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I saw hell. The hospital had divided and conquered pretty successfully.

The closest thing to hell on earth is prison. It's the worst experience I've ever had in my life. Besides death.

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.

How many condemnations I have witnessed more criminal than the crime!

I have questioned myself about the brutality in the last few novels. Actually in 'The Leopard,' in hindsight, I feel I went a little bit too far with screaming blood. There are a couple of scenes that I regret and wish I had the chance to rewrite. 'Phantom' has less blood.

One of the fascinating things about researching Heaven and Hell is, of course, the fact that there are so few descriptions of Heaven, because most people can't really explain what it would be like beyond a couple of sentences, whereas Hell is quite often personal.

There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.

Deep down I knew that if Hell existed, it was a real place full of ruthless, venal people, like the commodity pits at the Chicago Board of Trade, Disney World, or oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court.

I think hell's a real place where real people spend a real eternity.

Let me completely condemn these sickening scenes; scenes of looting, scenes of vandalism, scenes of thieving, scenes of people attacking police, of people even attacking firefighters. This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted.