Val Quotes

Oricum - era de preferat iadul cu o femeie deşteaptă decât paradisul cu una proastă.

What are you?” he demanded. “A slayer?" I rolled my eyes. “The name's Val, not Buffy. Do I look like a blond cheerleader with questionable taste in men?

We got it." Val grinned and lifted her fist. "Wonder twin powers activate!" Ruth grinned back, knocking her fist into Val's. "Shape of two fucking lunatics.

Mi se pare că te văd în toate femeile şi nu te aflu în nici una.

I call her Val because it's short for Valium and I always tell her she needs to take that shit by the bucketful. I wasn't lying when I said she was fucking crazy.

Sì perché l'autorità dell'opinione di mille nelle scienze non val per una scintilla di ragione di un solo, sì perché le presenti osservazioni spogliano d'autorità i decreti de' passati scrittori, i quali se vedute l'avessero, avrebbono diversamente determinato. For in the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man. Besides, the modern observations deprive all former writers of any authority, since if they had seen what we see, they would have judged as we judge.

Val: Why do you go out there? Sandra: Because dead people give such good advice. Val: What advice do they give? Sandra: Just one word- live!

Iubirile mari sînt tocmai acelea de care te îndoieşti mai mult.

You both ... you both saved me?" "Come on," said Luis. "You make it sound like it was hard for Val to go to the Unseelie Court, strike a deal with Roiben, challenge Mabry to a duel, win back your heart, and then get back here during rush hour.

I know you all have families who love you so if you want to leave–. (Acheron) We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want to. You and Val fought to save my sister when no one else would have bothered. I haven’t forgotten it. (Vane) And I haven’t forgotten what the Dark-Hunters did for me and Maggie. (Wren) Yeah, we’re family. Psychotic, bizarre and a hodgepodge of personalities that should probably never be blended, but here we are. Now let’s go kick some ass. (Fury)

Can I just point something out?" Fletcher asked. "That is an awful plan. On a scale of one to ten - the Trojan War being a ten and General Custer verus all those Indians being a one - your plan is a zero. I don't think it is a plan at all. I think it's just a series of happenings that are, to be honest, unlikely to follow on from each other in the way in which everyone's probably hoping." "Do you have a better plan?" Valkyrie asked. "Of course not. I'm a man of action, not thought." Valkyrie nodded. "You're definitely not a man of thought." "Why are you in charge anyway? What do you know about organising something like this?" "I have faith," Tanith said. "As do I," said Ghastly. Valkyrie smiled at them gratefully. "So you think the plan will work?" "God, no," said Ghastly. "Sorry, Val," said Tanith

I do stupid things when I'm nervous, which means I'm constantly doing stupid things.

- Vreau să-ţi intru în sânge, pricepi?

Screw that book,” said Val. “It was written by men.” She held out her free hand to Marion. “We’re rewriting it.

People said that video games were bad because they made you numb to death, made you register entrails splattering across a screen as a sign of success. In that moment, Val thought that the real problem with games was that the player was suppossed to try everything. If there was a cave, you went in it. If there was a mysterious stranger, you talked to him. If there was a map, you followed it. But in games, you had a hundred million billion lives and Val only had this one.

Marile dureri nu dor la început. Sînt mari pentru că deschid o rană care nu se mai vindecă.

I wish that everything was different. I wish that I was a part of something. I wish that anything I said mattered, to anyone. I mean, let's face it: would anybody even notice if I disappeared tomorrow?

Reckoner Super Plan for Killing Regalia... Step One: find Regalia, then totally explode her. Lots and Lots. Step Two: put Val on decaf. Step Three: Mizzy gets a cookie.

The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth he can accept about himself without running away.

His name's Nash." Aunt Val took a butter knife from the silverware drawer. "What year is he?" I groaned inwardly. "Senior." ...here we go ... Her smile was a little too enthusiastic. "Well that's wonderful!" Of course, what she really meant was "Rise from the shadows, social leper, and walk in the bright light of acceptance!

În definitiv, ce e dragostea decât o taină pe care o ascund îndrăgostiţii şi o poartă în umbră, de frica luminii? Îndată, ce taina se dă pe faţă, dragostea veştejeste, îşi pierde frăgezimea, vraja devine ceva obişnuit, de toate zilele.

Great. Lookout. I'm a lookout. Another thing to put on my college applications. What do I do if I see someone?" Val looked back. "I'm not sure, actually.

Pînă la ea, femeia fusese pentru mine o pluralitate, de la ea încoace femeia deveni unică şi o chema cu numele ei.

If we have to be cat burglars, I'm going to see what' to steal in the fridge." We're trying to find evidence she's the poisoner. Just a thought before you start putting random things in your mouth." Ruth shrugged and walked past Val.

Aveam nevoie de aer, de libertate, de zgomot, de muzică, de orice, pentru că îmi era groază să rămîn numai cu mine.

A society gets the criminals it deserves.

Stimată dragoste, în care nebunie nu ne faci tu să găsim plăceri?

Ik val niet, ik dans.

So you'll teach me?" Val asked. Ravus nodded agin. "I will make you as terrible as you desire." "I don't want to be - ," she started, but he held up his hand. "I know you're very brave," he said. "Or stupid." "And stupid. Brave and Stupid." Ravus smiled, but then his smile sagged. "But nothing can stop you from being terrible once you've learned how.

You look like Cinderella," said Val in awe. "Yeah, if she'd been into bondage and had Christian Dior for a godmother.

The me I am is not the me I was.

Ouch, Val. What did I ever do to you?” He rubs his chest in mock pain. “You have a penis. Therefore you’re automatically on the wrong side.

De altfel, aleşii dragostei absoulte sunt excepţii tot atât de rare ca şi geniile.

Banii se pot cheltui, chiar pierde. Averea minţii rămâne însă neatinsă: nu s-a născut până acum hoţul care s-o fure.

You are fifty different kinds of twisted." "Only fifty? Val, you wound me.

Time for the likeliest story since Mary told Joseph it was God’s.

Also, i realized that avoiding people didn't actually ease any of my anxieties. Out there in the woods, i still had to live with myself.

That wasn't Josh Hartnett; that kid was eighteen years old," Kate said. I told you, they age slower out here. It's all the fresh California air," Val replied. Yes, because that's exactly what Los Angeles is known for," Kate said dryly. "Clean air.

I love Val. I love my job and my New York. I have no doubts that they were the right choices for me. And at the same time, I know that right choices by definition are the means by which life crystallizes loss.

După un timp, s-a furişat pe poarta inimilor noastre fiinţa unui vals făcut numai din farmec şi nostalgie.

You can be known as Val or Babycakes.” His gaze darkened. “My name is Valerius and I will not answer to Val.” She shrugged. “Fine then, Babycakes, have it your way.

Bărbatul, datorită eului său aşa-zis "superior", se dă dragostei cu prudenţă, păstrând rezerve pentru sine, de aceea îşi păstrează măcar parţial echilibrul. Pe când noi, femeile, când iubim, ne dăm integral, mistuindu-ne în aşa fel, încât nu ne rămâne decât umbra celor ce am fost.

Needless to say, Virgin Val Jensen is no longer a virgin. I made sure of that.... many, many times.

...şi nu ştiu dacă o femeie îndrăgostită raţionează vreodată cu creierul.

Visuri născute moarte.

Nu sorbi prea însetat din fericire, căci fericirea e insaţiabilă ca apa sărată a naufragiatului: cu cât bei, cu atât îţi creşte setea. O fericire egală e plictisitoare sau mai bine zis nu e fericire.

Fuck your manners." "You don't have to settle for just my manners.

Val- I’m on Bourbon– (Acheron) I will not venture down that street of crass iniquities and plebeian horror, Acheron. It is the cesspit of humanity. (Valerius)

Yeah, you almost got yourself killed, you idiot,” she said smiling. She was well aware of his daredevil tendencies and to the extent possible, comfortable with them. “No, it was something stranger than that. When I was underwater, my life did flash before my eyes. You know, just like everyone says it does. But there was . . . something else . . . something that wasn’t part of my life. It was like it was stuck right there at the end, just before I popped to the surface, and I can’t imagine what it was.” Val slowly turned her head back toward the road then asked, “Well, what was it you saw?

Ne ajunsese din urmă oboseala fericirii?

― Cît e ceasul? ― Nouă şi un sfert... ― O! de ce m-ai lăsat să dorm atîta?... ― Nu-i nimic, pentru tine mai răsare încă o dată soarele. ― Crezi că merită? ― Da, pentru că tu ai realizat dragostea absolută.

A stray dog, I might understand," she said. "But this? You are too softhearted." No, Mabry," Ravus said. "I am not." He looked in Val's direction. "I think she wants to die." Maybe you can help her after all," Mabry said. "You're good at helping people die.

De fapt marile pasiuni rămîn necunoscute, se consumă în anonimat.

I'm afraid that whatever I touch is spoilt by the contact." "I'm not scared of being spoiled," Val said.

Isi lasa capul greu in podul palmelor. Un val de amintiri prinse viata si batu la poarta constiintei.

I suppose you can't interview Virgin Val without bringing up Kyle Hamilton

He frowned as he struggled to remember. It was like watching an elephant crochet.

Te-am iubit şi te iubesc cu atît mai deznădăjduit, cu cît ştiu că de-acum n-ai să mai fii niciodată al meu.

The Top Ten Reasons Why Virgin Val Sucks 10. She called me a one-hit-wonder. 9. She doesn’t appreciate the endearing nickname I gave her. 8. She makes me write stupid blogs about her at four in the morning. 7. She’s encouraging people not to have sex. 6. She blew me off when I asked her out. 5. She has a crush on a douche bag. 4. She won’t answer any of my calls. 3. She’s such a tease with her look-but-don’t-touch policy. 2. I played a whole effing concert just for her and she didn’t come even though she told me she would. (You’re such a liar!) And the #1 reason why Virgin Val sucks? I still want her anyway.

Really, though, what do i know about what another person is capable of? I still don't have a clue what i'm capable of. I keep surprising even myself.

Oh, Val," said Father. "All you have to do is live your life, and everyone around you will be happier." "No greatness, then." "Val," said Mother, "goodness trumps greatness any day." "Not in the history books," said Valentine. "Then the wrong people are writing history, aren't they?" said Father.

Fericirea care s-a dus mă sufocă, pentru ca e tot durere.

Loss is like a wind, it either carries you to a new destination or it traps you in an ocean of stagnation. You must quickly learn how to navigate the sail, for stagnation is death.

Numai lipsa unui obiect ori a unei fiinţe, care ne-a aparţinut o dată, ne pune la lumină adevaratul preţ.

I'm left with a loneliness so overpowering it threatens to seep from my eyes. I have no one. Unfortunately, that's not fantasy. That's all-natural, 100 percent organic, unprocessed, reality.

I laugh plenty. I mean, i laughed plenty. I laughed at how absurdly fucked everything is. I laughed because there's not much else you can do. You can laugh or you can cry. I'd do plenty of both.

Femeile învinse de viaţă au uneori o sete nebună de a cădea tot mai jos, chiar simt o voluptate de a-şi distruge ce a mai rămas curat în ele.

Fantasies always sound good, but they're no help when reality comes and shoves you to the ground. When it trips up your tongue and traps the right words in your head. When it leaves you to eat lunch by yourself.

You didn't think I really liked you? Do you think I really like you now?" He turned toward her, uncertainty in his face."You did go quite a lot of effort to be having this conversation, but... I don't want to read too much of what I hope into that." Val stretched out beside him, resting her head in the crook of his arm. "What do you hope?" He pulled her close, hands careful not to touch her wounds as they wrapped around her. "I hope that you feel for me as I do for you," he said, his voice like a sigh against her throat. And how is that?" she asked, her lips so close to his jaw that she could taste the salt of his skin when she moved them. You carried my heart in your hands tonight," he said. "But I have felt as if you carried it long before that." She smiled and let her eyes drift closed. They lay there together, under the bridge, city lights burning outside the windows like a sky full of falling stars, as they slid off into sleep

Dragostea e foamea de femeie unică, şi dacă această femeie se pricepe să nu dea prea mult bărbatului ca să-l sature, ci dimpotrivă îl lasă mereu flămînd, iată secretul lui Polichinelle care ţine iubirea proaspătă.

If ever a girl was [worth waiting], Val, it'd be you, but I can't promise that. You have no idea what my life is like. There are always too many beautiful and willing women. There's too much temptation. Too much expectation. If I wasn't getting it from you I'd probably stray. I know how that sounds, but I'm just being honest. I'm only human, Val. A weak one who's been indulged way too long. I can't give you what you're asking for because I'm afraid of breaking your heart.

What is it, Val? What are you watch . . .” His word trailed off as his eyes landed on the TV screen. The headline looming at the bottom of the screen said it all— “Planet Killer Aimed at Earth” Wordlessly, Jeremy moved around the couch and plopped down beside Valerie, whose eyes were glued to the screen. After moments of watching, he turned to look at her, and her mouth was sagging open. It was only then he realized his was too. He closed it with an audible click, returning his attention to the screen. The narrator continued on about the details of the new discovery until he got to the scientific name for the asteroid and the new media moniker; Rabbit’s Revenge. Something clicked in the back of his mind. Some little sensation of recognition sparked at the name, but for the life of him Jeremy couldn’t place why.

Oricine ştie că sinuciderea e o boală a sufletului, că nimeni nu-şi curmă zilele înainte ca ea să fi ajuns la sfîrşitul evoluţiei.

Burning is the right way to paint it. You feel yourself getting so hot, day after day. Hotter and hotter. It gets to be too much. Even for stars. At some point they fizzle out or explode. Cease to be. But if you're looking up at the sky, you don't see it that way. You think those stars are still there. Some aren't. Some are already gone. Long gone. I guess, now, so am I.

How many times in life do you get to just start all over again?". That does sound tempting, actually. Can i start over today?

Mi se pare că te văd în toate femeile şi nu te aflu în nici una. Te simt cînd prezentă, cînd plecată ― totuşi mereu actuală. Dacă uneori te prind de mină, făptura ta se topeşte ca un fulg de zăpadă...

Dacă şcoala nu ne învăţa să descoperim ţara iubirii şi să întreţinem nestinsă flacăra ei, la ce bun toată învăţătura aceea greoaie şi uscată?

Plec mutilată de pe lumea asta, înfrîntă definitiv. Nu ştiu, dar unii oameni sînt sortiţi să ispăşească greu o greşeală. Eu sînt dintre aceia. Nu mă plîng! Dealtfel, nici nu mai am lacrimi.

How did you do it?" I brought the teacup to my mouth for another sip. "How did you guide Sophie's soul? I thought you were a reaper." "He's both," Nash said from behind me, and I turned just as he followed my father through the front door, pulling his long sleeves down one at a time. He and my dad had just loaded Aunt Val's white silk couch into the back of my uncle's truck, so he wouldn't have to deal with the bloodstains when he and Sohie got back from the hospital. "Tod is very talented." Tod brushed the curl back from his face and scowled. Harmony spoke up from the kitchen as the oven door squealed open. "Both my boys are talented." "Both?" I repeated, sure I'd heard her wrong. Nash sighed and slid onto the chair his mother had vacated, then gestured toward the reaper with one hand. "Kaylee, meet my brother, Tod.

That was the trouble with moving houses; no matter how carefully you packed the books, they never ended up on the new shelves in quite the right place.

Aveam nevoie de...o odihnă pe care nu ţi-o dă altcineva decât moartea. Căci de atâtea ori viaţa e mult mai grea decât moartea.

Live in moments that consume your heart and mind, but be distracted by the music from the leaves, birds, wind, rain, sun and people

I also know that when you’re not in the best headspace, the trivial can turn into the insurmountable

As Val jumped down onto the litter-strewn concrete after them, she thought how insane it was to follow two people she didn't know into the bowels of the subway, but instead of being afraid, she felt glad. She would make all her own decisions now, even if they were ruinous ones. It was the same pleasurable feeling as tearing a piece of paper into tiny, tiny pieces.

Marry me,” I said. I sounded as astonished as she looked, but it felt right. It was right. When I spoke again, my voice went from surprised to insistent. “Be my wife, Val. Be the woman who wakes up in this bed with me every morning for the rest of our lives. Fight with me how Robin and Alan do. Make love to me. Have my children.” Her eyes popped so wide that I laughed and said, “You know, eventually, someday.

El Top Ten de Razones Porqué Virgen Val Apesta” 10. Me llamó hombre—de—un—solo—éxito. 9. No aprecia el encantador sobrenombre que le di. 8. Me hace escribir blogs estúpidos sobre ella a las cuatro de la mañana. 7. Alienta a la gente a que no tenga sexo. 6. Me mandó a volar cuando le pedí salir. 5. Está enamorada de un idiota. 4. No responde ninguna de mis llamadas. 3. Le gusta coquetear con esa política de mira—pero—no—toques. 2. Toqué un maldito concierto sólo para ella y ni siquiera vino cuando dijo que lo haría. (¡Eres una mentirosa!) ¿Y la razón #1 de por qué la Virgen Val apesta? Porque la deseo de todos modos.

No one should ever feel they have to suffer in silence. We need to keep talking about mental health and continue to reach out to those who might be suffering.

Maybe, someday, some other kid is going to be standing here, staring out at the trees, feeling alone, wondering if maybe the world might look different from all the way up there. Better. Maybe he’ll start climbing, one branch at a time, and he’ll keep going, even when it seems like he can’t find another foothold. Even when it feels hopeless. Like everything is telling him to let go. Maybe this time he won’t let go. This time he’ll hold on. He’ll keep going.

You're born and you keep getting older and grayer and sicker, and no matter what efforts you make to reverse the process, you die, every single time. To repeat: worse, worse, worse, and then death. I have a long way to go before the worst. This is only the beginning.

The mindset of loss of a loved one is to understand that the loss will never be undone. You must live with it, like it or not. But, to live well, you must turn that loss into something positive. That way, you can become the best version of yourself; scarred, flawed and unstoppable

When Val opened the door Jeremy almost had to catch his breath. She was in a quintessential “little black dress”. This particular one left one shoulder bare and with her hair swept to the opposite side, the geometry of it gave the sensation of her being much more exposed than she actually was. Still, it wasn’t even the flattering attire that nearly left Jeremy breathless. It was the look in her eyes. That sparkle of joy at seeing him was unmistakable, and truly the only clue Jeremy typically got of her feelings for him. It was said that in ancient Egyptian times the peddlers in the market could determine a customer’s interest in their wares by the eyes. When the eye beholds something it desires, the pupils dilate. On some level everyone knows this, but in the case of the peddlers, if the pupils dilated, the prices went up. And whether Jeremy knew it consciously or not, her pupils dilated as she beheld him. All he knew for sure was that that look told him Valerie was very glad to see him. Then he saw her eyes slip down to his neck

Val smiled evilly at the child and reached into his pocket. “Do you,” he asked, “like kittens?” And he held out a black, fluffy kitten with a white chest. Annalise blinked at the kitten’s green eyes. The kitten blinked back. “Oh, yes!” said Annalise. Val deposited the kitten into the plump little arms and strolled to the kitchens, where Hecate and her kittens were in residence, swinging his gold walking stick. There were seven more kittens remaining and a garden full of his enemies’ children…

She is crazy. Head to head with an ogre. Loony Lolli, Sketchy Dave, Crazy Val. You're all a bunch of freaks." Val made a formal bow, dipping her head in their direction, and then sat on the blanket. Loony Luis, more likely," Lolli said, kicking her flip-flop in his direction. Luis One-Eye," Dave said. Luis smirked. "Bug-head Dave." Princess Luis," Dave said. "Prince Valiant." Val laughed, thinking of the first time Dave had called her that. "How about Dreaded Dave?" Luis leaned over, grabbing his brother in a headlock, both of them rolling on the cloth, and said, "How about Baby Brother? Baby Brother Dave?" Hey," Lolli said. "What about me? I want to be a princess like Luis.

I make an attempt to follow Reed’s lead and lighten the mood. “What was your excuse last week when you ate an entire batch of cookies?” “That was just me being hungry. Besides, they were cookies. Who needs an excuse to eat cookies?” “I feel like that’s a sexual question,” Wade chimes in. “And the correct answer is, no one ever needs an excuse to eat cookies.” “You do need permission, though,” Val says tersely, focusing her gaze on Wade for the first time since he sat down. “And if your mouth is all over someone else’s cookies, then other bakers aren’t going to be interested in offering you their cookies.” Then she gets up from the table and stomps off. “Hey!” Wade shouts after her. “I only had those other cookies that one time and only because the baker I wanted to get the cookies from was closed!” He shoots up from his seat and hustles after Val, leaving Easton, Reed, and me staring after them. “I have a feeling they aren’t talking about cookies,” Easton remarks.

Stop thinking," he said. I have to think," said val. "You said I was supposed to concentrate." Thinking makes you slow. You need to move as I move. Right now, you're merely following my lead." How can I know where you're going to go before you've gone there? That's stupid." It's no different from knowing where an opponent might move. How do you know where a ball is likely to go on the lacrosse field?" The only things you know about lacrosse are the things I told you," Val said. I might say the same about you and sword fighting." He stopped. "There. You did it. You were so busy snapping at me that you didn't notice you were doing it." Val frowned, too annoyed to be pleased, but too pleased to say anything more.

E adevărat, te-am iubit şi atunci mult. Dar iubirea la care răspunzi nu e decît jumătate iubire. Chiar mai puţin decît atît. Dacă te sărutam o dată, îmi întorceai zece sărutări la loc şi nu eram lacomă după ele pentru că mi le dădeai din belşug. Acum, acum să mă fi lăsat să te sărut, cînd nu mai era cu putinţă. Ai fi ştiut ce înseamnă o sărutare. Şi aş fi ştiut, bineînţeles, şi eu.

The most uncomplicated thing of all!’ he replied. ’For someone well acquainted with the fifth dimension, it costs nothing to expand space to the desired proportions. I’ll say more, respected lady - to devil knows what proportions! I, however,’ Koroviev went on chattering, ‘have known people who had no idea, not only of the fifth dimension, but generally of anything at all, and who nevertheless performed absolute wonders in expanding their space. Thus, for instance, one city-dweller, as I’ve been told, having obtained a three-room apartment on Zemlyanoy Val, transformed it instantly, without any fifth dimension or other things that addle the brain, into a four-room apartment by dividing one room in half with a partition.

Iubirea e nesăţioasă, de un egoism sălbatic, vrea să-i sacrifici tot fără a-i cere nimic în schimb, mulţumindu-te doar cu ceea ce-ţi oferă. Eu am rîvnit totul de la tine pentru că îţi dădusem totul. Oricum, ceva mai bun decît mine nu puteam să-ţi dau. De aici a pornit eroarea, de la acest schimb în aparenţă just. Dar ce experienţă aveam, de unde să ştiu că iubirea dintre două fiinţe nu e egală, că balanţa atîrnă cînd într-o parte, cînd într-alta după imponderabile de care arar ne dăm seama. În cazul nostru balanţa atîrna în favoarea ta, lanţurile cu care mă încătuşai erau mai puternice decît ale mele. De ce te-am judecat luîndu-mă pe mine drept unitate de măsură? Bărbatul, datorită se vede eului său aşa-zis "superior", se dă dragostei cu prudenţă, păstrînd rezerve pentru sine, de aceea îşi păstrează, măcar parţial, echilibrul. Pe cînd noi, femeile, cînd iubim, ne dăm integral mistuindu-ne în aşa fel încît nu ne rămîne decît umbra celor ce am fost. Iată de ce prăbuşirea noastră în lipsa coloanei vertebrale e aşa de catastrofală.

It reminds me of that saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I guess that means we’re just products of whoever made us and we don’t have much control. The thing is, when people use that phrase, they ignore the most critical part: the falling. Within the logic of that saying, the apple falls every single time. Not falling isn’t an option. So, if the apple has to fall, the most important question in my mind is what happens to it upon hitting the ground? Does it touch down with barely a scratch? Or does it smash on impact? Two vastly different fates. When you think about it, who cares about its proximity to the tree or what type of tree spawned it? What really makes all the difference, then, is how we land.

This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed--run over, maimed, destroyed--but they continued to play anyhow. We really all were very happy for a while, sitting around not toiling but just bullshitting and playing, but it was for such a terrible brief time, and then the punishment was beyond belief: even when we could see it, we could not believe it. For example, while I was writing this I learned that the person on whom the character Jerry Fabin is based killed himself. My friend on whom I based the character Ernie Luckman died before I began the novel. For a while I myself was one of these children playing in the street; I was, like the rest of them, trying to play instead of being grown up, and I was punished. I am on the list below, which is a list of those to whom this novel is dedicated, and what became of each. Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error in judgment. When a bunch of people begin to do it, it is a social error,a life-style. In this particular life-style the motto is "Be happy now because tomorrow you are dying," but the dying begins almost at once, and the happiness is a memory. It is, then, only a speeding up, an intensifying, of the ordinary human existence. It is not different from your life-style, it is only faster. It all takes place in days or weeks or months instead of years. "Take the cash and let the credit go," as Villon said in 1460. But that is a mistake if the cash is a penny and the credit a whole lifetime. There is no moral in this novel; it is not bourgeois; it does not say they were wrong to play when they should have toiled;it just tells what the consequences were. In Greek drama they were beginning, as a society, to discover science, which means causal law. Here in this novel there is Nemesis: not fate, because any one of us could have chosen to stop playing in the street, but, as I narrate from the deepest part of my life and heart, a dreadful Nemesis for those who kept on playing. I myself,I am not a character in this novel; I am the novel. So, though, was our entire nation at this time. This novel is about more people than I knew personally. Some we all read about in the newspapers. It was, this sitting around with our buddies and bullshitting while making tape recordings, the bad decision of the decade, the sixties, both in and out of the establishment. And nature cracked down on us. We were forced to stop by things dreadful. If there was any "sin," it was that these people wanted to keep on having a good time forever, and were punished for that, but, as I say, I feel that, if so, the punishment was far too great, and I prefer to think of it only in a Greek or morally neutral way, as mere science, as deterministic impartial cause-and-effect. I loved them all. Here is the list, to whom I dedicate my love: To Gaylene deceased To Ray deceased To Francy permanent psychosis To Kathy permanent brain damage To Jim deceased To Val massive permanent brain damage To Nancy permanent psychosis To Joanne permanent brain damage To Maren deceased To Nick deceased To Terry deceased To Dennis deceased To Phil permanent pancreatic damage To Sue permanent vascular damage To Jerri permanent psychosis and vascular damage . . . and so forth. In Memoriam. These were comrades whom I had; there are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgiven. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them all play again, in some other way, and let them be happy.