Quotes from David Simon

There should be no surprise when you come to that hideous moment for which you've spent a lifetime preparing.

West Baltimore. You sit on your stoop, you drink Colt 45 from a brown paper bag and you watch the radio car roll slowly around the corner. You see the gunman, you hear the shots, you gather on the far corner to watch the paramedics load what remains of a police officer into the rear of an ambulance. Then you go back to your rowhouse, open another can, and settle in front of the television to watch the replay on the eleven o'clock news. Then you go back to the stoop.

It is the unrepentant worship of statistics that forms the true orthodoxy of any modern police department. Captains

O]ne of the read truths about life in any police department: For a detective or street police, the only real satisfaction is the work itself; when a cop spends more and more time getting aggravated with the details, he's finished. The attitude of coworkers, the indifference of superiors, the poor quality of the equipment - all of it pales if you still love the job. All of it matters if you don't.

More people pay attention to fiction and to narrative than pay attention to journalism. That's quite sad. More people pay attention to television than to prose. That's equally sad, if not more so.

We either live or die based on how we live in cities, and our society is either going to be great or not based on how we perform as creatures of the city.

All stress is ultimately related to loss or the fear of loss.

Genuine inner freedom is the ultimate aim of life. It is the unspoken goal of every thought you have and every action you take.

Life is too short to carry the burden of a heavy heart. It does not serve you or anyone else. Free yourself through the power of forgiveness and compassion.

It is your birthright to have a life of meaning and purpose. Whether or not the people in your life have consistently celebrated your incarnation, you deserve to celebrate your existence.

The greatest contribution we can make to the wellbeing of those in our lives is to have peace in our own hearts.

The why is what makes journalism an adult game. The why is what makes policy coherent and useful. The why is what transforms bureaucrats and foot soldiers and political leaders into viable instruments of rational and affirmative change. The why is everything and without it, the very suggestion of human progress becomes a cosmic joke.

You can't make a good show based on pure verisimilitude, pure anti-drama. But you have to acknowledge a lot of ordinary life. Most TV doesn't do that.

You have the capacity to change the plotline of your life, even if you've been acting from the same script since before you can remember.

While I think storytelling is a meaningful way to spend your life... it does feel a little bit secondary or off-point.

Any music can be healing if it inspires, relaxes, encourages or creates enthusiasm for life in you.

To be told you've won a MacArthur fellowship is very flattering and gratifying personally.

I had a great editor, Rebecca Corbett, from the time I was a city reporter right through to the years I worked on the 'Sun's' enterprise reporting team.

When we spend time in silence, we can hear the voice of our soul whispering its sacred message and encouraging us to make choices that bring us more happiness, health, love, meaning, and peace.

You shoot another guy—well, okay, this is Baltimore. You shoot three guys, it's time to admit you have a problem.

The beauty of love is that in giving it away, you are left with more than you had before.

Awakening into love is a lifelong path.

There came this point where I sat down with all my notebooks and I had to start to write, when I thought: this whole notion of writing for the person who understands nothing, the average reader... He has to die! I can't have him in my head. And so the person I started writing for was the homicide detective.

Boiled down to its core, the truth is always a simple, solid thing