Christopher Norland > Christopher's Quotes

“See, when something’s broken, you don’t just throw it away,” Ethan explained, his deep voice taking on the gentle, patient cadence he reserved solely for her. “You try to fix it, to understand what’s wrong and make it right.”
― Stella Sinclaire, Fertile Ground for Murder

“You don’t think he’s our man?” asked Adam. It occurred to him that Ramsbottom was not exactly forthcoming with information.
“I didn’t say that,” Ramsbottom said. “In fact he is behaving very cautiously indeed, which makes me feel very suspicious.”
“He has probably figured out that you are following him,” said Adam. “One can hardly fail to notice you hanging around all the time.”
“That may be so,” said Ramsbottom.
“Can’t you get a disguise or something?” asked Adam. “So he does not recognise you.”
― Max Nowaz, Get Rich or Get Lucky

“The holiday village had sprung up in Bryant Park, and the ice rink and booths were bustling with early Christmas shoppers. It smelled like fried food and scented candles, mixed with the occasional blast of diesel from the traffic inching along 42nd Street. When I think of how New York City smells, this is it.”
― Alan Bradley, The Sixth Borough

“Is it still a fish cart when there’s no fish in it? When its false bottom is filled with children?”
― Andri E. Elia, Borealis: A Worldmaker of Yand Novel

“Disclaimer: Consider all perceived errors and scrutinize all self-evident truths.”
― Adam Scott Huerta, Motive Black

“I walked past Malison, up Lower Main to Main and across the road. I didn’t need to look to know he was behind me. I entered Royal Wood, went a short way along a path and waited. It was cool and dim beneath the trees. When Malison entered the Wood, I continued eastward. 
I wanted to place his body in hallowed ground. He was born a Mearan. The least I could do was send him to Loric. The distance between us closed until he was on my heels. He chose to come, I told myself, as if that lessened the crime I planned. He chose what I have to offer.
We were almost to the cemetery before he asked where we were going. I answered with another question. “Do you like living in the High Lord’s kitchens?”
He, of course, replied, “No.”
“Well, we’re going to a better place.”
When we reached the edge of the Wood, I pushed aside a branch to see the Temple of Loric and Calec’s cottage. No smoke was coming from the chimney, and I assumed the old man was yet abed. His pony was grazing in the field of graves. The sun hid behind a bank of clouds.
Malison moved beside me. “It’s a graveyard.”
“Are you afraid of ghosts?” I asked.
“My father’s a ghost,” he whispered.
I asked if he wanted to learn how to throw a knife. He said, “Yes,” as I knew he would.  He untucked his shirt, withdrew the knife he had stolen and gave it to me. It was a thick-bladed, single-edged knife, better suited for dicing celery than slitting a young throat. But it would serve my purpose. That I also knew. I’d spent all night projecting how the morning would unfold and, except for indulging in the tea, it had happened as I had imagined. 
Damut kissed her son farewell. Malison followed me of his own free will. Without fear, he placed the instrument of his death into my hand. We were at the appointed place, at the appointed time. The stolen knife was warm from the heat of his body. I had only to use it. Yet I hesitated, and again prayed for Sythene to show me a different path.
“Aren’t you going to show me?” Malison prompted, as if to echo my prayer.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Killing people is considered not just illegal Sally, it’s generally accepted as bad behavior.”
― Michael Deeze, The Deathbed Confessions

“He says it was tourists being careless, where I see a fiendishly clever murder attempt.”
“Mr. McCarthy, you’d better explain.”
“Patrick, please. You’ll be tempted to laugh. It was a banana skin.”
― Susan Rowland, Murder on Family Grounds

“Nothing looked disturbed…yet everything felt that way. The guy was on the bed, calmness itself, as though he’d decided on a moment’s lie-down and just zizzed off.”
― Michael Wyndham Thomas, The Erkeley Shadows

“Ferret took out a folded scrap of paper and passed it to him.
'My guy Ben doesn't know where the other club is, but the girls are being shipped in from here, a rehab centre in Newtonville.'
'What's this other place called?' Tazeem asked as he slipped the scrap of paper into his pocket.
'The place is just known as The Club. But the behind-the-scenes bit that only the real big spenders get to see, there's no official name, 'cause officially it doesn't exist, that's know as The Zombie Room.”
― R.D. Ronald, The Zombie Room

“It is not from the benevolence of the Butcher, the Brewer or the Baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”
― Adam Smith, The Invisible Hand

“The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think,”
― Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe

“If a man confessed anything on his death bed, it was the truth; for no man could stare death in the face and lie.”
― Richard Wright

“The store smelled of paper and pencils and crayons. It was a warm smell. I liked being inside that store. Yudel Krinsky looked across the counter and smiled at me.
'What else can I do for the son of Reb Aryeh Lev?'
'Did Stalin send many people to Siberia?'
He blinked. Then he said, nodding, 'Ah, I understand.'
'Did he?'
'Many millions.'
'Did he kill many people?'
'Tens of millions.'
'Did the world do anything?'
'Exactly what it did when Hitler killed Jews.'
'What?'
'Absolutely nothing.'
'I do not understand.'
'What do you not understand?'
'Why the world kept silent.'
'I also do not understand.'
We looked at each other across the counter.
'I have to go home,' I said.”
― Chaim Potok, My Name Is Asher Lev

“The tea was so delicious that it was not necessary to pretend it was anything but tea.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett

“Personally, I think sex should be like math.
At school.
No one really cares if they're crap at math. They even proclaim it. They'll say to anyone, "Yeah, I don't mind science and English, but I'm absolutely shithouse at math." And other people will laugh and say,"Yeah, me too. I would have a clue about all that logarithm shit. You should be able to say that about sex too.
You should be proudly able to say, "Yeah I wouldn't have a clue about all that orgasm shit, ay. I'm okay at everything else but when it comes to that part I wouldn't have a clue.”
― Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger

“Today I plan to smile a lot, only so people who know me will be freaked the fuck out.”
― R.D. Ronald

“Hours passed—or maybe days. It didn’t matter. The body adapted. But the mind—
The mind needed purpose.
      ”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“Next thing I remember was waking up on swampy ground and it was beginning to spit rain. I had no clue where I was, but I was hurting like hell. It was hard to take a breath; probably a broken rib or two? I felt around. My gun and knife were gone, along with my shoes and jacket with my cell phone, driver’s license, and two-thousand in cash.”
― Behcet Kaya, Treacherous Estate

“Like a gloomy and sinister paradox since its apparition until now, socialism suffered terrible and terrifying metamorphoses. With the name of the most human doctrine—Socialism—the most ominous and naughty crimes against humanity were done. The National Socialism of Hitler created Auschwitz and Majdanek and the People’s socialism of Stalin — Gulag and Kolima! And both of them buried more than fifty million people! That’s monstrous!”
― Todor Bombov, Socialism Is Dead! Long Live Socialism!: The Marx Code-Socialism with a Human Face

“Life had taught her that we all require big and small lies in order to survive, just as much as we need air. She used to say that if during one single day, from dawn to dusk, we could see the naked reality of the world, and of ourselves, we would either take our own lives or lose our minds.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel's Game

“A tiding of magpies: One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told”
― Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train

“أنت مصمم مصيرك . أنت المؤلف . أنت كاتب القصة .القلم بين أصابعم .والمحصلة ماتختارة أنت .”
― Rhonda Byrne

“At this the duchess, laughing all the while, said: "Sancho Panza is right in all he has said, and will be right in all he shall say...”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

“Zar loš način života ne bi svakog učinio zločestim? Dobro se sijećam kako me je jednog dana u Yorodiu jedan dječak gurnuo u grm prepun trnja, uhvatio me takav bijes da bih bila u stanju gristi. Ako me nekoliko minuta bola moglo dovesti do takvog bijesa, što bih tek učinile godinje patnje? Čak se i kamen može udubiti ako ga dovoljno dugo udaraju kapi kiše.”
― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

“Then we knew he was lying.”
― Gary Paulsen, Paintings from the Cave: Three Novellas