A firm rule must be imposed upon our nation before it destroys itself. The United States needs some theology and geometry, some taste and decency. I suspect that we are teetering on the edge of the abyss. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Apparently I am pushing a jinx about the streets. I am certain that I can do better with some other wagon. A new cart, a new start. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Between notes, he had contemplated means of destroying Myrna Minkoff but had reached no satisfactory conclusion. His most promising scheme had involved getting a book on munitions from the library, constructing a bomb, and mailing it in plain paper to Myrna. Then he remembered that his library card had been revoked. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Do you think that I want to live in a communal society with people like that Battaglia acquaintance of yours, sweeping streets and breaking up rocks or whatever it is people are always doing in those blighted countries? What I want is a good, strong monarchy with a tasteful and decent king who has some knowledge of theology and geometry and to cultivate a Rich Inner Life. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Had that poor Reilly kook really been proud of Levy Pants? He had always said that he was. That was one good sign of his insanity. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
I avoid that bleak first hour of the working day during which my still sluggish senses and body make ever chore a penance. I find that in arriving later, the work which I do perform is of a much higher quality. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
I suspect that I am the result of particularly weak conception on the part of my father. His sperm was probably emitted in a rather offhand manner. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
In this case I read on. And on. First with the sinking feeling that it was not bad enough to quit, then with a prickle of interest, then a growing excitement, and finally an incredulity: surely it was not possible that it was so good. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Leaving New Orleans also frightened me considerably. Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland begins. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
Mrs. Reilly called in that accent that occurs south of New Jersey only in New Orleans, that Hoboken near the Gulf of Mexico. (John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces")
More John Kennedy Toole Quotations (Based on Topics)