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Quotes from A Special Providence — Richard Yates

1926–1992 United States

← All quotes by Richard Yates

10 quotes

Sumbitch wasn't even needed, that's the funny part; just some eager-beaver bastard couldn't mind his own business.

A Special Providence (1969)

That had the sound of a good exit line, so she went quickly into her room and slammed the door.

A Special Providence (1969)

Her face, in the spattered mirror, was a shocked and wild-eyed ruin.

A Special Providence (1969)

After a second or two he thrust the muzzle forward and broke out the pane of glass, less because he knew it would make for a better aim than because it was what gunmen always did behind windows in movies.

A Special Providence (1969)

"I expect you'll miss your friends."
"I don't really have any friends; not real ones. Anyway, we'll make new friends."

A Special Providence (1969)

Why couldn't she stop talking? Did all lonely people have that problem?

A Special Providence (1969)

He seemed decent and kindly enough, but Prentice was cautioned by an old and trusted rule of his schooldays: Beware of the first friendly one; he's probably an outcast himself.

A Special Providence (1969)

(and when would she ever learn not to monopolize a whole evening's conversation?)

A Special Providence (1969)

After a while he stopped listening. His ears took in only the rise and fall of her voice, the elaborate, familiar, endless rhythm of it; but from long experience he was able to say "Oh yes" or "Of course," in all the right places.

A Special Providence (1969)

"You make it sound so easy." But that was one of the wonderful things about Sterling Nelson: he could make any difficult thing sound easy, and the only other man she had ever known who could do that was Willard Slade. All the others, George, for example, had made easy things sound difficult.

A Special Providence (1969)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Richard Yates (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.