'You're going to write straight and simple and good now. That's the start.' 'What if I'm not straight and… — Ernest Hemingway

Now Tom was - the hell with that, he said to himself. It is something that happens to everybody. I should know about that by now. It is the only thing that is really final, though.

How do you know that? he asked himself. Going away can be final. Walking out the door can be final. Any form of real betrayal can be final. Dishonesty can be final. Selling out is final. But you are just talking now. Death is what is really final.

All a man has is pride. Sometimes you have it so much it is a sin. We have all done things for pride that we knew were impossible. We didn't care. But a man must implement his pride with intelligence and care.

'Shit,' said Eddie. 'What the fuck they kill that Davy for?'

'Let's leave it alone, Eddy,' Thomas Hudson said. 'It's way past things we know about.'