Top 35 Jeff Lindsay Quotes

Everybody believes that capital punishment is wrong, but when they look at certain cases, they’re quick to say, ‘Put them to death,’ or scream ‘capital punishment.’

Every writer must find a way of writing that tells the reader: This is me and no one else. The Voice can be idiosyncratic, but it cannot be obscure. It is a blend of style and content and intent and rhythm and pure personality.

I don’t agree with capital punishment as it is now, because too often mistakes are made. But I think that if you eliminate the mistakes, then there are times when it is justified.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Sociopaths don’t have feelings; they can’t.

Pretending is the basis of civilised society, and it is sometimes necessary for all of us. Without it we are nothing more than a pack of snarling dogs.

Later, in the afternoon, I read what I did that morning. It’s almost always a surprise. But I can read it rationally; edit, polish, re-write, and think what I might do tomorrow in the early darkness.

If you look at Victorian England, being a soldier was considered a noble profession.

I know a lot of law officers, and every single one of them faces a moment – usually after about three hours on the job – when they realise that there’s no connection between law and justice.

I wanted to show life and to see ourselves and our behaviour through an outsider’s eye… from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about being a human being… He doesn’t have the feelings that the rest of us do.

In the afternoon, it’s impossible to put down any new words. I don’t even try.

My first true lesson in writing came from Mr. Bowden when I was 16. At my high school, he was the teacher known to be the very best at literature and writing.

If you look at the primitive societies that we know about, the worst thing that could have happened to you was to be captured and be turned over to the women.

Marvel Comics has always been a place where I felt at home. It has been a very important part of my life and has always been a wellspring of creative and relevant ideas.

I certainly try to avoid getting bogged down in forensics. There is certainly a whole lot of other writers who know a lot more than me about it. I know enough about it to do a little bit of background on laboratory techniques and stuff. But it kind of bores me.

The first rejection that ‘Dexter’ got, I was like, ‘OK. This hasn’t worked. Let’s try something else. I’ll go get a teaching job or something.’

A single moment spent in a business meeting or at a pub is more than enough to reveal the basic human truth that we are all faking it most of the time.

I try to write as serious as possible, and then a joke slips in.

What my research told me is that a psychopath cannot change. You’re born like that.

Dexter-Land is a dark and scary place, and I couldn’t live there permanently. To be honest, I don’t think I even want to visit.

Someone who is not a killer is not going to watch a TV show and decide to be a killer.

I made a deliberate choice to write something people would enjoy, not knock people out with ‘Boy, he can really put a clause together!’

I don’t have much time to sit and watch a lot of TV. And I can’t really binge-watch.

I wanted Dexter to have a family that could love him and understand him.

It’s a mistake to think that Dexter is nice.

It was a tremendous stroke of good luck that the show got Michael C. Hall to play the part. Everyone I’ve talked to thinks Michael is a perfect ‘Dexter,’ which never happens.

I had been writing poems and stories since I learned to make letters. I had placed poems in a hardcover anthology at the age of 6. And I knew more big words than anyone else in the 10th grade.

I question every word; I write ‘the’ and immediately feel scorn. It’s such an ordinary word – everybody uses it – why can’t I come up with something original? In the sunlight, every single word seems hackneyed.

I do as much as I can. I even drive through the chase scenes several times to make sure the details are right.

My father was one of the first six guys ashore on Iwo Jima. He’s 86 years old now, and every single night of his life, he has nightmares, and he wakes yelling.

Life would certainly be easier if we all came equipped with our own personal FAQ lists. When we meet someone, we could pass them a business card with the list on the back, and then step back and let them read before we tried to talk.

I know a lot of law officers, and every single one of them faces a moment – usually after about three hours on the job – when they realise that there’s no connection between law and justice. The law, as an institution, avoids justice, subverts it, just as often as it sees it done.

‘Dexter’ has been very, very good to me. I would rather stop doing it than cheapen it.

When I was a playwright earlier in my career – my senior project in high school was my first produced play – I used to put on the title page: ‘A tragedy with laughs.’

The law, as an institution, avoids justice, subverts it, just as often as it sees it done.