Quotes from Fatherland

Robert Harris ·  380 pages

Rating: (26.2K votes)


“A police state is a country run by criminals”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“Down in the cellar the Gestapo were licensed to practice was the Ministry of Justice called ‘heightened interrogation’. The rules had been drawn up by civilised men in warm offices and they stipulated the presence of a doctor.”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“What do you do,’ he said, ‘if you devote your life to discovering criminals, and it gradually occurs to you that the real criminals are the people you work for? What do you do when everyone tells you not to worry, you can’t do anything about it, it was a long time ago?’ She was looking at him in a different way. ‘I suppose you go crazy.’ ‘Or worse. Sane.”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“Against the alchemy of two naked bodies in a bed in the darkness, and against all the complex longings and attachments and commitments such intimacy might arouse, he had nothing with which to fight.”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“A permanent state of war on the Eastern front will help to form a sound race of men,’ the Führer had once said, ‘and will prevent us relapsing into the softness of a Europe thrown back upon itself.’ But”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland



“How odd it is, thought March afterwards, to live your life in ignorance of the past, of your world, yourself. Yet how easy to do it! You went along from day to day, down paths other people had prepared for you, never raising your head - enfolded in their logic, from swaddling clothes to shroud. It was a kind of fear. Well, goodbye to that. And good to leave it behind - whatever happened now. - 214”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“The avenue was designed by Reichsminister Albert Speer and completed in 1957. It is one hundred and twenty-three meters wide and five-point-six kilometers in length. It is both wider, and two and a half times longer, than the Chaps Elysees in Paris.

Higher, longer, bigger, wider, more expensive...even in victory, thought March, Germany has a parvenu's inferiority complex. Nothing stands on its own. Everything has to be compared with what the foreigners have....”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


“You cant build on a mass grave. Human beings are better than that - we have to be better than that - I do believe, don't you?" Charlie McGuire, Fatherland”
― Robert Harris, quote from Fatherland


About the author

Robert Harris
Born place: in Nottingham, England, , The United Kingdom
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Popular quotes

“Do you want another?” Kash asked with a lazy smile that I wasn’t sure if I hated or loved yet. “No, I drove. One’s enough.” “I’ll drive us back if you want.” We were in a small booth, and Candice had made it a point to sit with Mason, which put Kash and me in a position to get all up close and personal whether we wanted to or not. And now he was leaning in and the smell of his musky cologne was calling my name. “You look like you need more than one.” His cologne had officially stopped talking to me. I sat back so I was smashed against the wall and raised an eyebrow at him. “Just like I look sick? You really are quite the charmer, aren’t you?” He didn’t miss a beat. “And you really know how to turn shit around so I look like an asshole, don’t you?” I huffed a laugh. “Just saying . . . girls don’t like to hear they look bad. I’m almost waiting for you to tell me I look tired next.” Kash’s eyes roamed my face. “Well, I wasn’t planning on mentioning it . . .” “Wow.” My jaw dropped and I blinked rapidly. “I don’t need to do a thing. You make yourself look like an asshole all on your own.” He laughed loudly and leaned in closer than he’d been before. “I don’t know what happened in the car earlier, but you looked like you’d seen a ghost. And right now, you’re putting off an uncomfortable vibe that I’m sure half the restaurant can feel. You know you look beautiful, but that doesn’t hide the underlying stress that is rolling off you.” Before I could say anything, he continued. “So that makes me assume you’ve had a really bad day, which is why I offered to drive us all home so you could have another drink or two. If you honestly think what I’ve said means you look bad, then that’s your own problem you’ll have to deal with. And as long as you’re giving some attitude, be prepared to get some in return.” Oh.”
― Molly McAdams, quote from Forgiving Lies


“Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure! Always your goal is pleasure. Pain, yes of course! Yet pain must only be used as a means to add to your sub's sensation of pleasure. To do otherwise is un péché noir - a black sin. Such will tarnish the soul.
André Chevalier”
― Nikki Sex, quote from Bound and Freed Boxed Set


“He’s immense, intense, and lethal. His eyes…God, his eyes are the most frightening and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. There is no escaping them. No escaping him.”
― Francette Phal, quote from Flawed


“Fire and light. With all our safety measures, and all our weapons, it's the primitive things that keep us safe.”
― Josin L. McQuein, quote from Arclight


“I am organized and in control, today especially!” When you hear yourself say something like “I’ve really got a problem with this...” turn it around and say “I can handle this! I’m a capable person and I handle problems well.” “I just can’t seem to lose weight” becomes “Losing weight is not a problem for me. I eat exactly what I should and only the right healthy amount—I’m losing weight and looking great!” Instead of telling yourself that you’re tired—at a time of the day when you can’t afford to be tired—immediately tell yourself that you have plenty of energy and enthusiasm. And if it doesn’t suddenly make you jump up and down with energy, that’s okay; you’re working on a whole new way to talk to yourself, and you are starting to give your subconscious mind a new set of directions.”
― quote from What to Say When You Talk to Yourself


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