Charlie Higson > Quotes

“If a wolf attacks his sheep, the shepherd kills the wolf, but he eats the sheep when he's hungry.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“No such word as can't. No such word as babagoozle neither!”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“But I'll never see any of those fish," said Maxie."Or those whales. Or any lions or tigers. I'm never going to set foot in a rain forest now, am I? I won't even be able to watch old DVD's about them without electricity. What does the future hold? It's like going back to the middle ages. Nobody knowing what was going on beyond their front doorstep. All I'll ever know is this. This little bit of London.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“We was half stupid, a third lucky, and three-quarters ferocious.”
― Charlie Higson, The Sacrifice

“Writing is a bit like being a god”
― Charlie Higson

“There is no getting around the fact that the moment you are at your very best is the moment you begin to become worse and worse. Others will come along who can run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and you will be forgotten. Your winning moment is dated to die.”
― Charlie Higson, By Royal Command

“Standing in the corridor was a large plastic bin on wheels. He looked inside. Empty tins of dog food. That explained the spaghetti with meat sauce. Oh well, he'd eaten worse.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“There was a reason these boys were still alive, though. Something made them stronger than the other kids, the ones who had died in the early days, who had simply lain down and given up, unable to cope with the terrible things that were happening in the world. These boys were survivors. The will to live was stronger than any other feelings.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“There was always a slug on the lettuce.
This was too good to be true.
He had never trusted Jester, and didn't trust David.
He wasn't going to let his gaurd down just yet.
Being carful had kept him alive this far.
There was no reason to stop being careful now.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“I’m different,” said the Kid. “My gran always said I was half clever, half stupid, and half crazy.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“I’m fighting and I’m winning and I’m living. The full package.”
― Charlie Higson, The End

“Tea? Good God, no. It's mud. How the British ever built an empire drinking the filthy stuff is beyond me. And if we carry on drinking it, I've no doubt that the empire won't last much longer. No, a civilized person drinks coffee.”
― Charlie Higson, SilverFin

“But I sure do love to whack a grown-up in the morning.”
― Charlie Higson, The Fallen

“Now he was gone.

She said a silent prayer. Sent it up to heaven.

Sam, if you can hear me, I hope you’ve got nice food where you are. Some vegetables like these. They’re meant to be good for you. So eat them all up, like I’m doing. When I die I’ll come and see you, and we’ll be together again. But for now I’m going to think of you safe and happy and playing knights with a friend.

Love from Ella. Your sister.

P.S. I got a good long turn with Godzilla today after we got here. Godzilla is very happy.

P.P.S. I forgot, you never met Godzilla. He is a puppy and is very cute. He belonged to a boy called Joel who got killed by monkeys. I think the monkeys were sick. Monkeys are usually nice. At least in stories.

P.P.P.S. Maybe you’ll meet Joel where you are. Say hello. He is nice.

P.P.P.P.S. Good night, Sam. The others call you Small Sam. To me you’re just Sam—my brother.

I miss you. I wish I was with you.”
― Charlie Higson

“He knew one thing for sure, though. Whatever happened, Matt would have some handy excuse. He'd make up some story or change an old one, find some dumb quote to explain it all.”
― Charlie Higson, The Sacrifice

“PROMISES means EVERYTHING but after they are broken SORRY means NOTHING”
― Charlie Higson, The Time Out Book Of New York Short Stories

“Now Lewis joined in. 'A sicko walks into a bar,' he said. 'WHAM! And then i hit him with the bar again, an iron bar, and knock him flat, then i hit him again, and again and again until his brains are, like, smashed all over the pavement. And then i slice him up with my new katana!'
'Yeah, Lewis,' said Brooke. 'Funny joke. Way to lighten the mood, bruv.”
― Charlie Higson, The Fallen

“You got to harden yourself. Make, like, a shell around you. But not everyone can do it. If they got nothing to hang on to some of them screw up. They’re not in the game no more.”
― Charlie Higson, The Fallen

“...the smell that came out of the lorry was disgusting. Sour and rotten. 'Jesus, who's died?" he said. 'About four-fifth's of the population of the world' said Justin.
'Very funny”
― Charlie Higson, The Fear

“Kiss my axe.”
― Charlie Higson, The Hunted

“If we make our own history, if we tell stories that bring us together, we'll be stronger. It'll give us something to believe in. The sickos can't do that – they're no better than animals – but we can. Every battle we win we have to tell the story over and over, so that we can win more battles. People love stories. They've told stories since even before they could write. Myths and legends, stories of heroes and villains, gods and monsters. Real things happened, the story got told and then the stories became legends. That's what we've got to do – tell our own heroic stories.”
― Charlie Higson, The Fear

“When we're strong enough," said Sam, "will you come with me?"
"Where? To Bucko Palace?"
"Yes. To find Ella."
"Course I will," said the Kid, and he put an arm around Sam. "It'll be a new grand adventure of the old school. They'll write books about us. Long books. Nothing's gonna split us up, small fry. We're a team. Like Batman and Robin Hood."
And he sang.
"Ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-Batman!”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“THIS IS WHERE ARRAN HARPER FELL. WE DON’T KNOW THE DAY OR THE DATE, BUT WE’LL NEVER FORGET IT. HE WAS THE BRAVEST OF US ALL.”
― Charlie Higson, The Enemy

“It’s very important not to talk down to kids, and to give them something which they think is quite grown-up and hardcore. Kids themselves are very good at self-censoring. If they don’t like something, if they think it’s too strong for them, they’ll simply stop reading. That's the thing about a book, you can’t force someone to read it. . . . I think there’s a lot in my books about friendship, leadership, about society and how it works, how we learn to live with each other and what skills we need to make a viable society. Kids don’t need to know any of that, they just want someone to be eaten again.”
― Charlie Higson

“Sod this,’ said Kyle and he swung his axe. Charlotte watched amazed, unable to look away, as the blade sliced clean through the father’s neck and his head flew off.”
― Charlie Higson, The Sacrifice

“I love your books when I read them I can't stop reading them.”
― Charlie Higson

“He’s also a dick,’ said Achilleus to a scattering of laughter. Maxie saw that even Nicola was trying to hide a smile.”
― Charlie Higson, The End

“Ed held his sword tight in both hands and went slowly and carefully down. There was the unmistakable smell of sicko down here and Ed’s throat was very dry.”
― Charlie Higson, The Sacrifice

“He was a different person now, and not a better one, Oh, he could fight, he could swat sickos like flies; he was a bloody hero, wasn't he? He was Death himself. Riding a bike. But in the end, all he was doing was adding to the score of the dead. Was that all a hero was, then? A killing machine without a heart?”
― Charlie Higson, The Dead

“She finally realized where they were. ‘This is Legoland!”
― Charlie Higson, The Hunted