Andrew Vachss

“There is no Constitutional right to prey on others. The Internet is just a piece of technology, like the telephone. Society has the right to modify its uses.”

“Without question, I've either got to be a writer, or I fail.”

“Ask any experienced defense lawyer: the real risks are for an accused person who is innocent. A guilty defendant has many more options available.”

“Crime takes the pulse of a culture. It tells us the truth about us as a species.”

“Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand," the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce Wayne”

“A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids.”

“No politician is threatened by the child protective constituency, because it does not exist.”

“Family' is not just a biological word, it's an an operative one.”

“Fear is an enemy that can be killed only at close range. The closest range of all is intimacy. The deeper the fear is embedded in one’s spirit, the more vulnerable it is.”

“Courier 12 is the Type-O blood of fonts - works just as good for a 'N.Y. Times' op-ed as a screenplay or a short story.”

“I believe my publisher has shown a great deal of faith in me over a lot of years but I'm not prepared to be so arrogant to say that the long-term literary value of my work would compensate them for a financial failure.”

“While early childhood experiences may impel, they do not compel. In the end, evil is a matter of choice.”

“The idea that you're not a writer until you're published is a lie.”

“I'm in pursuit of what cannot be achieved: perfection.”

“Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.”

“It's the family you choose that counts.”

“My stuff isn't for everyone.”

“I want to disabuse people of the idea that knowledge is power. Knowing how to get to Detroit is not the same thing as having the bus fare.”

“We don't protect our young, and we tolerate predators of our own species.”

“Fighting means you could lose. Bullying means you can't. A bully wants to beat somebody; he doesn't want to fight somebody.”