Quotes from Knockemstiff

Donald Ray Pollock ·  206 pages

Rating: (6.3K votes)


“I'm beginning to believe that anything I do to extend my life is just going to be outweighed by the agony of living it.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“A lot of people get the wrong impression, think there's something romantic or tragic about hitting bottom.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“When you first heard him talking about it, you'd figure he was batshit crazy, but really, he was just trying to fill up his days so he didn't have to think about what a fucking mess he had made of everything. It's the same for most of us; forgetting our lives might be the best we'll ever do.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“I don't know,' Del said. 'I read this book. I guess you could say we were looking for a better life.'
'Did you find it?' the Fish Stick Girl asked.
'No, it was just a goddamn book. I ain't read one since.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“The glass door swung open and two big, homely women walked in looking guilty. They were the kind of women who, out of sheer loneliness, end up doing kinky stuff with candy bars and wake up with apple fritters in their hair.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff



“Look, girls don't care how many push-ups you can do. They just want to get high and wear flowers in their hair. Maybe steal a car.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“Six months ago, her old doctor at the Henry J. Hamilton Rehabilitation Centee had put her back on all her medications after somebody disguised in a paper bag had tried to strangle her in front of the Tobacco Friendly. Though she described the sack perfectly, even drew a picture of it down at the station, the cops never found a single suspect.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“The Oxys filled holes in me I hadn't realized were empty. It was, at least for those first few months, a wonderful way to be disabled. I felt blessed.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“Jimmy's eyes would turn as red and sticky as candy, and his head would fall back against the seat in a dream. If he were lucky tonight, maybe he would see something that he hadn't seen before. And then it would be my turn.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“A damp, gray sky covered southern Ohio like the skin of a corpse.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff



“You can't be a pussy all your life Todd. Someday you're just gonna have to say fuck it.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


“Because of who we were, I already knew what we would do.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from Knockemstiff


About the author

Donald Ray Pollock
Born place: in The United States
Born date January 1, 1954
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Popular quotes

“I just -- I know my own heart and I love you, Turner. And if you have even the tiniest shred of decency, you'll say something because I've said everything I possibly can, and I can't bear the silence, and -- oh for heaven's sake! Will you at least blink?"
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“My brain is made up of different rooms. Each room is for doing a different thing. For example, I have an Eyes Room for seeing things and an Ears Room for hearing things. I have a Hands Room, a Memory Room (it’s like my father’s office, full of drawers and folders and boxes with papers), a New Things Room, a Numbers Room (my favorite), and a Horror Room (I wish this room would be broken, but it works just fine). The rooms don’t touch each other. There are long, looping hallways in between each room. If I’m thinking about something that happened yesterday (like when I knocked over the white coffee mug), I’m in my Memory Room. But if I want to watch a Barney video on the TV, I have to leave the Memory Room and go into Eyes and sometimes Ears. Sometimes when I’m in the hallways traveling to a different room, I get lost and confused and caught In Between and feel like I’m nowhere. This is when my brain feels like maybe it’s a little bit broken, but I know I just have to find my way into one of the rooms and shut the door. But if too much is happening at once, I can get into trouble. If I’m counting the square tiles on the kitchen floor (180), I’m in my Numbers Room, but if my mother starts talking to me, I have to go into my Ears Room to hear her. But I want to stay in Numbers because I’m counting, and I like to count, but my mother keeps talking, and her sound is getting louder, and I feel pressure to leave Numbers and go inside my Ears Room. So I go into the hallway, but then she grabs my hand, and this surprises me and forces me into Hands, which isn’t where I wanted to go, and she’s talking to me but I can’t hear what she’s saying because I’m in my Hands Room and not in Ears. If she lets go of my hand, I can go into Ears. She’s saying, Look at me. But if I look at her, I have to leave Ears and go into Eyes, and then I won’t be able to hear what she’s saying. So I don’t know what to do, and I’m wandering the halls, and I can’t make a decision on where to go, and I’m In Between, and that’s when I get into trouble.”
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