John Christopher > Quotes

“We had been friends. We could not become strangers. It left only one thing: we must be enemies.”
― John Christopher, The Prince in Waiting

“I was remembering the things we had done together, the times we had had. It would have been pleasant to preserve that comradeship in the days that came after. Pleasant, but alas, impossible. That which had brought us together had gone, and now our paths diverged, according to our natures and needs. We would meet again, from time to time, but always a little more as strangers; until perhaps at last, as old men with only memories left, we could sit together and try to share them.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire

“Some people are oil and water.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire

“The secret of success in battle lies often not so much in the use of one's own strength but in the exploitation of the other side's weaknesses.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“There is always something to lose. But maybe more to gain.”
― John Christopher, Beyond the Burning Lands

“You would always beat me; not so much because you are a better fighter as because you will not accept defeat.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“Have a drink, and try to relax. All right, have another drink. There are times when getting drunk's not a bad idea.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“It is because they are so strong that she hides her feelings.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“I think before I act---and then think again. I am not entirely a coward, but I do not lose myself in action as you do.”
― John Christopher, Beyond the Burning Lands

“And though I remember her name I cannot recall her face. All things pass.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“As Pa said, censorship encouraged people to believe nonsense.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“A long time ago. I came to the understanding that all men are friends by convenience and enemies by choice.”
― John Christopher, The Death of Grass

“There are times when thinking about something is the worst possible policy.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“It is hard to be defensive toward a danger which you have never imagined existed.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire

“Morality, for all the conditioning to which the human mind has been and is subjected, is always a personal choice in the last analysis.”
― John Christopher, Sweeney's Island

“What men do matters more than what they know.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“People may be persuaded that the machine is doing good. In fact, good is only capable of being done on a small scale. Evil is more versatile. You can hate those you have never seen, all the vast multitudes of them, but you can only love those you know — and that with difficulty.”
― John Christopher, Sweeney's Island

“His anger was as great as mine, but hot where mine was cold.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire

“What tricks the mind is what the mind is glad to be tricked by.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“We all have to learn to live with our losses, and to use our regrets to spur us on in the future.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire

“One enjoys friendship most when times are good, when the sun shines and the world is kind. But it is the sharing of adversity that knits men together.”
― John Christopher, The City of Gold and Lead

“Even if it is nonsense, it is often useful to know what kind of nonsense men believe.”
― John Christopher, The Prince in Waiting

“Before you have faith you must believe, and before you believe there must be evidence of some sort to persuade the mind. Faith is remembering that evidence and holding to it against all that seems to challenge or contradict it.”
― John Christopher, The Prince in Waiting

“And a leader has to command confidence, and consent.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“Truth does not surround itself with lies.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“What I was suddenly aware of was the importance of their being whatever each of them was--cocky and contemptuous, or bothered and beaten--as long as it was something they'd come to in their own way: the importance of being human, in fact. The peace and harmony Uncle Ian and the others claimed to be handing out in fact was death, because without being yourself, an individual, you weren't really alive.”
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

“In the realm of dream and imagination all men are equal.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“Everyone recognized she was without malice and therefore she provoked none.”
― John Christopher, The Prince in Waiting

“If one is seeking reasons for disloyalty, it is useful to find something one can resent.”
― John Christopher, The White Mountains

“A general does not use the same troops over and over again.”
― John Christopher, The Pool of Fire