Andrew Vachss
Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.Collection: Change
I believe my publisher has shown a great deal of faith in me over a lot of years but I'm not prepared to be so arrogant to say that the long-term literary value of my work would compensate them for a financial failure.Collection: Failure
Ours is a country where anything can be accomplished if enough people get angry... because, in America, we act on our collective anger.Collection: Anger
I don't understand people whose gratification is a BMW. You don't know what joy is until you see a kid who was tortured get adopted by a family.Collection: Family
Journalism is the protection between people and any sort of totalitarian rule. That's why my hero, admittedly a flawed one, is a journalist.
Courier 12 is the Type-O blood of fonts - works just as good for a 'N.Y. Times' op-ed as a screenplay or a short story.
Fighting means you could lose. Bullying means you can't. A bully wants to beat somebody; he doesn't want to fight somebody.
The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape.
I'm in pursuit of what cannot be achieved: perfection.
In some neighborhoods, if you want to walk down the streets, you've got two choices - look down, or look hard.
All children are born pure egoists. They perceive their needs to the exclusion of all others. Only through socialization do they learn that some forms of gratification must be deferred and others denied.
My life is triage.
While early childhood experiences may impel, they do not compel. In the end, evil is a matter of choice.
The idea that you're not a writer until you're published is a lie.
A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids.
Anyone who says, 'Books don't change anything,' or - more commonly - that crime fiction is the wrong genre for promoting social change - should take a closer look.
A trial is not a search for truth. It is a contest and, often, one that produces no winners.
I don't take advances for my books.
I don't sign contracts for my books.
I think people should be consumers of journalism.
People are pushing against the fabric of society all the time.
Building a mechanical device for its appearance is like putting lace on a bowling ball.
No politician is threatened by the child protective constituency, because it does not exist.
We don't protect our young, and we tolerate predators of our own species.
Victimizers of children are the enemies of any so-called society.
I hate bullies. I hate them. I'm not good enough with words to describe how much I hate them.
If I ever stopped being angry, I couldn't write anymore. How could I?
I write everything in Courier 12 because I write for publication, not pleasure.
I don't even use italics or boldface; that's clutter, not clarity. Fancy fonts are fine for blogs, just as calligraphy is fine for diaries. But when you're writing for anyone other than yourself, you want to get as universal as possible.
I did criminal defense work part-time, and that paid the bills for representing abused and neglected children... and for defending in juvenile court those kids the 'child protective system' had missed when it had the chance.
Crime takes the pulse of a culture. It tells us the truth about us as a species.
Without question, I've either got to be a writer, or I fail.
Ask any experienced defense lawyer: the real risks are for an accused person who is innocent. A guilty defendant has many more options available.
I didn't start out angry. I started out a young man wanting adventure.
There is no Constitutional right to prey on others. The Internet is just a piece of technology, like the telephone. Society has the right to modify its uses.
My stuff isn't for everyone.
Children know the truth: love is not an emotion, love is behavior.Collection: Children
Evil is a matter of choice. Those people who have been victimized and refuse to imitate their oppressors are in my mind the greatest heroes we have.Collection: Hero
It's the family you choose that counts.Collection: You Choose
Stealing to eat ain’t criminal—stealing to be rich is.Collection: Greed
Chronic sexual predators [to Vachss, pedophiles] have crossed an osmotic membrane. They can’t step back to the other side - our side. And they don't want to. If we don't kill them or release them, we have but one choice. Call them monsters and isolate them.... I’ve spoken to many predators over the years. They always exhibit amazement that we do not hunt them. And that when we capture them, we eventually let them go. Our attitude is a deliberate interference with Darwinism - an endangerment of our species.Collection: Attitude
A dog is like a person—he needs a job and a family to be what he’s meant to be.Collection: Dog
Life is a fight, but not everyone’s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.Collection: Bullying
When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.Collection: Weakness
Cats are the lap-dancers of the animal world. Soon as you stop shelling out, they move on, find another lap. They're furry little sociopaths. Pretty and slick -- in love with themselves. When's the last time you saw a seeing-eye cat?Collection: Moving
Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand," the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce WayneCollection: Father
If a train is coming at you, closing your eyes won't save you ... but if you look right at it, you at least have a chance to jump.Collection: Fear
If love would die along with death, this life wouldn't be so hard.Collection: This Life
The worst place to be is in the middle. When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.Collection: Fighting
Information is the hardest currency.Collection: Information