Daniel Woodrell

The heart makes dreams seem like ideas.

— Daniel Woodrell

“No god craves weaklings.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“Can't none of this be new to you.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“I said, "There's ditches his size, too.”

— Daniel Woodrell

Never. Never ask for what ought to be offered.

— Daniel Woodrell

“So much death and no coffee to be had.”

— Daniel Woodrell

I didn't really expect to be coming to the Oscars.

— Daniel Woodrell

I said shut up once already, with my mouth.

— Daniel Woodrell

“You know, I’m very near to bein’ normal, but I just can’t get over the hump.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“She would never cry where her tears might be seen and counted against her.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“The bodies draped down through the leaves like rancid baubles in the locks of a horrible harlot.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“stained raincoats, I reckon.” “And shitpaper stuck to their shoes.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“ I ain’t shit! I ain’t shit! shouts your brain, and this place proves the point.”

— Daniel Woodrell

Fading light buttered the ridges until shadows licked them clean and they were lost to nightfall.

— Daniel Woodrell

You got to be ready to die every day - then you got a chance.

— Daniel Woodrell

“I reckon I always had been huntin' for a place to plant my feet and go down swinging.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“I hate to fall back on weird to describe them, but goofy is too weak, and strange sounds too sensible.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“babies don't know anything but nipples and lullabies. they splash out looks of wonder on anybody whether they merit it or not.”

— Daniel Woodrell

“Nobody here wants to be awful," he said. He hopped a little as he zipped up. "It's just nobody here knows all…

— Daniel Woodrell

But I've been at writing long enough now to know that every three or four books I have to start a new…

— Daniel Woodrell

“This new spot for life might be but a short journey as a winged creature covers it, that is often said, but,…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Your palms break sweat and you sit there, needy, while your work ethic and character are available for comment from strangers you…

— Daniel Woodrell

“That water's colder'n hell!" That's what makes it good. That's what makes it help all your bruises'n bumps'n stuff." It's colder'n a…

— Daniel Woodrell

The heart's in it then, spinning dreams, and torment is on the way. The heart makes dreams seem like ideas.

— Daniel Woodrell

Gail had a baby named Ned who was four months old, and a new look of baffled hurt, a left-behind sadness, like…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Taggin’ that name on you, that was like casting a curse on you. Oh, baby, your ma made a sorry, shitty prediction…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Ree sat chilled inside her squat tent. To occupy her mind, she decided to name all the Miltons: Thump, Blond, Catfish, Spider,…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Bauer was a large, flat-topped man, with pale skin that had been acned and pitted so that it resembled a cob cleaned…

— Daniel Woodrell

For a long time, I thought you could remain isolated and survive, and I didn't want to change that. But over the…

— Daniel Woodrell

“She took him to places inside a shaded room that he’d only dimly imagined might exist, and while there in sweaty reality…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Sammy, wouldn’t you like to add up to something? In the future? Amount to something?” “Naw. I just figure to roll on,…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Shade said as he stepped down the hall, “is another of the ‘eternal boy’s’ major concerns, if you can believe it.” The…

— Daniel Woodrell

“The first time Ree kissed a man it was not a man, but Gail acting as a man, and as the kissing…

— Daniel Woodrell

“In the morning we shed our blue sheep’s clothing. Our border shirts came out of satchels and onto our backs. We preferred…

— Daniel Woodrell

“I have tried to outline, but all that seems to guarantee is that the book will not much resemble the outline, so…

— Daniel Woodrell

“Well, we got to do the right thing by this boy,” Sundown said. “The right thing.” Duncan’s neck relaxed and his head…

— Daniel Woodrell

“As the frosty bits dwindled the wind slowed and big snowflakes began falling as serenely as anything could fall the distance from…

— Daniel Woodrell

“I got my face close up to the man still standing. I let him understand that there was oodles of danger in…

— Daniel Woodrell

“...the great name of the Dollys was Milton, and ...if you named a son Milton it was a decision that attempted to…

— Daniel Woodrell

“of the ready green on a blue felt top. The gentlemen who had assembled around it for an evening of high-stakes Hold…

— Daniel Woodrell