Olen Steinhauer > Quotes

“Without balance, a life is no longer worth the effort.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Tourist

“God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Cairo Affair

“That is why fiction existed, as a way to look at the world without being broken by it.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Middleman

“When he woke his conviction of failure was somehow less inevitable.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Bridge of Sighs

“Perhaps it’s only those who don’t know us at all who are able to see us most clearly.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Things happen. The only thing that matters is how we deal with the now. Either we face the difficult moral decisions with ever-stronger responses, or we do not. This is what separates the mensch from the asshole. Full stop.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Do not always assume motive where human error will suffice.”
― Olen Steinhauer, An American Spy

“Jasenovac concentration camp, which had been the largest “place of extermination” in fascist Croatia during the Second World War. “No one know exact number, but some say a million murdered there. They killing Jews and Gypsies, but most was Serbs.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Cairo Affair

“Metaphors help you boil down the complications and ambiguities of your too-long life into a picture book. They help you lie to yourself”
― Olen Steinhauer, Victory Square

“No. No risk, no failure. And without failure you’re not really human. You’re just skating on the surface of life.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Russian?" I asked dumbly. I do that sometimes.”
― Olen Steinhauer, Victory Square

“It can be because in each man’s life there are only a few women who can turn him inside out, who can cripple him with a smile. These are weaknesses, but they’re also a sign of humanity. Without these flaws, a man doesn’t really live.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“While our expectations for the future are all that really keep us going, the failure of those expectations is the source of all our sadness.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Later, once they had returned to Boston and gained some perspective, she would see that this was part and parcel of extremist thought the world over: the heaping on of selective trivia that only a computer could fact-check in real time, the raw accumulation of unverifiable anecdote that could create a new reality.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Cairo Affair

“An image of an image, which is a perfect place to live if you want to be something other than what you once were.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“But this had always been part of his work—no matter how vast the security apparatus behind you, the fact was that, in the end, you were alone.”
― Olen Steinhauer, 36 Yalta Boulevard

“The jacket,” Milo repeated, and Grainger gave him a sour look before stretching an arm into his blazer. They”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Tourist

“Democracy functions in Protestant nations. It barely functions in Catholic nations. It doesn’t function at all in Orthodox nations.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Nearest Exit

“Eighty percent of an Agency brain is devoted to repercussions and possible futures, even when you’re just thinking about moving in with your boyfriend.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“anyone who tells you there’s one reason for what they do is a liar.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Middleman

“There’s a delay taking off from San Francisco—caused, I’m guessing, by an overburdened airport, but no one will tell us for sure. At times like this, sitting stalled on the tarmac, it’s easy to think apocalyptically—airports at the bursting point, highways clogged with SUVs helmed by citizens in meltdown, smog alerts and gridlocked emergency rooms, corridors lined with the bleeding. When you’re in California this kind of vision explodes into grandiosity, and you imagine the earth ripping apart, spilling all this overconsumption, all the cell phones and seaside villas and hopeful young starlets noisily into the sea. It almost feels like a blessing.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Tragedy plus time isn’t comedy,”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Middleman

“Sally is a bully of the worst sort, for she never lays a hand on Bill, never gives her bullying a properly physical manifestation. She beats him with words and body language and selectively brutal silences.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“If the answer’s not in front of you or behind you, remember there are four other directions to look.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“Her hands stretch across the table and squeeze the fingers of my left hand. “I’ve got my bestest lover here, and we’re talking about things that no longer exist for me. It’s like discussing dreams we’ve had.”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“It was like pointillism: Stand too close, and it makes no sense. Step far enough back, and you can see it. Maybe.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Last Tourist

“Everything is darkened by the shadow of your love for your child.” I”
― Olen Steinhauer, All the Old Knives

“They pretend they’re keeping everyone out, when in fact they’re locked in.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Tourist

“Political motivations, though rare, occasionally did raise their heads, more so since 2016, and it brought out the worst in people. Black was white, and patriotism was treachery. Some had the gift of coloring the truth just enough to make it look like a lie, and to carefully prune a lie until it passed the smell test and became accepted truth, not just to the intended audience, but also eventually to the liar himself.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Last Tourist

“The left and right give lip service to the dialectic. You talk things out, argue them, and the answers will float to the surface.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Middleman