Diana Gabaldon · 368 pages
Rating: (34.4K votes)
“He had crossed the room with no notion what he might say or do - he had no knowledge of the language of condolence, no skill at social small talk; his metier was business and politics. And yet, when his hostess had introduced them and left, he found himself still holding the hand he had kissed, looking into soft brown eyes that drowned his soul. And without further thought or hesitation had said, 'God help me, I am in love with you.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“In defense of King, country, and family, he would unhesitatingly have sacrificed his virtue to Nessie, had that been required. If it was a question of Olivia marrying a man with syphilis and half the British army being exterminated in battle, versus himself experiencing a "personal interview" with Richard Caswell, though, he rather thought Olivia and the King had best look to their own devices.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“What sort of mother talks about whores on her deathbed? Your mother wouldn’t do that, would she?"
"I have no idea,” Grey said, “The situation has fortunately not arisen.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“Got to go to dinner at my brother’s house tomorrow - my sister-in-law is having Lord Worplesdon.” (Quarry)
“Steamed, boiled, or baked en croûte?” (John)”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“Grey sat in his bedchamber, unshaven and attired in his nightshirt, banyan, and slippers, drinking tea and debating with himself whether the authoritative benefits conferred by wearing his uniform outweighed the possible consequences - both sartorial and social - of wearing it into the slumps of London to inspect a three-day-old corpse.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“Oh God. It isn’t Wednesday, is it, Hardy?” he pleaded, ascending the steps toward the footman, who smiled at sight of him, bowing as he opened the door.
"Yes, my lord. Has been all day, I’m afraid”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter
“Memory, in my opinion, is a complete noodle. It hangs on the silliest things but forgets the stuff that really matters.”
― Ellen Potter, quote from The Kneebone Boy
“Have you ever believed in something so completely that you were willing to give up everything and everyone in your life to protect it?”
― Thomas Sweeney, quote from The Harem
“People say time be like a river. That’s bullshit. You can swim upstream and downstream in a river. Can you do that with time? Hell, no. Time ain’t no river. Time is a big fucking razor blade scraping across the universe. And the edge of that razor is now. See? That’s all there is, man. No upstream or down, no past or future—just now. And all the stuff we feel, like hoping and feeling sorry for shit, that’s nothing. Useless. Nothing matters in this world but now.”
― Greg Iles, quote from Turning Angel
“I have wrote my name in hell,” Brian McFee had said as he was dying on the sawdust of the floor in the Bent Ridge Tavern.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“Study after study, however, concludes that about 90 percent of all publicly traded companies have proved themselves unable to sustain for more than a few years a growth trajectory that creates above-average shareholder returns.”
― Clayton M. Christensen, quote from The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth
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