them all that you need. They”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“Every time I was around them, they acted like I was a monster. So I said goddamnit, I'll be the worst monster you ever saw!”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

“I bear a hell within me,” Black Tom growled. “And finding myself unsympathized with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.” “You’re a monster, then,” Malone said. “I was made one.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom