# Quote — Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

> Anything can be an instrument, Chigurh said. Small things. Things you wouldnt even notice. They pass from hand to hand. People dont pay attention. And then one day there's an accounting. And after that nothing is the same. Well, you say. It's just a coin. For instance. Nothing special there. What could that be an instrument of? You see the problem. To separate the act from the thing. As if the parts of some moment in history might be interchangeable with the parts of some other moment. How could that be? Well, it's just a coin. Yes. That's true. Is it?

- Author: [Cormac McCarthy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy.md)
- Book: [No Country for Old Men](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men#Quotes) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/anything-can-be-an-instrument

## More from this book

> If it ain't a mess, it'll do till the mess gets here.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/if-it-aint.md)

> All the time you spend tryin to get back what's been took from you there's more goin out the door. After a while you just try and get a tourniquet on it.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/all-the-time.md)

> If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/if-the-rule.md)