Knockemstiff Quotes & Sayings

'Knockemstiff' is a collection of short stories set in the holler of the same name in southern Ohio where I grew up. I tried to link the stories together through the place and some recurring characters. — Donald Ray Pollock

Anger is the common refuge of insignificance. People who feel their character to be slight, hope to give it weight by inflation: but the blown bladder at its fullest distention is still empty. — Hannah More

I used to never feel bad about anything, but now...
Well, that's not true. I used to feel bad all the time. I guess the difference is that now, sometimes, I felt good, and the contrast made the bad times that much worse. — Dan Wells

I'm a child of God first. Before I became a celebrity, I was baptized a Christian. — Mr. T

To praise great actions is in some sense to share them. — Francois De La Rochefoucauld

See, this is what the United States of America is all about.
You can wrestle a thousand bears and chew on a billion knives but in the end, you are only as good as the dude who stops you from dying of a gunshot while fucking a coyote. — Cory O'Brien

There is no essential difference between the material of comedy and tragedy. All depends on the point of view of the dramatist, which, by clever emphasis, he tries to make the point of view of his audience. — George Pierce Baker

I think calling me 'full-figured' is just rude. — Christina Hendricks

When I was growing up, I just wanted to be somewhere else. I didn't like living in Knockemstiff, and I figured when I got older, I'd move off to some big city. — Donald Ray Pollock

Four hundred or so people lived in Knockemstiff in 1957, nearly all of them connected by blood through one godforsaken calamity or another, be it lust or necessity or just plain ignorance. — Donald Ray Pollock

I bet on a horse at ten-to-one. It didn't come in until half-past five. — Henny Youngman

Food cannot cause you to put on weight, unless you think it can. — Rhonda Byrne

There is no prayer greater than service. — Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

A damp, gray sky covered southern Ohio like the skin of a corpse. — Donald Ray Pollock

What's happening is that people are making a billion photographs a year of their cats, frequently with the cats wearing costumes. Do you think I should be doing shows of cat photography? — John Szarkowski

My philosophy has always been to stand with all countries and all humanity. — Lazarus Of Bethany

When I started graduate school we did this publishing class where we learned about submitting and read interviews with editors from different magazines. A lot of them said they got so many submissions that unless the first page stuck out or the first paragraph or even the first sentence they'll probably send it back. So part of my idea was that if I have a really good first sentence maybe they'll read on a bit further. At least half, maybe more of the stories in Knockemstiff started with the first sentence; I got it down then went from there. — Donald Ray Pollock

To be good Christians you have to contemplate the suffering humanity of Jesus. "How can we bear witness? Contemplate Jesus. How can we forgive? Contemplate Jesus suffering. How can we not hate our neighbor? Contemplate Jesus suffering. How can we avoid gossiping about our neighbor? Contemplate Jesus suffering. There is no other way". These virtues are the those of the Father, who forgives us always, and Our Lady, Our Mother, shares in these virtues too. — Pope Francis