Donald Hamilton > Quotes

“I'm not responsible for what other people think, only for what I am.”
― Donald Hamilton, The Big Country

“When you act like a nice guy, everyone examines your motives with a microscope. When you act like a conscienceless louse, they generally take you at face value.”
― Donald Hamilton, The Wrecking Crew

“There's nothing more frightening to me than a character who thinks he knows what a real American is – mainly because it generally turns out he’s convinced it's somebody like him. It seems an odd notion to me. I certainly don't want to live in a country populated with people just like me, God forbid! Anyway, I figure there’s room for a little variety in a nation as big as ours.”
― Donald Hamilton

“She added, "Washington is the city of the soft heads and the chicken hearts.”
― Donald Hamilton, Death of a Citizen

“I learned that Nordic beer comes in three grades of potency. The lowest grade is apparently a kind of beer-flavored soft drink that can safely be fed to babies; the highest is, to hear them tell it, loaded with atom juice. It sounded worth investigating, but when I asked for it I was regretfully informed that the place couldn’t supply it, since their license didn’t extend to such violent stuff. I had to settle for Grade Two, known as ordinary pilsener.”
― Donald Hamilton, The Wrecking Crew

“Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling”
― Donald Hamilton, Matt Helm - The Intimidators

“Always call them ‘Sir.’ They aren’t any harder to kill later!”
― Donald Hamilton

“My job is defending the people and to hell with the laws. Your job is defending the laws and to hell with the people.”
― Donald Hamilton

“Certainly, if the world ever is saved, it’ll be by somebody young enough not to know that it can’t be done.”
― Donald Hamilton, The Wrecking Crew

“The girl whispered, “I’m dying, aren’t I?” “I should hope so,” I said. “If not, we’ll have to send my associate back to marksmanship school.”
― Donald Hamilton, Matt Helm - The Intimidators