Robert Goddard > Quotes

“Photographs don’t discriminate between the living and the dead. In the fragments of time and shards of light that compose them, everyone is equal. Now you see us; now you don’t. It doesn’t matter whether you look through a camera lens and press the shutter. It doesn’t even matter whether you open your eyes or close them. The pictures are always there. And so are the people in them.”
― Robert Goddard

“But perhaps revelation often comes when you’re not looking for it, resolution when you don’t realize you need it.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“What are you - Secret Service?'
'If I were, I wouldn't admit it.'
'And you're not admitting it, I notice.”
― Robert Goddard, The Ways of the World

“I learned a lesson I never had as a politician: that we cannot properly lead those with whom we have not shared suffering.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“She only modelled for him once,' Max said stubbornly, leaning the canvases back against the wall and replacing the sheet.
'Once, twice or umpteen times, it's proof she knew Spataro... how shall we put it?... on terms a man who loved her might resent.'
'There are lots of artists in Montparnasse, Appelby, and lots of artists' models.'
'I wouldn't like it. And I bet Sir Henry didn't like it either.'
'There was nothing between Corinne and Spataro.'
'That's the problem, isn't it?' Appelby pointed with the stem of his pipe at the shrouded paintings. 'There may have been *literally* nothing between them.”
― Robert Goddard, The Ways of the World

“how he had done so she never”
― Robert Goddard, The Ways of the World

“Time cannot erase the sadnesses of life, but it can help us to learn from them the hardest lesson of all: that even one’s mistakes are enriching.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“History is the geology of human experience, a study, as it were, of tragedy and comedy laid down in the strata of past lives. In death there are no winners or losers, merely people who once lived but can never live again. What they thought, what they believed, what they hoped, is largely lost. That which remains is history.”
― Robert Goddard, Sea Change

“his second glass, ‘What are your plans?’ Deliberately, he had failed to specify which of them he was addressing. ‘Well,’ Derek replied defensively, ‘they’re a bit up in the air, actually. As of the end of the month, I shall be joining the ranks of the unemployed.’ Colin choked. ‘You mean Fithyan & Co. have sacked you?’ ‘Not exactly.”
― Robert Goddard, Hand In Glove

“Whatever you decide to do, don't go back to Algeria. It consumes its sons and daughters. It shows them no mercy.”
― Robert Goddard, This Is the Night They Come for You

“learned a lesson I never had as a politician: that we cannot properly lead those with whom we have not shared”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“the layers of pretence. ‘If you are right, you may be able to render the Abberley family an inestimable service.’ ‘I’m right.’ ‘Your confidence does you credit. But permit me to utter a word of warning. You are in a foreign land of which you know very little. Of its history, I would suspect, even less. Remember your own countrymen’s proverbs: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, whereas ignorance is bliss.’ ‘What Ortiz knew was inescapably dangerous. I have his written record of it. And I’m willing to surrender it.’ Derek could feel the perspiration forming on his upper lip and forehead, but knew he could not be seen to wipe it away. It was useless to hope his anxiety had escaped Galazarga’s notice. The only question was what he would conclude from it. ‘But my willingness is strictly conditional. You follow?’ ‘I believe I do.’ The cigar slipped into his mouth, then was withdrawn. ‘I think I can safely say Señor Delgado would very much like to agree satisfactory terms for his acquisition of the Ortiz … of the curio you describe.’ ‘Good.’ Derek swallowed hard. ‘There’s just … er … one thing I have to explain.’ Galazarga’s eyebrows shot”
― Robert Goddard, Hand In Glove

“If Pandora hadn't opened the box, somebody else would have."

"There was never any hope it could remain sealed for ever?"

"Not really." [...] "You see, Hope was one of the Spites imprisoned in the box."

My companion frowned. "Why did Hope have to be shut away?"

"Because it always lied. And, true to form, after its release, it deceived mankind into believing the other Spites could be overcome. They couldn't, of course, but thinking they could at least made them seem bearable.”
― Robert Goddard, Closed Circle

“We have been systematically promoting the worst aspects of American culture and undermining authority of all kinds—making billions along the way, mind you. And I’ve poured much of that into campaign coffers so politicians would be obligated to appoint the crazy judges that ruined the judicial system and vote for the bills my people proposed.       "Still puzzled? Think about it. A nation is held together by its institutions. Destroy them and you destroy the nation.”
― Robert Goddard, Upper House Conspiracy

“Cambridge in the late sixties was a forcing house for our self-indulgent brand of student chic which held that smoking pot and decrying established ideas was a new and important social development.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“have anything to gain by it. That leaves the Caswell family. Good, solid, local stock who happen to employ a substantial proportion of Hereford’s adult male population. And three of them were poisoned, not just the deceased. It is unbelievable that they poisoned”
― Robert Goddard, Take No Farewell

“The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”
― Robert Goddard

“In a world that thought itself so wise yet behaved so stupidly, it was possible sometimes to believe that only the mad saw matters as they truly were, that only people like my brother were prepared to admit what they saw from the corner of their eye.”
― Robert Goddard, Closed Circle

“was irresistible fascination bordering on hopeless infatuation”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“to be found?’ ‘You’re suggesting”
― Robert Goddard, Take No Farewell

“He laughed at that. ‘You’re”
― Robert Goddard, Dying To Tell

“mean.” The truth was, I hoped I knew what he meant. “In fact, the Memoir seems so much more real here — more immediate — that I’d like to stay to read it, if that’s all right.” “By all means, Martin. Stay as long as you like. I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed. I hope, though, that you’ll join me for an aperitif before dinner. Alec’s sure to be back by then.” “Thanks. I’d like to.” Sellick left”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“had been calm and relaxed. Then something changed. A man she had never seen before or since came at night. He was thin and softly spoken and smoked an expensive cigar. He had asked how”
― Robert Goddard, Hand In Glove

“Algeria is a quicksand. If you are fortunate enough to escape its sucking grip, as you and I have been, you should never set foot there again. I never will.”
― Robert Goddard, This Is the Night They Come for You

“world won’t shed a tear.”
― Robert Goddard, Upper House Conspiracy

“widening gap between knowledge and the moral maturity of mankind. And he foresaw disaster if the gap was not narrowed.”
― Robert Goddard, Out Of The Sun

“We’ve driven wedges between parents and children, between liberals and conservatives, between whites and ethnic groups, and between the religious and non religious. We’ve all but destroyed feelings of patriotism and blocked all attempts to stop illegal immigration, improve border control, and establish a national language. And with our nationwide campaign of law suits, we’ve stretched your Constitution almost beyond recognition."       Rulon paused to study O’Brien’s face. "Don’t see it yet? The tremendous influx of Hispanics will ultimately result in large portions of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Florida being dominated by people speaking English only as a second language or not at all. Add the immigration—legal and illegal—of Muslims from Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, with all their cultural baggage, and you’ve got real diversity.”
― Robert Goddard, Upper House Conspiracy

“Your version has all the appeal of a skimpy garment on a beautiful woman, Radford — eye-catching, but not much use in bad weather.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring

“Photographs were more than my livelihood. They were part of my life. The way light fell on a surface never failed to tug at my imagination. The way one picture, a single snapshot, could capture the essence of a time and place, a city, a war, a human being, was embedded in my consciousness. One day, one second, I might close the shutter on the perfect photograph.”
― Robert Goddard, Caught In The Light

“We live with the past because we have to, but we don’t have to live in it.”
― Robert Goddard, Past Caring