The Best People Quotes

“Justice should be blind, but not blind with greed. The people must have faith in the fundamental fairness and impartiality of our system of justice if we are to have order in our society. Those who make a mockery of it must not go unpunished.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“I would think he knows what goes around comes around." "Lordy," Prentice thought. "If so, you have a hellacious coming around sooner or later.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“There for me.' I'm so tired of that phrase. Where is 'there?”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“Hummers have all that steel. It's like being in a tank. We'd be very safe." "Well, perhaps you would be," Will said. "But what about the other people?" "What other people Willoughby?”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“His looks were the kind that improved with age if one had the confidence that came with success but became blander if one did not.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“The fate of some women: "She was beyond gorgeous. And damaged as hell. Why did those two always seem to go together?”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“She asked him to meet her at Elegante. He agreed, but he felt somehow wronged. Exiting the garage, he realized what bothered him. For the first time, he felt going to Elegante was a consolation prize. Why hadn't Mrs. Cook invited him to her country club?”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“On social barriers, VJ Simon, the Indian-Jewish venture capitalist in The Best People observed: "Some of those rich and powerful people I met risked a few dollars with me. They only risked money. They didn't risk their social status. We never met at one of their clubs. We had lunch at Elegante. I thought of it as the five o' clock curtain.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“Like Paddy Moran says about being a divorce lawyer: "Clients call us at their darkest hour. Whether they want out or their spouse does, they're angry, hurt and anxious or just plain vindictive. We become their new best friends. At some point, it's over, and it's like we never existed. Bye-bye, best friends. Usually, they never want to hear from us again.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“Margot Shears says to Paddy - on lawyers crossing the line: "You really think I would believe you did those things in furtherance of your duty to your client? Paddy, Paddy, Paddy. Shame on you. Nobody sins for somebody else.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“You got that right, buddy," Paddy thought, but what Frost saw was a man nodding his dead in a knowing and sympathetic way. Paddy had learned the trick from a funeral parlor director in Brooklyn.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“They passed a table with five women. Margot waved but didn't stop to chat. "They look alike. Are they sisters?" "No. they just go to the same plastic surgeon," she deadpanned.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“You're lucky you chose Houston. It's a true meritocracy here. I'm from Dallas, which is more closed. Houston is wide open. Here, you work hard, you succeed. It doesn't matter who your parents or grandparents were. Nearly all doors are open. If one isn't, you build your own door and march right through it.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“You may not like what I'm saying, but the cops and these people have a sort of code. So long as the rich and powerful don't go overboard, cops give them the slack that people who live in the barrios or Third Ward or the trailer parks don't get”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“My guess is her attraction to him was his power in the one universe in Houston she and Gary knew: Walker & Travis.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“Large firms are interesting places, Mr. Moran. They are their own universe, and the masters of that universe are all-knowing, even when the information is about one of their own.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“The physics of life is that every choice forecloses other choices.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“He was also working the phone at the bar association’s free legal line. It was win-win. Poor folks have some of the same questions rich folks do. The more situations he had to contemplate, the better prepared he would be for whatever was coming. Besides, he began to understand that sometimes the best thing lawyers can do for people is to let them know they aren’t alone when faced with navigating the slippery slopes of the legal system. Even a rocket scientist couldn’t do it alone.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors

“But let me tell you one more thing, Paddy Moran. This comes from hard experience. Be careful. This may be the fourth-largest city in the United States, but everyone knows everyone here. It's a bad place to fall.”
― Marc Grossberg, The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors