The Monkey Wrench Gang Quotes
"No matter that in actual fact the bridge has already known heavy commercial use for six months."
"That desert sun of Utah-Arizona, the infernal flaming plasmic meatball in the sky."
"The bridge stands clear and empty except for the cluster of notables at the center."
"The citizens wait; the official voices drone on and on into the mikes, through the haunted wiring, out of the addled speakers."
"The people wait. The speech goes on, many round mouths, one speech, and hardly a word intelligible."
"But he is not. Beyond the range of even the sharpest human eyes but perceptible to one another, other vultures wait, soaring lazily on the air."
"The real trouble with the goddamned Indians, reflected Hayduke, is that they are no better than the rest of us."
"The billboard’s destiny was predetermined, beyond appeal. The arc of its return to earth could have been computed to within a tolerance of three millimeters."
"Her "quarters" was a hemisphere of petrified polyurethane supported by a geodetic frame of cheap aluminum, the whole resting like an overgrown and pallid fungus on a lot with tomato patch in the wrong or southwestern sector of the city."
"The hot sun roared down through a sky blue as the Virgin’s cloak, emphasizing with its extravagant light the harsh perfection of the cliffs, the triumphant river, the preparations for a great voyage."
"The beaded light of afternoon slanted down beyond the canyon walls, whiskey-gold on rock and tree, a silent benison from the flawless sky."
"The new moon hung in the wine-dark firmament like a pale antiphonal response to the glory of the sun."
"The wilderness once offered men a plausible way of life, now it functions as a psychiatric refuge."
"Soon there will be no wilderness. Soon there will be no place to go. Then the madness becomes universal."
"River, rock, sun, blood, hunger, wings, joy—this is the real, Smith would have said, if he’d wanted to."
"A child came to me saying, ‘What is the lousewort?’ And I said, ‘Perhaps it is the handkerchief of the Lord.’"
"The sun-cured juniper burned with clear smokeless intensity, hot and bright."
"The desert speaks with many tongues, some forked."
"Sundown: a gory primal sunset lay splattered like pizza pie across the west."
"The sensation of freedom was exhilarating, though tinged with a shade of loneliness, a touch of sorrow."
"Somewhere in the depths of solitude, beyond wildness and freedom, lay the trap of madness."
"Every time I see somebody coming to do me good, I reach for my revolver."
"If constructive vandalism turns destructive, what then? Perhaps we'll be doing more harm than good."
"We need no chancres to remind me I'm just a prisoner of love."
"This is your car right here, George. This jeep. Don't climb in the window. Open the door."
"Even the vulture at evening likes to gather with his kin and swap a few stories."
"No matter how much air we have around here, we shouldn’t let others tell us what to do with our air."
"All I do is read dirty books, push dope and screw little girls."
"Even them truck drivers and construction workers they can get some ass whenever they want."
"Why, to light the lamps of Phoenix suburbs not yet built, to run the air conditioners of San Diego and Los Angeles, to illuminate shopping-center parking lots at two in the morning."
"We’re up against a mad machine, which mangles mountains and devours men."
"There's nothing more interesting than a woman, George. Not in this world."
"Our cause is just (just one damn thing after another) and God's on our side."
"Nothing he could do about it now. Beaten but grateful, he surrendered."
"A tactful man, Smith withdrew when the movie was over."
"Late next morning, at checkout time, they lay limp as kelp on a wet beach."
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every fucking form of tyranny."
"Doc thought he knew where the poison came from that had attacked the boy’s lungs."
"The Southwest had once been the place where Eastern physicians sent their more serious respiratory cases."
"Doc refused to yield; pumping on he raised one hand, the big general-purpose finger rigidly extended."
"He paused to contemplate the awful thing he had done. 'Thus I refute McLuhan,' he muttered."
"Smith lay in his bed beside his third wife and dreamed his troublesome dream."
"You love me and I’m glad. Now get the hell out of here."
"Informed sources disclosed privately. Coal company has long history of labor troubles."
"The only folks want this road are the mining companies and the oil companies and people like Bishop Love."
"I'm nervous. I'm always like this when I'm nervous."
"What we got is just two big motherfucking spot welds on the beams."
"That unwashed bastard might have a gun. He just might be crazy enough to shoot."
"I thought I did. You say he's behind that last tree?"
"You better come down outa there, Rudolf. There's six of us."
"I threw the fucker out. What're you worried about? He was dead."
"A bridge without approaches. With or without it, the road will be effectively cut."
"We’re going to live forever. Or know the reason why not."
"Never get in bed with a gal that’s got more problems than you have."
"One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothing can beat teamwork."
"For a real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothing can beat teamwork."
"If death is truly the worst that can happen to a man there is nothing to fear. But death is not the worst."
"The human race took a big step backwards from hunters and ranchers down to farmers."
"We might as well draw it right along Comb Ridge, the Monument Upwarp, and the Book Cliffs."
"You think I can’t take the lonesomeness. It can get bad, George."
"The only thing worse than a gentile is a goddamn jack Mormon."
"The world of dreams, the agony of love, and the foreknowledge of death. That is all we know."
"Reckon we oughta hole up now, George, get some sleep."
"Why wake him at all? We got to split up anyhow."
"He looks so vulnerable at the moment, so helpless and happy and almost human."
"You can't fool everybody, son. Not all the time."