"There's nothing like rejection to make you do an inventory of yourself."
"I think the "crime novel" has replaced the sociological novel of the 1930s. I think the progenitor of that tradition is James M. Cain, who in my view is the most neglected writer in American literature."
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Source: James Lee Burke (2007). “Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel”, p.342, Simon and Schuster
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"I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself, one day I'm going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box."
"The real gladiators of the world are so humble in their origins and unremarkable in appearance that when we stand next to them in a grocery-store line, we never guess how brightly their souls can burn in the dark."
"If there is any human tragedy, there is only one, and it occurs when we forget who we are and remain silent while a stranger takes up residence inside our skin."
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