‘No Country for Old Men’ is a famous novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, originally written as a screenplay.
The plot revolves on a botched drug deal in the Texas desert back country near the Mexico-US border in 1980.
I have selected the best quotes from No Country for Old Men novel.
Table of Contents
No Country for Old Men Quotes by Cormac McCarthy
“When I came into your life your life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the end.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“How does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul? Why would you say anything?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Do you have any notion of how goddamned crazy you are?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I got here the same way the coin did.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“You can be patriotic and still believe that some things cost more than what they’re worth.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Ever step you take is forever. You cant make it go away. None of it. You understand what I’m sayin?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Well, I guess in all honesty I would have to say that I never knew nor did I ever hear of anybody that money didn’t change.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
Other Book Quotes: The Secret History Quotes by Donna Tartt and Coraline Quotes by Neil Gaiman
Best No Country for Old Men Quotes
“It’s a life’s work to see yourself for what you really are and even then you might be wrong.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Even a nonbeliever might find it useful to model himself after God. Very useful, in fact.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I always thought when I got older that God would sort of come into my life in some way. He didn’t. I don’t blame him. If I was him I’d have the same opinion about me that he does.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“It takes very little to govern good people. Very little. And bad people cant be governed at all. Or if they could I never heard of it.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“People complain about the bad things that happen to em that they dont deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things. I dont recall that I ever give the good Lord all that much cause to smile on me. But he did.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“For things at a common destination there is a common path. Not always easy to see. But there.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Here a year or two back me and Loretta went to a conference…I got set next to this woman…she kept talkin about the right wing this and the right wing that. I aint even sure what she meant by it…She kept on, kept on. Finally told me, said: I dont like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam I dont think you got any worries about the way the country is headed. The way I see it goin I dont have much doubt but what she’ll be able to have an abortion. I’m goin to say that not only will she be able to have an abortion, she’ll be able to have you put to sleep. Which pretty much ended the conversation.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“If I didnt have her I dont know what I would have. Well, yes I do. You wouldnt need a box to put it in, neither.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Most people’ll run from their own mother to get to hug death by the neck. They cant wait to see him.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
Quotes from No Country for Old Men
“I think if you were Satan and you were settin around tryin to think up somethin that would just bring the human race to its knees what you would probably come up with is narcotics.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“It’s a life’s work to see yourself for what you really are and even then you might be wrong. And that is something I don’t want to be wrong about.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“His whole life was sitting there in front of him. Day after day from dawn till dark until he was dead. All of it cooked down into forty pounds of paper in a satchel.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I think sometimes people would rather have a bad answer about things than no answer at all.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“If you dont respect me what must you think of yourself?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“There’s two kinds of people that dont ask a lot of questions. One is too dumb to and the other dont need to.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“People don’t pay attention. And then one day there’s an accounting. And after that, nothing is the same.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“She smiled. I think it’s just the snow. I think it makes people stop and think.
Bell nodded. I hope it comes a blizzard then.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“That god lives in silence who has scoured the following land with salt and ash.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
Thought-Provoking No Country for Old Men Quotes
“It takes very little to govern good people.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“All the time you spend tryin to get back what’s been took from you there’s more goin out the door. After a while you just try and get a tourniquet on it.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“The point is there ain’t no point.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I always thought when I got older that God would sort of come into my life in some way. He didn’t.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Sometimes you have a little problem and you dont fix it and then all of a sudden it aint a little problem anymore.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“There is no description of a fool that you fail to satisfy.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“It starts when you begin to overlook good manners. Any time you quit hearing Sir and Mam the end is pretty much in sight…” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“One of the things you realize about gettin older is that not everbody is goin to get older with you.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“People complain about the bad things that happen to em that they don’t deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I have no enemies. I dont permit such a thing.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“You always pay too much. Particularly for promises. There a’int no such thing as a bargain promise.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
Famous No Country for Old Men Quotes
“If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Somewhere in the world is the most invincible man. Just as somewhere is the most vulnerable.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I dont want to confront him. I know he’s real. I have seen his work.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“If there’s one thing on this planet you don’t look like it’s a bunch of good luck walkin around.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“You think when you wake up in the mornin yesterday don’t count. But yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is made out of the days it’s made out of. Nothin else.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Nothin wounded goes uphill, he said. It just dont happen.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“When I came into your life your life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the end. You can say that things could have turned out differently. That they could have been some other way. But what does that mean? They are not some other way. They are this way.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“You keep runnin that mouth and I’m goin to take you back there and screw you.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I’ve lot a lot of friends over these last few years. Not all of em older than me neither. One of the things you realize about gettin older is that no everbody is goin to get older with you.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“Things happen to you they happen. They dont ask first. They dont require your permission.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“He didn’t say a lot so I tend to remember what he did say. And I don’t remember that he had a lot of patience with havin to say things twice so I learned to listen the first time.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I think by the time you’re grown you’re as happy as you’re goin to be. You’ll have good times and bad times, but in the end you’ll be about as happy as you was before. Or as unhappy. I’ve knowed people that just never did get the hang of it.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
“I tried to put things in perspective but sometimes you’re just too close to it.” ~ Cormac McCarthy (quote from No Country for Old Men).
Sources:
No Country for Old Men Quotes by Cormac McCarthy
The 20 Best No Country for Old Men Quotes
No Country for Old Men: Quotes by Theme
