How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from No Country for Old Men.
Quote #1
"Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun."
Talk about nostalgia. We're guessing Sheriff Ed Tom is one of those guys who thinks everything was better in the past: movies, music, and (naturally) crime. Back in those days, men were men and sheriffs were sheriffs, y'hear? Why, they didn't even need to carry guns! Yeahhhh, sure, Ed Tom. He may be reluctant to draw his gun, but we bet those old-time sheriffs weren't afraid to defend themselves—and we bet those old-time criminals weren't winning any Nobel Peace prizes.
Quote #2
"Told me he'd planned to kill somebody for as long as he could remember. Said if they turned him out he'd do it again."
Here, Sheriff Bell is recounting the story of a guy who (gasp!) seems to be a real psychotic piece of work. And, sure, he seems a little nuts. But we're pretty sure that insane, violent criminals have existed throughout human history. It takes some real ego to think that you're living in the first age to see truly meaningless violence.
Quote #3
"I don't know what to make of that. I sure do don't."
Killers. What is it with them, right? Ed Tom can't make sense of killers who want nothing more from life than to murder other people. He'd like to think that people are good deep down, but he just can't see how that's possible in a world filled with so many brutal killers. Hm. We're going to say that maybe it's impossible to generalize about human nature: some people are cold-hearted killers, while some people are pretty decent folk when you get to know them.