Bright Orange for the Shroud Quotes

“Now, of course, having failed in every attempt to subdue the Glades by frontal attack, we are slowly killing it off by tapping the River of Grass. In the questionable name of progress, the state in its vast wisdom lets every two-bit developer divert the flow into drag-lined canals that give him 'waterfront' lots to sell. As far north as Corkscrew Swamp, virgin stands of ancient bald cypress are dying. All the area north of Copeland had been logged out, and will never come back. As the glades dry, the big fires come with increasing frequency. The ecology is changing with egret colonies dwindling, mullet getting scarce, mangrove dying of new diseases born of dryness.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“I needed a slob summer. The machine was abused. Softness at the waist. Tremor of the hands. Bad tastes in the morning. A heaviness of muscle and bone, a tendency to sigh. Each time you wonder, Can you get it back? The good toughness and bounce and tirelessness, the weight down to a rawhide two oh five, a nasty tendency to sing during the morning shower, the conviction each day will contain wondrous things?”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“All women are at war all the time, and when I’ve got hunger pains, it shows a little more.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“The intelligence of a mob can be determined by dividing the lowest IQ present by the number of people in the mob.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“The fact remains, we got the evidence right in front of us, the decay of the nashal moral fiber, mob rule in the streets, violence, punks killing decen’ people. Am I right or am I right?”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“You can be with a person for three hours of your life and have a friend. Another one will remain an acquaintance for thirty years.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“For the expendable marriage, you give the expendable gift.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“anxious little smile that came and went—a mendicant”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“list, limited to those random salty souls who can get away, hold their liquor, endure sunshine, make good talk, swim the reefs, navigate, handle the lines, slay food fish and appreciate the therapeutic value of silence. It is the McGee version of being a loner—merely having some people about to whom you don’t have to constantly react.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“Acquaintance rather than friend. The dividing line is communication, I think. A friend is someone to whom you can say any jackass thing that enters your mind. With acquaintances, you are forever aware of their slightly unreal image of you, and to keep them content, you edit yourself to fit. Many marriages are between acquaintances. You can be with a person for three hours of your life and have a friend. Another one will remain an acquaintance for thirty years.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“we turned north on 951 before we reached Naples, then west on 846 to come out at Naples Park Beach eight miles north of the city.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“emanating from the thirty-thousand-dollar home on a quiet residential street in Naples”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud

“Many marriages are between acquaintances. You can be with a person for three hours of your life and have a friend. Another one will remain an acquaintance for thirty years.”
― John D. MacDonald, Bright Orange for the Shroud