While early childhood experiences may impel, they do not compel. In the end, evil is a matter of choice.
— 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.
A trial is not a search for truth. It is a contest and, often, one that produces no winners.
Ours is a country where anything can be accomplished if enough people get angry... because, in America, we act on our collective anger.
I did criminal defense work part-time, and that paid the bills for representing abused and neglected children... and for defending in juvenile court those kids the 'child protective system' had missed when it had the chance.
I write everything in Courier 12 because I write for publication, not pleasure.
I hate bullies. I hate them. I'm not good enough with words to describe how much I hate them.
I don't understand people whose gratification is a BMW. You don't know what joy is until you see a kid who was tortured get adopted by a family.
No politician is threatened by the child protective constituency, because it does not exist.
Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.
People are pushing against the fabric of society all the time.
I don't sign contracts for my books.
All children are born pure egoists. They perceive their needs to the exclusion of all others. Only through socialization do they learn that some forms of gratification must be deferred and others denied.
I didn't start out angry. I started out a young man wanting adventure.
Without question, I've either got to be a writer, or I fail.
In some neighborhoods, if you want to walk down the streets, you've got two choices - look down, or look hard.
I don't even use italics or boldface; that's clutter, not clarity. Fancy fonts are fine for blogs, just as calligraphy is fine for diaries. But when you're writing for anyone other than yourself, you want to get as universal as possible.
If I ever stopped being angry, I couldn't write anymore. How could I?
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.
Victimizers of children are the enemies of any so-called society.
The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape.
Building a mechanical device for its appearance is like putting lace on a bowling ball.
I'm in pursuit of what cannot be achieved: perfection.
I don't take advances for my books.
My stuff isn't for everyone.
Ask any experienced defense lawyer: the real risks are for an accused person who is innocent. A guilty defendant has many more options available.
Anyone who says, 'Books don't change anything,' or - more commonly - that crime fiction is the wrong genre for promoting social change - should take a closer look.
Crime takes the pulse of a culture. It tells us the truth about us as a species.
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.
Fighting means you could lose. Bullying means you can't. A bully wants to beat somebody; he doesn't want to fight somebody.
Journalism is the protection between people and any sort of totalitarian rule. That's why my hero, admittedly a flawed one, is a journalist.
We don't protect our young, and we tolerate predators of our own species.
A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids.
The idea that you're not a writer until you're published is a lie.
I think people should be consumers of journalism.
My life is triage.
