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The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion (1977) is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, that collects many of the underlying chronicles of Middle Earth that Tolkien had been working on since 1917 that formed the foundations upon which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were based.

Ainulindalë

 * The Music of the Ainur

 * There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad.

 * For a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony.

 * Then Ilúvatar said to them: 'Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song.'

 * It seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. And it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern.

 * The Ainur know much of what was, and is, and is to come, and few things are unseen by them. Yet some things there are that they cannot see, neither alone nor taking counsel together; for to none but himself has Ilúvatar revealed all that he has in store, and in every age there come forth things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do not proceed from the past.

 * Now the Children of Ilúvatar are Elves and Men, the Firstborn and the Followers. And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars.

 * It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.

 * 'I know the desire of your minds that what ye have seen should verily be, not only in your thought, but even as ye yourselves are, and yet other. Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go down into it. And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they knew that this was no vision only, but that Ilúvatar had made a new thing: Eä, the World that Is.

 * Thus it came to pass that of the Ainur some abode still with Ilúvatar beyond the confines of the World; but others, and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took the leave of Ilúvatar and descended into it. But this condition Ilúvatar made, or it is the necessity of their love, that their power should thenceforward be contained and bounded in the World, to be within it for ever, until it is complete, so that they are its life and it is theirs. And therefore they are named the Valar, the Powers of the World.

 * When the Valar entered into Eä they were at first astounded and at a loss, for it was as if naught was yet made which they had seen in vision, and all was but on point to begin and yet unshaped, and it was dark. For the Great Music had been but the growth and flowering of thought in the Tuneless Halls, and the Vision only a foreshowing; but now they had entered in at the beginning of Time, and the Valar perceived that the World had been but foreshadowed and foresung, and they must achieve it. So began their great labours in wastes unmeasured and unexplored, and in ages uncounted and forgotten, until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast halls of Eä there came to be that hour and that place where was made the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar.

 * And the Valar drew unto them many companions, some less, some well nigh as great as themselves, and they laboured together in the ordering of the Earth and the curbing of its tumults.

Valaquenta

 * Account of the Valar and Maiar according to the lore of the Eldar

 * In the beginning Eru, the One, who in the Elvish tongue is named Ilúvatar, made the Ainur of his thought; and they made a great Music before him. In this Music the World was begun; for Ilúvatar made visible the song of the Ainur, and they beheld it as a light in the darkness. And many among them became enamoured of its beauty, and of its history which they saw beginning and unfolding as in a vision. Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä.

 * Those of the Ainur who desired it arose and entered into the World at the beginning of Time; and it was their task to achieve it, and by their labours to fulfil the vision which they had seen. Long they laboured in the regions of Eä, which are vast beyond the thought of Elves and Men, until in the time appointed was made Arda, the Kingdom of Earth. Then they put on the raiment of Earth and descended into it, and dwelt therein.

 * The Great among these spirits the Elves name the Valar, the Powers of Arda, and Men have often called them gods.

 * Last of all is set the name of Melkor, He who arises in Might. But that name he has forfeited; and the Noldor, who among the Elves suffered most from his malice, will not utter it, and they name him Morgoth, the Dark Enemy of the World.

 * From splendour he fell through arrogance to contempt for all things save himself, a spirit wasteful and pitiless. Understanding he turned to subtlety in perverting to his own will all that he would use, until he became a liar without shame. He began with the desire of Light, but when he could not possess it for himself alone, he descended through fire and wrath into a great burning, down into Darkness. And darkness he used most in his evil works upon Arda, and filled it with fear for all living things.

 * Among those of his servants that have names the greatest was that spirit whom the Eldar called Sauron, or Gorthaur the Cruel.

Quenta Silmarillion

 * The History of the Silmarils

 * In the midst of the war a spirit of great strength and hardihood came to the aid of the Valar, hearing in the far heaven that there was battle in the Little Kingdom; and Arda was filled with the sound of his laughter. So came Tulkas the Strong, whose anger passes like a mighty wind, scattering cloud and darkness before it; and Melkor fled before his wrath and his laughter, and forsook Arda, and there was peace for a long age.
 * Chapter 1: Of the Beginning of Days

 * All have their worth ... and each contributes to the worth of the others.
 * Chapter 2: Of Aulë and Yavanna

 * In that time were made those things that afterwards were most renowned of all the works of the Elves. For Fëanor, being come to his full might, was filled a new thought, or it may be that some shadow of foreknowledge came to him of the doom that drew near; and he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable. Then he began a long and secret labour, and he summoned all his lore, and his power, and his subtle skill; and at the end of all he made the Silmarils.
 * On Fëanor's creation of the Silmarils.
 * Chapter 7: Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

 * As three great Jewels they were in form. But not until the End, when Fëanor shall return who perished ere the Sun was made, and sits now in the Halls of Awaiting and comes no more among his kin; not until the Sun passes and the Moon falls, shall it be known of what substance they were made. Like the crystal of diamonds it appeared, and yet was more strong than adamant, so that no violence could mar it or break it within the Kingdom of Arda.
 * Chapter 7

 * Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains.
 * Chapter 9: Of the Flight of the Noldor

 * Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien.
 * Chapter 19: Of Beren and Lúthien

 * Here I have found what I sought not indeed, but finding I would possess for ever. For it is above all gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms, shall keep from me the treasure that I desire. For Lúthien your daughter is the fairest of all the Children of the World.
 * Chapter 19

 * Death you can give me earned or unearned; but the names I will not take from you of baseborn, nor spy, nor thrall. By the ring of Felagund, that he gave to Barahir my father on the battlefield of the North, my house has not earned such names from any Elf, be he king or no.
 * Chapter 19

 * Lúthien stood upon the bridge, and declared her power: and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone, and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare.
 * Chapter 19

 * Lúthien Tinúviel more fair than mortal tongue can tell. Though all to ruin fell the world and were dissolved and backward hurled unmade into the old abyss, yet were its making good, for this— the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea— that Lúthien for a time should be.
 * Chapter 19

 * 'Thrice now I curse my oath to Thingol,' he said, 'and I would that he had slain me in Menegroth, rather than I should bring you under the shadow of Morgoth.'
 * Chapter 19

 * Then for the second time Huan spoke with words; and he counselled Beren, saying: 'From the shadow of death you can no longer save Lúthien, for by her love she is now subject to it. You can turn from your fate and lead her into exile, seeking peace in vain while your life lasts. But if you will not deny your doom, then either Lúthien, being forsaken, must assuredly die alone, or she must with you challenge the fate that lies before you —hopeless, yet not certain.
 * Chapter 19

 * It seemed to Thingol that this Man was unlike all other mortal Men, and among the great in Arda, and the love of Lúthien a thing new and strange; and he perceived that their doom might not be withstood by any power of the world. Therefore at the last he yielded his will, and Beren took the hand of Lúthien before the throne of her father.
 * Chapter 19

 * Beren was aroused by the touch of the Silmaril, and held it aloft, and bade Thingol receive it. 'Now is the Quest achieved,' he said, 'and my doom full-wrought'; and he spoke no more.
 * Chapter 19

 * Thus ended the Quest of the Silmaril; but the Lay of Leithian, Release from Bondage does not end.
 * Chapter 19

 * In her choice the Two Kindreds have been joined; and she is the forerunner of many in whom the Eldar see yet, though all the world is changed, the likeness of Lúthien the beloved, whom they have lost.
 * Chapter 19

 * Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: 'Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!' Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive, by the command of Morgoth, for the Orcs grappled him with their hands, which clung to him still though he hewed off their arms; and ever their numbers were renewed, until at last he fell buried beneath them.
 * Chapter 20: Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad

 * Great was the triumph of Morgoth, and his design was accomplished in a manner after his own heart; for Men took the lives of Men, and betrayed the Eldar, and fear and hatred were aroused among those that should have been united against him.
 * Chapter 20

 * Love not too well the work of thy hands and the devices of thy heart; and remember that the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West, and cometh from the Sea.
 * Chapter 23: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin

 * The lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.
 * Chapter 24: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath

 * Here ends the Silmarillion; and if it has passed from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and If any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.
 * Chapter 24

Akallabêth

 * The Downfall of Númenor

 * There is in that land a haven that is named Avallónë, for it is of all cities the nearest to Valinor, and the tower of Avallónë is the first sight that the mariner beholds when at last he draws nigh to the Undying Lands over the leagues of the Sea.

 * The Star of Eärendil shone bright in the West as a token that all was made ready, and as a guide over the sea; and Men marvelled to see that silver flame in the paths of the Sun.

 * This was the beginning of that people that in the Grey-elven speech are called the Dúnedain: the Númenóreans, Kings among Men. But they did not thus escape from the doom of death that Ilúvatar had set upon all Mankind, and they were mortal still, though their years were long, and they knew no sickness, ere the shadow fell upon them. Therefore they grew wise and glorious, and in all things more like to the Firstborn than any other of the kindreds of Men; and they were tall, taller than the tallest of the sons of Middle-earth; and the light of their eyes was like the bright stars.

 * Though this people used still their own speech, their kings and lords knew and spoke also the Elven tongue, which they had learned in the days of their alliance, and thus they held converse still with the Eldar, whether of Eressëa or of the west-lands of Middle-earth.

 * The Dúnedain became mighty in crafts, so that if they had had the mind they could easily have surpassed the evil kings of Middle-earth in the making of war and the forging of weapons; but they were become men of peace.

 * The Doom of Men, that they should depart, was at first a gift of Ilúvatar. It became a grief to them only because coming under the shadow of Morgoth it seemed to them that they were surrounded by a great darkness, of which they were afraid; and some grew wilful and proud and would not yield, until life was reft from them.

 * The love of Arda was set in your hearts by Ilúvatar, and he does not plant to no purpose. Nonetheless, many ages of Men unborn may pass ere that purpose is made known; and to you it will be revealed and not to the Valar.

 * Nonetheless even they, who named themselves the Faithful, did not wholly escape from the affliction of their people, and they were troubled by the thought of death.

 * Men took weapons in those days and slew one another for little cause; for they were become quick to anger, and Sauron, or those whom he had bound to himself, went about the land setting man against man, so that the people murmured against the King and the lords, or against any that had aught that they had not; and the men of power took cruel revenge.

 * The exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue.

 * The Dúnedain held that even mortal Men, if so blessed, might look upon other times than those of their bodies' life; and they longed ever to escape from the shadows of their exile and to see in some fashion the light that dies not.

 * Tales and rumours arose along the shores of the sea concerning mariners and men forlorn upon the water who, by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar, had entered in upon the Straight Way and seen the face of the world sink below them, and so had come to the lamplit quays of Avallónë, or verily to the last beaches on the margin of Aman, and there had looked upon the White Mountain, dreadful and beautiful, before they died.

Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

 * in which these tales come to their end

 * Of old there was Sauron the Maia, whom the Sindar in Beleriand named Gorthaur. In the beginning of Arda Melkor seduced him to his allegiance, and he became the greatest and most trusted of the servants of the Enemy, and the most perilous, for he could assume many forms, and for long if he willed he could still appear noble and beautiful, so as to deceive all but the most wary.

 * The Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into that One Ring; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.

 * But the Elves were not so lightly to be caught. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and perceived that he would be master of them, and of all that they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. But he, finding that he was betrayed and that the Elves were not deceived, was filled with wrath; and he came against them with open war, demanding that all the rings should be delivered to him, since the Elven-smiths could not have attained to their making without his lore and counsel. But the Elves fled from him; and three of their rings they saved, and bore them away, and hid them.

 * Now these were the Three that had last been made, and they possessed the greatest powers. Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, they were named, the Rings of Fire, and of Water, and of Air, set with ruby and adamant and sapphire; and of all the Elven-rings Sauron most desired to possess them, for those who had them in their keeping could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world. But Sauron could not discover them, for they were given into the hands of the Wise, who concealed them and never again used them openly while Sauron kept the Ruling Ring. Therefore the Three remained unsullied, for they were forged by Celebrimbor alone, and the hand of Sauron had never touched them; yet they also were subject to the One.

 * Sauron gathered into his hands all the remaining Rings of Power; and he dealt them out to the other peoples of Middle-earth, hoping thus to bring under his sway all those that desired secret power beyond the measure of their kind. Seven Rings he gave to the Dwarves; but to Men he gave nine, for Men proved in this matter as in others the readiest to his will.

 * Those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old. They obtained glory and great wealth, yet it turned to their undoing. They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they beheld only the phantoms and delusions of Sauron. And one by one, sooner or later, according to their native strength and to the good or evil of their wills in the beginning, they fell under the thraldom of the ring that they bore and under the domination of the One, which was Sauron's.

 * Now Sauron's lust and pride increased, until he knew no bounds, and he determined to make himself master of all things in Middle-earth, and to destroy the Elves, and to compass, if he might, the downfall of Númenor. He brooked no freedom nor any rivalry, and he named himself Lord of the Earth. A mask he still could wear so that if he wished he might deceive the eyes of Men, seeming to them wise and fair. But he ruled rather by force and fear, if they might avail; and those who perceived his shadow spreading over the world called him the Dark Lord and named him the Enemy.

 * Many treasures and great heirlooms of virtue and wonder the Exiles had brought from Númenor; and of these the most renowned were the Seven Stones and the White Tree.

 * The servants of Sauron were routed and dispersed, yet they were not wholly destroyed; and though many Men turned now from evil and became subject to the heirs of Elendil, yet many more remembered Sauron in their hearts and hated the kingdoms of the West. The Dark Tower was levelled to the ground, yet its foundations remained, and it was not forgotten.

 * The Ruling Ring passed out of the knowledge even of the Wise in that age; yet it was not unmade.

 * Thus Narsil came in due time to the hand of Valandil, Isildur's heir, in Imladris; but the blade was broken and its light was extinguished, and it was not forged anew. And Master Elrond foretold that this would not be done until the Ruling Ring should be found again and Sauron should return; but the hope of Elves and Men was that these things might never come to pass.

 * Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed. Yet after the fall of Sauron their power was ever at work, and where they abode there mirth also dwelt and all things were unstained by the griefs of time.

 * Therefore ere the Third Age was ended the Elves perceived that the Ring of Sapphire was with Elrond, in the fair valley of Rivendell, upon whose house the stars of heaven most brightly shone; whereas the Ring of Adamant was in the Land of Lórien where dwelt the Lady Galadriel. A queen she was of the woodland Elves, the wife of Celeborn of Doriath, yet she herself was of the Noldor and remembered the Day before days in Valinor, and she was the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth. But the Red Ring remained hidden until the end, and none save Elrond and Galadriel and Círdan knew to whom it had been committed.

 * I forbode that the One will yet be found, and then war will arise again, and in that war this Age will be ended. Indeed in a second darkness it will end, unless some strange chance deliver us that my eyes cannot see.

 *  'Many are the strange chances of the world,' said Mithrandir, 'and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.'

 * It is not needed that the Ring should be found, for while it abides on earth and is not unmade, still the power that it holds will live, and Sauron will grow and have hope. The might of the Elves and the Elf-friends is less now than of old. Soon he will be too strong for you, even without the Great Ring; for he rules the Nine, and of the Seven he has recovered three. We must strike.

 * Sauron had many ears, and soon he heard rumour of the One Ring, which above all things he desired, and he sent forth the Nazgûl to take it. Then war was kindled, and in battle with Sauron the Third Age ended even as it had begun.

 * But those who saw the things that were done in that time, deeds of valour and wonder, have elsewhere told the tale of the War of the Ring, and how it ended both in victory unlooked for and in sorrow long foreseen. Here let it be said that in those days the Heir of Isildur arose in the North, and he took the shards of the sword of Elendil, and in Imladris they were reforged; and he went then to war, a great captain of Men. He was Aragorn son of Arathorn, the nine and thirtieth heir in the right line from Isildur, and yet more like to Elendil than any before him.

 * The might of the Dúnedain was lifted up and their glory renewed. In the courts of Minas Anor the White Tree flowered again, for a seedling was found by Mithrandir in the snows of Mindolluin that rose tall and white above the City of Gondor; and while it still grew there the Elder Days were not wholly forgotten in the hearts of the Kings.

 * Now all these things were achieved for the most part by the counsel and vigilance of Mithrandir, and in the last few days he was revealed as a lord of great reverence, and clad in white he rode into battle; but not until the time came for him to depart was it known that he had long guarded the Red Ring of Fire.

 * At the first that Ring had been entrusted to Círdan, Lord of the Havens; but he had surrendered it to Mithrandir, for he knew whence he came and whither at last he would return. 'Take now this Ring,' he said; 'for thy labours and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill.'

 * ...and an end was come for the Eldar of story and of song.

title: The Silmarillion


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The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 film about a banker named Andy Dufresne, who is accused of double murder in the 1940s and begins a life sentence at the fictional Shawshank prison, where he befriends an older inmate named Red. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates for his upstanding moral code and his quietly indomitable spirit.
 * Written and directed by: Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

Andy Dufresne

 * [Scrawled in a Bible he hollowed out to make space for the rock hammer he used to tunnel through his cell wall, and placed in the Warden's safe the night before his escape] "Dear Warden; You were right. Salvation lay within. Andy"
 * [in a letter] Dear Red, If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you? I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red: hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend, Andy.

Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding

 * There must be a con like me in every prison in America. I'm the guy who can get it for you: cigarettes, a bag of reefer, if that's your thing, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation, damn near anything within reason. Yes sir, I'm a regular Sears and Roebuck.
 * The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it. Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every time. The only question is, who's it gonna be? It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne. I remember my first night. Seems like a long time ago.
 * These prison walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them. That's institutionalized. They send you here for life, that's exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyways.
 * I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't wanna know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you those voices soared, higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.
 * Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty.
 * Oh, Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure, and time. That and a big damn poster. Like I said, in prison, a man will do almost anything to keep his mind occupied. Turns out Andy's favorite hobby was totin' his wall out into the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, Andy decided he'd been here just about long enough.
 * Andy did like he was told; buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guards simply didn't notice. Neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a man's shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine- or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields; just shy of half a mile.
 * Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side. Andy Dufresne, headed for the Pacific. Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear, the stuff he pulled... Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice, but still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty now that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.
 * I like to think the last thing that went through his head, other than that bullet, was how the hell that Andy Dufrense ever got the best of him.
 * There's harsh truth to face. No way I'm gonna make it on the outside. All I do in remorse is to think a way to break my parole, so they may send me back. Terrible thing to live in fear. Brooks Hatlen knew it. All I want is to be back where things make sense, where I won't have to be afraid all the time. Only one thing stops me. A promise I made to Andy.
 * I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope!

Samuel Norton

 * I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank.
 * If you wanna indulge in this fantasy, that's your business. Don't make it mine. This meeting is over.
 * Nothing stops. Nothing, or you will do the hardest time there is. No more protection from the guards. I'll pull you out of that one-bunk Hilton and cast you down with the Sodomites. You'll think you've been fucked by a train. And the library? Gone. Sealed off brick-by-brick. We'll have us a little book barbecue in the yard. They'll see the flames for miles. We'll dance around it like wild Injuns. You understand me? Catching my drift? Or am I being obtuse? [to Hadley] Give him another month to think about it.
 * I want him found. NOT TOMORROW, NOT AFTER BREAKFAST! NOW!
 * This is a conspiracy. That's what it is. One... BIG... DAMN CONSPIRACY! AND EVERYONE'S IN ON IT! Including her!

Brooks Hatlen

 * [in a letter to Red after being released on parole] Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer" and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It's hard work and I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work, I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he's doin' okay and makin' new friends. I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense any more. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me. P.S: Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feelings. Brooks.

Others

 * His Judgement Cometh and that Right Soon.…
 * Needlepoint in Norton's office, paraphrased from Sirach 21:5: "A prayer out of a poor man's mouth reacheth to the ears of God, and his judgement cometh speedily."

Dialogue

 * District Attorney: Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard all the evidence, you know all the facts. We have the accused at the scene of the crime, we have tire tracks, we have bullets strewn on the ground that bear his fingerprints. A broken bourbon bottle, likewise with fingerprints, and most of all, we have a beautiful young woman and her lover, lying dead in each other's arms. They had sinned. But was their crime so great as to merit a death sentence? Now while you think about that, consider this: a revolver holds six bullets, not eight. I submit that this was not a hot-blooded crime of passion; that at least could be understood if not condoned. No. This was revenge of a much more brutal, cold-blooded nature. Consider this: four bullets per victim. Not six shots fired, but eight. That means that he fired the gun empty, and then stopped to reload, so that he could shoot each of them again: an extra bullet per lover, right in the head.
 * Judge: You strike me as a particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr. Dufresne. It chills my blood to look at you. By the power vested in me by the State of Maine, I hereby order you to serve two life sentences back-to-back, one for each of your victims. So be it.

 * [A group of new prisoners is being processed into Shawshank State Prison.]
 * Norton: This is Mr. Hadley, he's captain of the guards. I'm Mr. Norton, the Warden. You are convicted felons. That's why they've sent you to me. Rule Number One: no blasphemy. I'll not have the Lord's name taken in vain in my prison. The other rules, you'll figure as you go along. Any questions?
 * Inmate: When do we eat?
 * Byron Hadley: You eat when we say you eat. You shit when we say you shit, and you piss when we say you piss. You got that, you maggot-dick motherfucker? [punches him with a baton] On your feet!
 * Norton: I believe in two things: Discipline and the Bible. Here, you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord. Your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank.

 * Andy: I'm Andy Dufresne.
 * Red: Wife-killing banker. Why'd you do it?
 * Andy: I didn't, since you ask.
 * Red: You're gonna fit right in. Everybody in here's innocent. Didn't you know that? Heywood, what you in here for?
 * Heywood: Didn't do it! Lawyer fucked me.
 * Red: Rumor has it you're a real cold fish. You think your shit smells sweeter than most. Is that right?
 * Andy: What do you think?
 * Red: To tell you the truth, I haven't made up my mind.

 * Red: The Sisters have taken quite a liking to you. Especially Bogs.
 * Andy: Don't suppose it would help any if I explained to them I'm not homosexual.
 * Red: Neither are they. You'd have to be human first. They don't qualify. Bull queers take by force. That's all they want or understand. But if I were you, I'd grow eyes in the back of my head.
 * Andy: Thanks for the advice.

 * Red: Red. Name's Red.
 * Andy: Red. Why do they call you that?
 * Red: Maybe it's because I'm Irish.

 * Red: Andy, we're getting to be kind of friends, aren't we?
 * Andy: Yeah, I guess.
 * Red: Can I ask you something? Why'd you do it?
 * Andy: I'm innocent, Red. Just like everybody else here. What are you in here for?
 * Red: Murder. Same as you.
 * Andy: Innocent?
 * Red: Only guilty man in Shawshank.

 * Norton: [takes the Bible from Andy's hands during a cell inspection] I'm pleased to see you reading this. Any favorite passages?
 * Andy: "Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the Master of the House cometh."
 * Norton: Mark 13:35. Always liked that one. But I prefer, "I'm the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."
 * Andy: John, chapter 8, verse 12.
 * Norton: [hands the Bible back to Andy] I almost forgot. I'd hate to deprive you of this. Salvation lies within!
 * Norton: [hands the Bible back to Andy] I almost forgot. I'd hate to deprive you of this. Salvation lies within!

 * Heywood: Was it worth it, two weeks in the hole?
 * Andy: Easiest time I ever did.
 * Skeet: Bullshit. No such thing as easy time in the hole.
 * Jigger: A week seems like a year.
 * Snooze: Damn straight.
 * Andy: I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company.
 * Floyd: So they let you tote that record player down there, huh?
 * Andy: [points and taps his head.] It was in here. [gestures over his heart] And in here. That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you. Haven't you ever felt that way about music?
 * Red: Well, I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it, though. Didn't make too much sense in here.
 * Andy: Well, here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.
 * Red: Forget?
 * Andy: That there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside that they can't get to. that they can't touch. It's yours.
 * Red: What are you talkin' about?
 * Andy: Hope.
 * Red: Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. It's got no use on the inside. You'd better get used to that idea.
 * Andy: Like Brooks did?

 * Heywood: [sorting through books] Treasure Island. Robert Louis...
 * Andy: Stevenson. Fiction, "Adventure". What's next?
 * Red: I got here Auto Repair and Soap Carving.
 * Andy: Trade skills and hobbies. Goes under "Educational", the stack right behind you.
 * Heywood: The Count of Monte Crisco.
 * Floyd: That's Cristo, you dumb shit.
 * Heywood: By Alexandree... Dum-ass. Dumbass?
 * [Red chuckles]
 * Andy: Dumbass? [Heywood shows him the book] Dumas. You know what that's about?
 * Heywood: Uh-uh.
 * Andy: You'll like it. It's about a prison break.
 * Red: Well, we ought to file that under "Educational" too. Oughtn't we?

 * Red: [about Norton] He's got his fingers in a lot of pies, from what I hear.
 * Andy: What you hear isn't half of it. He's got scams you haven't even dreamed of. Kickbacks on his kickbacks. There's a river of dirty money running through this place.
 * Red: Yeah, but the problem with having all that money is sooner or later, you're gonna have to explain where it came from.
 * Andy: Well, that's where I come in. I channel it, filter it, funnel it. Stocks, securities, tax free municipals. I send that money out into the real world and when it comes back...
 * Red: Clean as a virgin's honeypot, huh?
 * Andy: Cleaner. By the time Norton retires, I'll have made him a millionaire.
 * Red: If they ever catch on, though, he'll wind up in here wearing a number himself.
 * Andy: Oh, Red, I thought you had more faith in me than that.
 * Red: I know you're good, Andy, but all that paper leaves a trail. Now, anybody gets curious, FBI, IRS, whatever, it's gonna lead to somebody.
 * Andy: Sure it is, but not to me, and certainly not to the Warden.
 * Red: All right, who?
 * Andy: Randall Stevens.
 * Red: Who?
 * Andy: The "silent" silent partner. He's the guilty one, Your Honor, the man with the bank accounts. It's where the filtering process starts. They trace anything, it's just gonna lead to him.
 * Red: But who is he?
 * Andy: He's a phantom, an apparition. Second cousin to Harvey the Rabbit. I conjured him, out of thin air. He doesn't exist, except on paper.
 * Red: Andy, you just can't make a person up.
 * Andy: Sure you can, if you know how the system works, where the cracks are. It's amazing what you can accomplish by mail. Mr. Stevens has a birth certificate, driver's license, Social Security number.
 * Red: You're shitting me.
 * Andy: If they ever trace any of those accounts, they're gonna wind up chasing a figment of my imagination.
 * Red: Well, I'll be damned. Did I say you were good? Shit, you are Rembrandt.
 * Andy: You know, the funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

 * Andy: Sir, if I ever get out, I'd never mention what happens here. I'd be just as indictable as you for laundering that money.
 * Norton: Don't you ever mention money to me again, you sorry son of a bitch; not in this office, not anywhere! [presses buzzer on his desk] Get in here!
 * Andy: I was just trying to set your mind at ease, that's all. Sir, I didn't--
 * Norton: [as guards enter] Solitary. A month!
 * Guard: Yes, sir. Come on!
 * Andy: What's the matter with you?
 * Norton: Get him out of here.
 * Andy: This is my chance to get out! Don't you see that? It's my life! Don't you understand? My life!

 * Floyd: A month in the hole. That's longest damn stretch I ever heard of.
 * Tommy: It's all my fault.
 * Red: Oh, bullshit. You didn't pull the trigger, and you certainly didn't convict him.
 * Heywood: Red, are you saying that Andy is innocent? I mean, for real innocent?
 * Red: Well, it looks that way.
 * Heywood: Sweet Jesus. How long has he been here now?
 * Red: 1947. What is that, nineteen years?
 * Heywood: Nineteen years...

 * Norton: Tommy, I'm asking you to keep this conversation just between us. I feel awkward enough as it is. We got a situation here. I think you can appreciate that.
 * Tommy: Yes, sir. I sure can.
 * Norton: I tell you, son, this thing really came along and knocked my wind out. It's got me up nights; that's the truth. The right thing to do, sometimes it's hard to know what that is. Do you understand? I need your help, son. If I'm going to move on this, there can't be the least little shred of doubt. I have to know if what you told Dufresne was the truth.
 * Tommy: Yes, sir. Absolutely.
 * Norton: Would you be willing to swear before a judge and jury, having placed your hand on the Good Book and taken an oath before Almighty God himself?
 * Tommy: Just give me that chance.
 * Norton: That's what I thought. [signals to Hadley in the watchtower, who shoots Tommy]

 * [Norton visits Andy in solitary after Tommy's murder]
 * Norton: I'm sure by now you've heard. Terrible thing. Man that young, less than a year to go, trying to escape. Broke Captain Hadley's heart to shoot him. Truly it did. We just have to put it behind us... move on.
 * Andy: I'm done. Everything stops. Get someone else to run your scams.
 * Norton: Nothing stops! Nothing, or you will do the hardest time there is. No more protection from the guards. I'll pull you out of that one-bunk Hilton and cast you down with the Sodomites. You'll think you've been fucked by a train. And the library? Gone, sealed off brick-by-brick. We'll have us a little book barbecue in the yard. They'll see the flames for miles. We'll dance around it like wild Injuns. You understand me? Catching my drift? Or am I being obtuse? [to Hadley] Give him another month to think about it.

 * Andy: My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know. Like a closed book. Complained about it all the time. She was beautiful. God, I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it, that's all. I killed her, Red. I didn't pull the trigger. But I drove her away. And that's why she died, because of me. The way I am.
 * Red: That don't make you a murderer. A bad husband, maybe. Feel bad about it if you want to, but you didn't pull the trigger.
 * Andy: No, I didn't. Somebody else did. And I wound up in here. [scoffs] Bad luck, I guess.
 * Red: [sighs] Yeah.
 * Andy: It floats around. It's got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado. [sighs] I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has.

 * Andy: Think you'll ever get out of here?
 * Red: Me? Yeah, one day when I got a long, white beard and two or three marbles rolling around upstairs, they'll let me out.
 * Andy: I tell you where I'd go: Zihuatanejo.
 * Red: Say what?
 * Andy: Zihuatanejo. It's in Mexico. A little place on the Pacific Ocean. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?
 * Red: No.
 * Andy: They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life: a warm place with no memory. Open up a little hotel, right on the beach, buy some worthless old boat, and fix it up new. Take my guests out charter fishing.
 * Red: Zihuatanejo.
 * Andy: In a place like that, I could use a man that knows how to get things.
 * Red: I don't think I could make it on the outside, Andy. I been in here most of my life. I'm an institutional man now.

 * Red: In here, I'm the guy who can get things for you, sure, but outside all you need is the Yellow Pages. Hell, I wouldn't know where to begin. Pacific Ocean? Shit. Might scare me to death, something that big.
 * Andy: Not me. I didn't shoot my wife, and I didn't shoot her lover. Whatever mistakes I made, I've paid for them and then some. That hotel, that boat, I don't think that's too much to ask.
 * Red: I don't think you ought to be doing this to yourself, Andy. This is just shitty pipe dreams. I mean, Mexico is way the hell down there and you're in here, and that's the way it is.
 * Andy: Yeah, right. That's the way it is. It's down there and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'.

<hr width="50%"/>
 * Rehabilitation Officer: Ellis Boyd Redding: your file says you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated?
 * Red: Rehabilitated?... Well, now, let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.
 * Rehabilitation Officer: Well, it means that you're ready to rejoin society, to—
 * Red: [interrupting] I know what you think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made-up word. A politician's word, so that young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie and have a job. What do you really wanna know? Am I sorry for what I did?
 * Rehabilitation Officer: Well, are you?
 * Red: There's not a day goes by that I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone, and this old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So go ahead and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.

Cast

 * Tim Robbins - Andy Dufresne
 * Morgan Freeman - Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
 * Bob Gunton - Warden Samuel Norton
 * William Sadler - Heywood
 * Clancy Brown - Captain Byron T. Hadley
 * Gil Bellows - Tommy Williams
 * Mark Rolston - Bogs Diamond
 * James Whitmore - Brooks Hatlen

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Shawshank Redemption


text:
Max Payne

 is a PC written by, developed by  and published by  in. The game is set in the early 2000's of New York City and follows the eponymous avenger, a DEA undercover agent, gone vigilante. Max Payne received positive reviews for its bullet time gunplay and storytelling graphic novel, drawing inspiration from, film noir and hardboiled detective fiction. The series is currently owned by and developed by. It has inspired one sequel by Remedy (Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne), one sequel by Rockstar (Max Payne 3) and a film by.

Prologue

 * They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was over.
 * See? My last smoke. It's bad for the baby.
 * Life was good. The sun setting on a sweet summer's day, the smell of freshly mowed lawns, the sounds of children playing-- A house across the river, on the Jersey-side. A beautiful wife and a baby girl. The American Dream come true. But dreams have a nasty habit of going bad when you're not looking.
 * The sun went down with practiced bravado. Twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding. I didn't like the way the show started. But they had given me the best seat in the house. Front row center.

Chapter One: Roscoe Street Station

 * The feeling hit me like a point-blank shot straight in the face: something was not right about this. My Beretta stirred nervously under my coat... But the train doors had already shut behind me, and I was in for the ride. Next stop: Roscoe Street Station.
 * So much for being subtle.

Chapter Two: Live from the Crime Scene

 * Max Payne: We come to you now live from the crime scene.
 * Jim Bravura: Who is this?
 * Max Payne: Right back at you.
 * Jim Bravura: This is deputy chief Jim Bravura from the NYPD. You are to cease your criminal activities and surrender immediately.
 * Max Payne: Sure thing, Jim. Me and the boys have been talking, and everyone's real sorry. They'll never do it again.
 * Jim Bravura: Who the hell is this?
 * Narrator: Being placed in the middle of the scene in the crime wouldn't have tipped the odds in my favor.

Chapter Three: Playing It Bogart

 * Joey Finito: Ladies and gentlemen, it's the pain in the butt.
 * Virgilio Finito: Pain to the max!
 * Max Payne: You're killing me. Did you make that up yourselves, or did you get some wino downstairs to come up with it? Don't answer that. A rhetorical question.

Chapter Four: The Blood Veins of New York

 * The word was out. A deadly virus released into the city's corrupt circulatory system. Something wicked this way comes. Max Payne at large.

Chapter Five: Let the Gun Do the Talking

 * A bomb went off, turning snow into liquid gold. (...) It was a lucky break. The goons inside were spooked, but luck always came with a price tag.

Chapter Six: Fear That Gives Men Wings

 * Gognitti bailed. I made like Chow Yun-Fat.
 * I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings.

Chapter Seven: Police Brutality

 * Vinnie Gognitti:
 * Max Payne: I rate pretty high on that.

Chapter Eight: Ragna Rock

 * Ragna Rock was as inviting as a headache, flickering and flashing to a machine gun beat. The belly of the nightclub was a gothic theme park that began with bondage games, and led to the nasty stuff from there-- As subtle with its dark message as a cop killer bullet through the heart. Like father, like son. Just like Jack Lupino.
 * , the end of the Viking world with a terrible winter that covered the Earth in ice, when vile crimes were rampant and all humanity lost. I could see how someone impressionable might get it into their head that we were at the end of time.

Chapter Nine: An Empire of Evil

 * The flesh of fallen angels.
 * ,, , , , , , Hela... Blood given to you all... He was after that old - your soul for power and fortune, just sign on the dotted line with your blood.
 * After the end of the world had become a cliché. But who was I to talk, a brooding underdog avenger alone against an empire of evil, out to right a grave injustice. Everything was subjective. There were only personal apocalypses. Nothing is a cliché when it's happening to you.
 * Secrets... living under the skin of reality. I've seen it, the corruption of flesh! I'm the wolf! Yeah! I am the wolf! It's close. It's coming. You have come. The witness to the end of time. It's now! I will rise to her side! I don't need the words! I'm beyond the words!
 * I had known there'd have to be a catch in it somewhere, and this one was the Empire State Building of catches. [...] Lupino was pumped up and dying to go 15 rounds with a mutant alligator.

Prologue

 * Mona Sax: Mona Sax. Lisa's evil twin.
 * Max Payne: Your safety's off, evil twin. You might hurt somebody with that gun of yours.
 * Mona Sax: Lisa's the damsel in distress. I'm the professional. I'd blow you away without batting an eye.
 * Max Payne: Sure, and you can check out my credentials splattered all over this joint.

 * The nightmare was always the same. Violent shapes moving in darkness, old and ugly. The killer's mad laughter was a riddle filled with wicked innuendo. Somewhere the baby was crying.

 * Shoot 'em fulla holes, blow 'em to bits, vaporize 'em, disintegrate 'em, no matter whatchu do, they'll still be back, good as new.

Chapter One: The Baseball Bat

 * Narrator: I woke up in a bad dream. My head felt two sizes too small for my brain.
 * Frankie Niagara: Max Payne, I envy your name.
 * Narrator: And the killer was smiling.
 * Frankie Niagara: Pleased to meet you. I'm Frankie "The Bat" Niagara.
 * Max Payne: Niagara, as in you cry a lot?
 * Narrator: He had a baseball bat, and I was tied to a chair. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do.

Chapter Two: An Offer You Can't Refuse

 * None of us was a saint.
 * No lurked in this labyrinth, but somewhere out there, on the clanking deck of his cargo freighter, the skipper of the  was waiting...

Chapter Three: With Rats and Oily Water

 * Vladimir: This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
 * Max Payne: You really get a bang out of this big time gangster act, don't you?

Chapter Four: Put Out My Flames With Gasoline

 * Angelo Punchinello: Payne! You're a dead man.
 * Max Payne: That's what everybody keeps telling me.

Chapter Five: Angel of Death

 * The numbing cold of the broken night had followed me in. Upstairs the trio tangoed down the manor halls to the silent rhythm of their murderous hearts, the blood of their victims rust on their lips.
 * Punchinello was a pushover. The moment I stepped into the room he folded like a deuce before a royal flush.

Prologue

 * Take me to Cold Steel.
 * I was in a graphic novel. Funny as hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.
 * I was in a computer game. Funny as hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.

Chapter One: Take Me to Cold Steel

 * Staggering on the mill roof in ice and snow and wild wind, I was a ninja. My kung fu was strong. I wasn't kidding anyone. At best, I was Superman on kryptonite, about to fall through a skylight, down to where it was all going down.

Chapter Two: Hidden Truths

 * I was close enough to hear the secrets just beyond the next doorway.

Chapter Three: The Deep Six

 * I had taken on the role of the mythic detective: Bogart as Marlowe, or as going after the Maltese Falcon, to unravel all the mysteries. Following a path of clues to that final revelation, even if it would take me down to the cold, cavernous depths of a grave.
 * Project . V for V for Valhalla. All of a sudden it read like a crackpot conspiracy theory.

Chapter Four: Backstabbing Bastard

 * I hadn't slept in a million years.
 * When the darkness fell, New York City became something else, any old Sinatra song notwithstanding. Bad things happened in the night, on the streets of that other city. Noir York City.

Chapter Five: In the Land of the Blind

 * Alfred Woden: Mr. Payne, I would like to introduce you to my colleagues in what we call The Inner Circle.
 * Max Payne: You've been watching too much X-Files.

 * In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Chapter Six: Byzantine Power Game

 * I had dreamed of revenge. Those dreams were always nightmares, of coming close and then failing. Now I was close. I had a name to guide me. Nicole Horne. I had nothing to lose.

Chapter Seven: Nothing to Lose

 * Mine wasn't the most original approach to the problem, it wasn't as if it hadn't all been done before-- An eye for an eye, the first principle of revenge, old as dirt, still going strong. The cardinal rule in going after someone with an intention to kill was not to make it personal, which it almost always ended up being anyway.

Chapter Eight: Pain and Suffering

 * Valkyr had been meant to be a white-winged maiden who would lift you to a warrior's heaven. But it had turned out to be a one-way demon ride to hell. The devil was in the drug. I knew. I had met him.
 * It's ridiculous you've made it this far.
 * No begging, no bribes. She knew better. Honor among killers; we who are about to die. Both of us knew how this would end: in pain and suffering.
 * They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was all over. The storm seemed to lose its frenzy. The ragged clouds gave way to the stars above. A bit closer to heaven.

title: Max Payne


text:
Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson (born 24 November 1948) is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author. Spider states that the internet rumors of his name being, or having been, Paul Robinson are incorrect.

Quotes

 * Just as there are Laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.
 * Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) "Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy"

 * A man should live forever, or die trying.
 * Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) "A voice is heard in Ramah"
 * Variant: A person should live forever, or die trying.
 * Off the Wall at Callahan's (2004)

 * In a culture where pessimism has metastasized like slow carcinoma, that crazy Irishman was backward enough to try to raise hopes, like hothouse flowers. In an era during which even judicious use of alcohol has been increasingly bad-rapped, the man who came to be known as The Mick of Time was backward enough to think that the world can look just that essential tad better when seen through a flask, brightly. (As long as you let someone else drive you home afterward.) Above all, he — and his goofball customers — believed that shared pain is lessened, and shared Joy increased. Now he is gone. Gone back whence he came, and we are all the poorer for it. But I refuse to say that we will not see his like again. Or his love again.
 * The Callahan Chronicals (1996) [originally published as Callahan and Company (1988)] "Backword", p. xii

 * Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased — thus do we refute entropy.
 * "Callahan's Law", as expressed in The Callahan Chronicals (1996) [originally published as Callahan and Company (1988)], Part IV : Earth … and Beyond, "Post Toast", p. 388. On the back cover of Callahan's Legacy (1996) this is modified into "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased (and bad puns are appreciated).

 * To all the Callahan's Places there ever were or ever will be, whatever they may be called — and to all the merry maniacs and happy fools who are fortunate enough to stumble into one: may none of them arrive too late!
 * Toast in The Callahan Chronicals (1996) [originally published as Callahan and Company (1988)], Part IV : Earth … and Beyond, "Post Toast", p. 392

 * The delusion that one's sexual pattern is The Only Right Way To Be is probably the single most common sexual-psychosis syndrome of this era, and it is virtually almost always the victim's fault. You cannot acquire this delusion by observing reality.
 * Lady Slings the Booze (1992)

God Is An Iron (1977)

 * I smelled her before I saw her. Even so, the first sight was shocking.
 * First lines

 * I had just seen the two most horrible things. The first was the smile. They say that when the bomb went off at Hiroshima, some people's shadows were baked onto walls by it. I think that smile got baked on the surface of my brain in much the same way. I don't want to talk about that smile.

 * Five days of wireheading alone should have killed her, never mind sudden cold turkey.

 * Animated the face might have been beautiful — any set of features can support beauty — but even a superb makeup job could not have made her pretty.

 * I was putting together a picture of a life that would have depressed anyone with the sensitivity of a rhino. Back when I had first seen her, when her features were alive, she had looked sensitive. Or had that been a trick of the juice?

 * I wanted to understand.

 * I've tried it with men and women and boys and girls, in the dark and in the desert sun, with people I cared for and people I didn't give a damn about, and I have never understood the pleasure in it. The best it's ever been for me is not uncomfortable.

 * "God is an iron," I said. "Did you know that?" I turned to look at her and she was staring. She laughed experimentally, stopped when I failed to join in. "And I'm a pair of pants with a hole scorched through the ass?" "If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron. Or else He's the dumbest designer that ever lived."

 * Man has historically devoted much more subtle and ingenious thought to inflicting cruelty than to giving others pleasure — which, given his gregarious nature, would seem a much more survival-oriented behavior. Poll any hundred people at random and you'll find at least twenty or thirty who know all there is to know about psychological torture and psychic castration — and maybe two who know how to give a terrific back-rub.

 * Call it… joy. The thing like pleasure that you feel when you've done a good thing or passed up a real tempting chance to do a bad thing. Or when the unfolding of the universe just seems especially apt. It's nowhere near as flashy and intense as pleasure can be. Believe me! But it's got something going for it. Something that can make you do without pleasure, or even accept a lot of pain, to get it.

 * "It took a couple of hundred million years to develop a thinking ape and you want a smart one in a lousy few hundred thousand? That lemming drive you're talking about is there — but there's another kind of drive, another kind of force that's working against it. Or else there wouldn't still be any people and there wouldn't be the words to have this conversation and—" She paused, looked down at herself. "And I wouldn't be here to say them."

 * Now I can say that I have sampled the spectrum of the pleasure system at both ends — none and all there is — and I think the rest of my life I will dedicate myself to the middle of the road and see how that works out. Starting with the very weak tea and toast I'm going to ask you to bring me in another ten minutes or so. With maltose. But as for this other stuff, this joy thing, that I would like to begin learning about, as much as I can. I don't really know a God damned thing about it, but I understand it has something to do with sharing and caring and what did you say your name was?

 * God is an iron… and that's a hot one.
 * Author's Postscript to the story. This story is also the second chapter of his novel Mindkiller (1982) and appears as the title story in the collection God Is An Iron and Other Stories ISBN 0-7862-4162-4 · Cover art for Book

The Callahan Touch (1993)

 * Mary Kay is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian. They control information. Don't ever piss one off.

 * Later restated as "Librarians are the secret masters of the universe. They control information. Never piss one off." (http://www.spiderrobinson.com/ruthsiegel.html)

Callahan's Key (2000)

 * It's always coldest before the warm.
 * First lines

 * As Bob Dylan forgot to say, "To live outside the law, you must be lucky."

 * Nikky has more fiber than I do, I guess: he doesn't let a little thing like death slow him down.
 * Comment on Nikola Tesla (as a character in the novel)

Interviews

 * The only kind of church I'd want to belong to is the one where no one can quite remember who the hell the prophet was or what exactly it was he did and they wouldn't recognize him if he showed up.
 * https://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/spiderrobinson4.html

 * Over and over again I find in my short stories that I am, by policy, optimistic. Looking back on it and thinking it over after 25 years, I'm real proud of that. If that's a defect, it's a defect I'm sinfully proud of and I hope I can manage to maintain that excessively optimistic attitude for another 25 years.
 * https://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/spiderrobinson3.html

title: Spider Robinson