"The clock in the room above the Safari told only Junkie Time. For every hour here was Old Junkie's Hour and the walls…"

"‘But blow wise to this, buddy, blow wise to this: Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called…"

"A writer who knows what he is doing isn't doing very much."

"Thinking of Melville, thinking of Poe, thinking of Mark Twain and Vachel Lindsay, thinking of Jack London and Tom Wol…"

"[Chicago is] the only major city in the country where you can easily buy your way out of a murder rap."

"A man who won't demean himself for a dollar is a phoney to my way of thinking."

"I am the penny whistle of American literature."

"What country is there for a white man who isn't white?"

"Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a man named Doc. And never lay down with a woman who's got m…"

"[About his legacy:] I'll be all right so long as it has been written on some corner of a human heart. On the heart, i…"