Jeff Dickison > Jeff's Quotes

“Louisiana is a fresh-air mental asylum.”
― James Lee Burke, Pegasus Descending

“I long ago became convinced that the most reliable source for arcane and obscure and seemingly unobtainable information does not lie with the government or law enforcement agencies. Apparently neither the CIA nor the military intelligence apparatus inside the Pentagon had even a slight inkling of the Soviet Union's impending collapse, right up to the moment the Kremlin's leaders were trying to cut deals for their memoirs with New York publishers. Or, if a person really wishes a lesson in the subjective nature of official information, he can always call the IRS and ask for help with his tax forms, then call back a half hour later and ask the same questions to a different representative. So where do you go to find a researcher who is intelligent, imaginative, skilled in the use of computers, devoted to discovering the truth, and knowledgeable about science, technology, history, and literature, and who usually works for dirt and gets credit for nothing? After lunch I drove to the city library on Main and asked the reference librarian to find what she could on Junior Crudup.”
― James Lee Burke, Last Car to Elysian Fields

“God bless the Reference Librarians”
― James Lee Burke

“To be brave, by definition, one has first to be afraid.”
― Robert Harris, Pompeii

“I wonder how many people don't get the one they want, but end up with the one they're supposed to be with.”
― Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

“Remember if people talk behind your back, it only means you are two steps ahead.”
― Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

“Daddy gave me real useful information to protect me in the real world. If anyone hits me, I'm not to hit them back. I wait until their back is turned, then hit them in the head with a brick.”
― Fannie Flagg, Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

“...The band did a salute to Stephen Foster and played 'Beautiful Dreamer' and we formed a bed. Then we played 'My Old Kentucky Home' while the majorettes slowly pranced like horses. We finished with 'I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair', we formed a comb. Miss Philpot is running out of ideas if you ask me.”
― Fannie Flagg, Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

“In her opinion, Alexander Graham Bell and Clarence Birdseye are the two greatest Americans that ever lived excluding Robert E. Lee. She believes we never lost the War Between the States, that General Lee thought General Grant was the butler and just naturally handed him his sword.”
― Fannie Flagg, Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

“Claude Pistal is a creep! He is lucky I'm reasonably mild-mannered like Clark Kent.”
― Fannie Flagg, Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

“Could anyone truly trust a cat?”
― Tess Gerritsen, Die Again

“As a man gets older, his regrets changes. Especially when he's gotten into the Scotch.”
― Robert Crais, The Forgotten Man

“The plumber plodded along in silence, like a man who has learned to be polite to lunatics through dealing with civil engineers.”
― Lindsey Davis, Shadows in Bronze

“You could tell those two had been married by the way that she ignored him.”
― Lindsey Davis, Shadows in Bronze

“I would rather see Rome ruled by a man who once had to ask his accountant tricky questions before his steward could pay the butcher’s bill than by some mad limb like Nero, who was brought up believing himself the son and the grandson of gods, and who thought wearing the purple gave him free rein to indulge his personal vanities, execute real talent, bankrupt the Treasury, burn half of Rome – and bore the living daylights out of paying customers in theatres!”
― Lindsey Davis, Shadows in Bronze

“When it comes to work, it isn’t so much what we do or how much we’re paid; it’s the satisfaction we take in doing it.”
― Sue Grafton, X

“Stalking the Angel
[Joe]"I could off anybody in this place five times over."
[Elvis]"Could you off someone and get away with you here?"
[Joe]Head shake. "I'm too good even for me.”
― Robert Crais, Stalking the Angel

“Beware the ignorant, Lorenzo. They’re the most dangerous enemy of all, because they are everywhere.”
― Tess Gerritsen, Playing with Fire

“People live, and then they die. And as long as they do both things properly, there's nothing much to regret".”
― Lee Child, Tripwire

“God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while people who have not had fair trials are executed…”
-Judge Frank Howell Seay”
― John Grisham, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

“No star fades faster than that of a high school athlete.”
― John Grisham, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

“There’s an old adage in bad trial lawyering that when you don’t have the facts, do a lot of yelling.”
― John Grisham, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

“The prosecution was forced into the bizarre position of admitting Ward and Fontenot were lying while asking the jurors to believe them”
― John Grisham, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

“But, the source explained, this fit Putin’s larger strategic vision: “to destroy NATO, destroy the European Union, and seriously harm the United States.”
― Michael Isikoff, Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

“In one of the meetings, Clapper said that he was worried that Russia might respond with cyberattacks against America’s critical infrastructure—and possibly shut down the electrical grid.”
― Michael Isikoff, Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

“Criminals did not have friends. They had associates, suppliers, fences, whores, sugar daddies, enablers, dealers, collaborators, co-conspirators, victims and bosses, any of whom they might rat out and none of whom could be trusted.”
― Robert Crais, The Two Minute Rule

“...the way I figure, no man has the right to be ignorant. In a country like this, ignorance is a crime. If a man is going to vote, if he's going to take part in his country and its government, then it's up to him to understand.”
― Louis L'Amour, Sackett

“From the moment we're born, death is our final destination. Only the date and time of our arrival is unknown.”
― Tess Gerritsen, Life Support

“There are only three major vote getting days in Absoroka County, and I can't remember the other two. "Oh God, no. It's Pancake Day." I thought about shooting myself. I could see the headlines: Sheriff shoots self, unable to face pancakes.”
― Craig Johnson, The Cold Dish

“I sometimes forgot about how spiritual Henry was. I had been raised as a Methodist where the highest sacrament was the bake sale.”
― Craig Johnson, The Cold Dish