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"As much as I transferred my mother to Elizabeth Shore of The Black Dahlia, as much as her dad mutated into an obsession with crime in general, well, I have thought about other things throughout the years."
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"But in the real world, you couldnt really just split a family down the middle, mom on one side, dad the other, with the child equally divided between. It was like when you ripped a piece of paper into two: no matter how you tried, the seams never fit exactly right again. It was what you couldn't see, those tiniest of pieces, that were lost in the severing, and their absence kept everything from being complete."
"LEONATOWell, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.BEATRICENot till God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a pierce of valiant dust? to make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl? No, uncle, I'll none: Adam's sons are my brethren; and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred."
"Sometimes we're so concerned about giving our children what we never had growing up, we neglect to give them what we did have growing up."
"Mothers care in volumes of tears and earnestness of prayers and a depth of emotion others cannot fathom."
"Things that remind me of Mother are these:the truth 'mid deception, a warm summer breeze,the calm within chaos, a stitch in a rip,a comforting blanket, the smile on her lip,an ocean of love in a heart big as whales,the morals in everyday stories she tells,a wink amid laughter, the wisdom in books,the peace in humility, beauty in looks,the light and the life in a ray of the sun,the hard work accomplished disguised as pure fun,concern in a handclasp, encouragement too,the hope in a clear morning sky azure blue,the power in prayers uttered soft and sincere,the faith in a promise, and joy in a tear.These things all attest to the wonder and graceof my precious mother, none else could replace."
"Family isn't something that's supposed to be static, or set. People marry in, divorce out. They're born, they die. It's always evolving, turning into something else."
"He who loses his mother loses a pure soul who blesses and guards him constantly."
"All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Explore more quotes by James Ellroy
"I am conservative by temperament. I disapprove of criminal activity. I am very solidly and markedly on the side of authority. The truth is I would rather err on the side of too much authority than too little."
"As a kid, I sensed history going on all around me, but the basic thrust of it didn't move me."
"Every one of my books is written from the viewpoint of cops, with the exception of my book Killer on the Road, which is written from the viewpoint of a serial killer."
"I am a writer. I could not afford to take 15 months off from my writing career to play detective."
"The truth of the matter is, you lose a parent to murder when you're 10 years old, and in fact at the time of the murder you hate your lost parent, my mother in my case."
"I like to be alone so I can write. But focus can hurt you. I don't want to be some stress casualty in early middle age."
"As critical acclaim and response has built up, every interview I give is a chance to puncture the myth I've created about my work and refine it."
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