The devil you knew was always preferable to the devil you didn’t.

Enjoy the cruise, turn on the fan, there’s nothing to lose, so work on your tan.

The first is young, dark-haired. He stands on the brink of robbery and murder. A demon has infested him. The name of the demon is HEROIN.

Not thinking that the boy was expendable and that the sale of his honor was now, at last, nearly negotiated. What a relief it would be when the deal was done!

He knew that however much she might love him, he would always love her more. And as always when he thought these things, the premonition came that ka was not their friend, that it would end badly between them.

Gunslinger! How well you fulfill the prophecies of old! Good day and good day and good day!

Roland felt an unaccustomed sorrow rise up from his heart. Time was a face on the water, and like the great river before them, it did nothing but flow.

'CAST YOUR NETS, WANDERERS!TRY ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS, AND LET THE CONTEST BEGIN.'

The gunslinger had been struck by a momentary dizziness, a kind of yawing sensation that made the entire world seem ephemeral, almost a thing that could be looked through.

It was khef, ka, and ka-tet.

I asked one draught of earlier, happier sights, Ere fitly I could hope to play my part. Think first, fight afterwards—the soldier’s art: One taste of the old time sets all to rights!

He felt awe as he looked up at those stars, but also a deep and abiding contentment, such as he had felt as a child, safe and warm beneath his quilt, drowsing half in and half out of sleep, listening to the wind sing its lonely song of other places and other lives.

My God, he thought, still falling, he CAN’T be that fast, no one can be that fast, I’m not bad but Susannah makes me look slow and he makes Susannah look like a turtle trying to walk uphill on a piece of glass—

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And the quiet, singing voice of the rose. The song that promised all might be well, all might be well, that all manner of things might be well.

When I think of those East End lights Muggy nights The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs Prima donna Lord you really should have been there Sitting like a princess perched in her electric chair

Commala-come-ken It’s the other one again. You may know her name and face But that don’t make her your friend.

For every brick that landed on the ground instead of some little kid’s head, for every tornado that missed the trailer park, for every missile that didn’t fly, for every hand stayed from violence, there was the Tower.

Death, but not for you, gunslinger. Never for you. You darkle. You tinct. May I be brutally frank? You go on.

Such lack of understanding was frightening. He’s right, the gunslinger thought. We are broken. Gods help us.

Dead was the gift that kept on giving. Dead, like diamonds, was forever.

We thank you for what we are about to receive. (Father, we thank thee.) Guide our hands and guide our hearts as we take life from death.

I come in the name of Jake Chambers, he of New York, whom I call my own true son!

It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I’ve found. You wouldn’t think it could be so, but—as the oldtimers used to say—the world’s tilted, and there’s an end to it.

You're the kind of person you meet at certain dismal, dull affairs Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs Well, it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years And though you've tried you just can't hide your eyes are edged with tears

Beating heroin was child's play compared to beating your childhood.

See the BEAR of fearsome size! All the WORLD'S within his eyes. TIME grows thin, the past is a riddle; The TOWER awaits you in the middle.

The two most beautiful words in any language are: I forgive.

It was the possibility of darkness that made the day seem so bright.

Commala-come-six! Nothing there but thorns and sticks! When your find your hand in traitor’s glove You’re in a nasty fix.

The field was a deep scarlet, as if some titanic battle had been fought here and the ground had been drenched with so much blood that it could not all be absorbed. Then he realized that it was not blood he was looking at, but roses.

'I deal in lead!' Roland called, and Eddie felt goose-bumps pebble his arms.

It was just another showdown in another empty street. That was all, and that was enough.

Roland felt an unaccustomed sorrow rise up from his heart. Time was a face on the water, and like the great river before them, it did nothing but flow.

Commala-come-six! Nothing there but thorns and sticks! When your find your hand in traitor’s glove You’re in a nasty fix.

They nodded at each other and then the man Allie had called Roland walked away, his body festooned with guns and water.

'Ake? Ed?' With a little more certainty now. He did remember.

The sound of the door snicking firmly shut between him and all the rest of the round world filled him with tremendous relief.

He felt awe as he looked up at those stars, but also a deep and abiding contentment, such as he had felt as a child, safe and warm beneath his quilt, drowsing half in and half out of sleep, listening to the wind sing its lonely song of other places and other lives.

First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire.

If I’m going to ride what he calls the handsome, Jake thought, I’d just as soon go with plenty of company.

In the end, the wind takes everything, doesn't it? And why not? Why other? If the sweetness of our lives did not depart, there would be no sweetness at all.

Baby-bunting, darling one, Now another day is done. May your dreams be sweet and merry, May you dream of fields and berries. Baby-bunting, baby-dear, Baby, bring your berries here. Chussit, chissit, chassit! Bring enough to fill your basket.

It was the possibility of darkness that made the day seem so bright.

Mister, we deal in lead.

I come in the name of David the hawk, he of Gilead and the sky!

He cried out but his cry was lost in the golden blast of some tremendous horn. It came from the top of the Tower, and seemed to fill the world.

I am Roland of Gilead, and I come as myself; you will open to me!

And anytime you feel the pain Hey Jude, refrain Don't carry the world upon your shoulders For well you know that it's a fool Who plays it cool By making his world a little colder

'WELL, I COULD HAVE,' Blaine agreed, 'BUT—AW, SHUCKS!—I BLEW THOSE CIRCUITS OUT WHEN WE STARTED TO MOVE.'