Charcoal Joe Quotes

“But I wasn’t there to treat the incurable ills of megalomania.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“Letting her go freed me. The dog of my heart didn’t want that freedom but my soul, whatever that is, yearned for it. I was that tiny ant, mindlessly repeating the mantra of life”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“I was set against a whole cadre of bad men, and maybe a woman or two. I liked that, because danger forces you to appreciate life; to understand its frailty, transience, and its incalculable value. But beyond drugs and danger, the thrill in my body was a delayed reaction to the separation between me and Bonnie Shay.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“was set against a whole cadre of bad men, and maybe a woman or two. I liked that, because danger forces you to appreciate life; to understand its frailty, transience, and its incalculable value. But beyond drugs and danger, the thrill in my body was a delayed reaction to the separation between me and Bonnie Shay.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“Daddy!” she cried. “Are you okay?” There are ten thousand perfectly good reasons not to have children but hearing the love in Feather’s voice trumped every one.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“What’s that got to do with a few gray hairs?” Angelo wanted to know. “Girl see one or two and she thinks maybe the man done aged enough to calm down, make somethin’ outta himself. She willin’ to let him look so maybe she could see what his prospects are like. That way a man like me might get a great night or a lifetime of pot roasts, fat babies, and halfhearted regrets.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“That was the hippie age, and truth was in movement and bodies and actions.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“The most dangerous people in the world were men like Desmond Bell. They became SS officers and postmasters; church deacons and cops. In their minds there was always a marching band playing the tune that they stepped to.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“there was enough trouble in my trough; I’d save the reeducation of the white race for sometime later in the week.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“Hector’s smile was the anticipation of another man’s pain. Primo”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“sautéed hot Italian sausage with brown mushrooms, minced garlic, stewed tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, dried oregano, and scallion greens. I added cayenne and red wine at the end and let the sauce simmer down into a gravy while I boiled water and then cooked the vermicelli pasta. I should have used Parmesan but”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“Oster blender. I poured that concoction into a griddle of sizzling butter, then sprinkled diced strawberries on the wet side. Three”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“There are ten thousand perfectly good reasons not to have children but hearing the love in Feather’s voice trumped every one.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe

“The fact that we once knew each other in Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas, and that we were both still alive and ambulatory, was a miracle in itself. Where we came from he’s dead was as common a phrase as he’s sick or he’s saved. People died in our world with appalling regularity.”
― Walter Mosley, Charcoal Joe