Moth Smoke Quotes
"In short, fat somewhat paradoxically involves the lack of many attributes which, you must concede, are generally held to be good."
"I never explain any further: one cannot explain Aretha Franklin; either you are enlightened or you are not."
"I was growing red, my mouth working desperately, when the boy strode purposefully into the workroom with a glint in his eye and the tip of his tongue between his lips."
"If you learn nothing else about violent conflict, learn this: never rush."
"From my long years in the service profession I have learned both that the customer is always right and that if he steps far enough out of line, threatening him with execution-style murder is a valid although rarely exercisable option."
"I wake up sweating, staring at a motionless ceiling fan. Damn. They’ve cut my electricity."
"The moment is frozen in my memory: the blank faces above their expensive outfits, the colorful clothing on shiny metal racks, the motionless, impossibly slender mannequins, the gasping inhalation that preceded the woman’s scream, the change in pressure as the door of an air-conditioned space is opened."
"Your robes are itching and you crook a finger at one of your clerks. ‘Have we considered air-conditioning?’ you ask him."
"He leans forward. ‘Do you want a cigarette?’ I tilt my head. ‘What do you mean?’ He pulls a pack out of his shirt pocket. ‘Reds?’ ‘Reds.’"
"But Murad Badshah was in the rickshaw business, and he had to accommodate passengers whose opinions (at least on this subject) often differed from his."
"I have to admit that it’s surprisingly pleasant out here, with the ice and fans and shade."
"The pioneer of academic commentary in this field is Professor Julius Superb."
"And with a final tug the machhar’s string is cut, leaving it to flop onto its back and drift gracefully, more steady in death than it was in life, until it plunges onto a lawn several houses away."
"I feel something straighten my back, a strange excitement, the posture-correcting force of pride."
"It’s better than living on nothing a month, champ."
"Some things are too good. They make everything else worthless."
"Once you’ve started, there’s no way to stop, so there’s nothing to be guilty about."
"It’s amazing what the gene pool will do to perpetuate itself."
"There’s just a shortage of good people willing to do it."
"This is wrong, saab. You shouldn’t sell charas."
"He feels love deeply and he’s almost belligerent about showing it."
"The roads are falling apart, so you need a Pajero or a Land Cruiser."
"But if Ozi loves you, you know it. You can swim in it, get a tan."
"Why did you write that article about prostitutes?"
"If he’d become twisted enough to sleep with my wife, who knows what he might have done to me."
"I’m not going to work at a mindless job for ten a month."
"I shut my eyes and reenter the dizziness that spins inside my head like two drinks too many too fast too strong."
"‘How will you pay for this?’ ‘I don’t know.’"
"‘You look less monstrous every day.’ ‘So do you.’"
"What are you to make of the testimony of the witnesses who saw the accused kill the boy, of the witnesses who recall the make, model, and registration of a car the accused concedes to be his, fleeing the scene of the crime?"
"‘You can’t just walk away from this,’ I say."
"‘I don’t love you,’ she says. ‘And the reason you’re so desperate to think you’re in love with me is because your life is going nowhere and you know it.’"
"I’m not going to be coming to see you anymore."
"‘It’s me again: Mumtaz. Now commonly called ‘the monster.’"
"‘The Trial, by Zulfikar Manto.’ It is the story of my innocence."