All the stuff our fathers took for granted as long as you worked hard, the great safety net and the fair wage and the gold watch at the end of it all? That's all gone around here, my friend.

— Dennis Lehane

And often the worst thing wasn't the victims--they were dead, after all, and beyond any more pain. The worst thing was those who loved them and survived them. Often the walking dead from now on, shell-shocked, hearts ruptured, stumbling through the remainder of their lives without anything left inside of them but blood and organs, impervious to pain, having learned nothing except that the worst things did, in fact, sometimes happen. (Mystic River)

— Dennis Lehane

Angie was where most of me began and all of me ended.

— Dennis Lehane

Brendan knew about the truth. In most cases, it was just a matter of deciding whether you wanted to look it in the face or live with the comfort of ignorance and lies. And ignorance and lies were often underrated. Most people Brendan knew couldn't make it through the day without a saucerful of ignorance and a side of lies.

— Dennis Lehane

But as the years passed, he missed her more, not less, and his need for her became a cut that would not scar over, would not stop leaking.

— Dennis Lehane

Choice, I've always believed, is all that separates us from animals.

— Dennis Lehane

Chuck said, “Hey. How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Carla looked over at him. “I’ll bite. How many?” “Fish,” Chuck said and let loose a bright bark of a laugh.

— Dennis Lehane

Danny could see it in their faces when they shook Steve’s hand—they’d have preferred him dead. Death allowed for the illusion of heroism. The maimed turned that illusion into an uncomfortable odor.

— Dennis Lehane

Do you know the primary difference between men and gods? ... Gods don’t think they can become men

— Dennis Lehane

Each day in this country, twenty-three hundred children are reported missing.

— Dennis Lehane