A man is the sum of his misfortunes. One day you’d think misfortune would get tired, but then time is your misfortune.

More from The Sound and the Fury (1929)

• Clocks slay time. Time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.
• Women do have an affinity for evil, for believing that no woman is to be trusted, but that some men are too innocent to protect themselves.
• A gentleman can live through anything.
• Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
• Between grief and nothing I will take grief.
• Even a liar can be scared into telling the truth, same as an honest man can be tortured into telling a lie.