Ian Rankin > Quotes

“You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.”
― Ian Rankin, Blood Hunt

“Witches never existed, except in people’s minds. All there was in the olden days was women and some men who believed in herbal cures and in folklore and in the wish to fly. Witches? We’re all witches in one way or another. Witches was the invention of mankind, son. We’re all witches beneath the skin.”
― Ian Rankin, The Flood

“It was the laughter of birthdays, of money found in an old pocket.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“His eyes beheld beauty not in reality but in the printed word. Standing in the waiting-room, he realized that in his life he had accepted secondary experience -- the experience of reading someone else's thoughts -- over real life. ”
― Ian Rankin, Knots & Crosses

“It seemed to him a very Edinburgh thing. Welcoming, but not very.”
― Ian Rankin, Exit Music

“Rebus was eating breakfast in the canteen and wishing there was more caffeine in the coffee, or more coffee in the coffee come to that. ”
― Ian Rankin, Beggars Banquet

“This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.”
― Ian Rankin, Blood Hunt

“There are worse forms of prostitution than whoring.
-Inspector John Rebus”
― Ian Rankin, Strip Jack

“...trapped in limbo, believing in a lack of belief, but not necessarily lacking the belief to believe.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“[About a tiresome colleague]: He could bore for Scotland.”
― Ian Rankin, The Complaints

“My father was a slave to capitalist ideology. He didn't know what he was doing."
"You mean you went to an expensive school?”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“Rebus reminded himself to stop praying. Perhaps if he stopped praying, God would take the hint and stop being such a bastard to one of his few believers on this near-godforsaken planet.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“He wondered what percentage of the world's art was actually kept in bank vaults and the like. Like unread books and unplayed music, did it matter that art went unseen?”
― Ian Rankin

“Rebus drank his coffee and felt his head spin. He was feeling like the detective in a cheap thriller, and wished that he could turn to the last page and stop all his confusion, all the death and the madness and the spinning in his ears.”
― Ian Rankin

“He had perfected the art of looking interested, and could grasp in surprise at any and every predictable punchline.”
― Ian Rankin Doors Open

“It’s easier if you do a handstand,’ commented Rebus. ‘What is?’ ‘Talking out of your arse.”
― Ian Rankin, The Black Book

“War created bizarre allies, while peace itself could be divisive.”
― Ian Rankin, Blood Hunt

“The first piece of advice I would give any writer is to read a lot and to read widely. Firstly you start to realize what’s out there and what isn’t out there. Publishers are looking for stories that haven’t been told before. Reading other people can also improve your own writing. I love reading poetry even though I wouldn’t think of writing it. A great poet can say in two lines what it takes me a whole novel to express. If I’ve learned from any kind of writing, it’s poetry – and the lesson is concision. What can you leave out and the reader will still get the message?”
― ian Rankin

“It seemed to Rebus that the more expensive something was, the less of it there always seemed to be: tiny little hi-fi systems, watches without numbers, the translucent Dior ankle-socks on Michael’s feet.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“I've just worked out what the music on the speakers is," he said. "It's John Martyn, Over The Hill."
"And ?"
"And nothing. It's just, maybe I'm not there yet.”
― Ian Rankin, Rather Be the Devil

“Often he declined invitations, because to accept meant that he had to dust off his brogues, iron a shirt, brush down his best suit, take a bath, and splash on some cologne. He had also to be affable, to drink and be merry, to talk to strangers with whom he had no inclination to talk and with whom he was not being paid to talk. In other words, he resented having to play the part of a normal human animal.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots and Crosses

“Christ on a bike, Tony …”
― Ian Rankin, The Impossible Dead

“Chialer, c'était bon quand on perdait au foot, qu'on vous racontait des histoires d'animaux héroïques, ou en entendant "Flower of Scotland" après l'heure de fermeture.”
― Ian Rankin, Black and Blue

“At the time, most bodies worked on by anatomists were cold indeed. They were brought to Edinburgh from all over Britain -- some came by way of the Union Canal. The resurrectionists -- body-snatchers -- pickled them in whisky for transportation. It was a lucrative trade."

"But did the whisky get drunk afterwards?"

Devlin chuckled. "Economics would dictate that it did.”
― Ian Rankin, The Falls

“Was it all inevitable, John?" Reeve was pushing his fingers across the floor of the cell, seated on his haunches. I was lying on the mattress.

Yes," I said. "I think it was. Certainly, it's written that way. The end of the book is there before the beginning's hardly started.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots & Crosses

“I am reading Ian Rankins book Doors Open and am enjoying his dark Edinburgh narrative will rate soon once I have read it. I am also a fan of Jane Austen and have visited her Museum House in Chawton, Hampshire every year for the last three years. My Favourite book is Sense and Sensibility.”
― IAN RANKIN

“Yes, Siobhan ?" Rebus said by way of an answer.
"Page wants you inside the tent rather than out."
"Is that even possible ?"
"You'd be acting in a consultative capicity."
"Like Sherlock Holmes ? Would I need invoices & stuff ? And a housekeeper and a sidekick ?”
― Ian Rankin, Even Dogs in the Wild

“Στην πραγματικότητα η ζωή δεν είναι παρά μια σειρά στιγμές που συνδέονται μεταξύ τους και αρκεί μία από αυτές για να σε αλλάξει εντελώς”
― Ian Rankin

“There were more good people than bad in the world, they just made less noise”
― Ian Rankin, The Rise

“POETS Day, remember! Fox smiled to himself: Piss Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday. It was all the invitation he needed.”
― Ian Rankin, The Impossible Dead