Matthew Lawson

“People talk about the sins of omission. What does that mean? Who decides if something is a sin? I know that I’m being semantic, but judging by the way people moralise and jump to conclusions, anyone would think that the truth is real and solid; that it’s something that can be picked up and passed around, weighed and measured, before being agreed upon. But the truth isn’t like that. If I were to tell you this story tomorrow, it would be different than today. I would have filtered the details through my defences and rationalised my actions. Truth is a matter of semantics, whether we like it or not.”
― Michael Robotham, The Suspect

“All morning, on and off the floor, her mind was so scrambled with self-consciousness that when she opened her mouth her mind lagged behind and then dashed forward, propelled by the anxiety that what she was saying was unintelligible. Each time, she found that she’d spoken halfway appropriately, and each time this seemed like amazing luck.”
― Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads

“H.L. Mencken – journalist, beer-drinker and sage – said that for every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. I share his mistrust for the obvious.”
― Michael Robotham, The Suspect

“He seemed to combine an air of conscientious honesty with a blatant, mischievous untrustworthiness, and the resultant effect was like hypnosis. He commanded your attention with knowledge and facts, but you felt you couldn’t take your eyes off him anyway because you feared what he might get up to. He dealt in truth like a drug, but you got the impression that he was cutting every score with about ten per cent bullshit.”
― Christopher Brookmyre, Quite Ugly One Morning