Quotes from Six Years

Harlan Coben ·  351 pages

Rating: (53.4K votes)


“Part of the human condition is that we all think that we are uniquely complex while everyone else is somewhat simpler to read. That is not true, of course. We all have our own dreams and hopes and wants and lust and heartaches. We all have our own brand of crazy”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Hope is cruel. Hope reminds me of what almost was. Hope makes the physical ache return.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Amazing what we can self-rationalize when we really want something”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“That’s the problem with falling in love. It makes you start talking like a bad country song”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“No, I don’t live in heartache. I don’t cry myself to sleep or any of that. I am, I tell myself, over it. But I do feel a void, icky as that sounds. And—like it or not—I still think about her every single day.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years



“...desperation can toy with you and if you give desperation any wiggle room, it will find alternative answers”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Do you believe in love at first sight? Neither do I. I do, however, believe in major, more-than-just-physical attraction at first sight. I believe that every once in a while—once, maybe twice in a lifetime—you are drawn to someone so deeply, so primordially, so immediately—a stronger-than-magnetic pull.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Painful memories didn't just ease back in-they shoved the door open hard, all of them and all at once”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“She wore a killer smile, absolutely devastating. It was a smile that could twist a man’s heart. A man could fall in love just being on the receiving end of that smile. A man would want to see the smile every day and be the one who could make it appear. He would want it all to himself.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Natalie had what I'd call a slow beauty, the kind you don't really notice at first and then it knocks you back and grows on you and she gets more beautiful every time you see her and then you can't believe that you ever thought that she was anything less than completely stunning. Whenever I saw her, my entire body reacted, as though it were the first time or better.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years



“There are few times that I feel more at peace, more in tune, more Zen, if you will, than when I force myself to unplug.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“...whenever I see a table of college “friends” sitting together they are inevitably texting with unseen others, searching, always searching, I guess, for something that might be better, a perpetual life hunt for digital greener grass, an attempt to smell roses that are elsewhere at the expense of the ones in front of you...”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I have learned that human beings are all about incentives”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“There is silence, and then there is rural silence, silence you could feel and reach out and touch, silence with texture and distance.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I'd rather read than relax. I'd rather keep the mind engaged.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years



“If you give desperation any wiggle room, it will toy with you.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“You want this so badly—this second chance, this chance at real redemption—that you can’t see the truth.” “What”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Another weird thing about funerals: Wear black but kill something as colorful as flowers to decorate.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“The rule of thumb in student files seemed to be, "If you have nothing negative to say, don't say anything at all.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“The humpback never sees the hump on his own back.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years



“The gray has no chance against that smile. It vanishes in a wonderful haze of bright color.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Some men carry torches for old loves, and then some guys—not many, but some—get completely consumed by the torch’s flames. It makes them nothing but long-term trouble for the follow-ups.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I turned to Otto. “Why the hell did you hit him like that?” Otto looked back at me with eyes that sent a chill straight through my heart. They were lifeless eyes, not the slightest hint of light behind them. It was as though I were looking into the eyes of an inanimate object—the eyes of an end table, maybe, or a cardboard box. From”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that the main house was about a quarter mile up the drive. I could leave my car here and walk it. See what’s what. But what would be the point? I hadn’t been up here in six years. The retreat probably sold the land, and the new owner probably craved privacy. That might explain all this. Still it didn’t feel right. What would be the harm, I thought, in going up and knocking on the door of the main house? Then again, the thick chain and no trespassing signs were not exactly welcome mats. I was still trying to decide what to do when a Kraftboro police cruiser pulled up next to me. Two officers got out. One was short and stocky with bloated gym muscles. The other was tall and thin with slicked-back hair and the small mustache of a guy in a silent movie. Both wore aviator sunglasses, so you couldn’t see their eyes. Short and Stocky hitched up his pants a bit and said, “Can I help you?” They both gave me hard stares. Or at least I think they were hard stares. I mean, I couldn’t see their eyes. “I”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I actually had to close my eyes, rub them,”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years



“Do you believe in love at first sight? Neither do I. I do, however, believe in major, more-than-just-physical attraction at first sight. I believe that every once in a while—once, maybe twice in a lifetime—you are drawn to someone so deeply, so primordially, so immediately—a stronger-than-magnetic pull. That was how it was with Natalie. Sometimes that is all there is. Sometimes it grows and gathers heat and turns into a glorious inferno that you know is real and meant to last forever. And”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“Each writer had a bedroom in the main house and a shack or “work cottage” in which to write. We all met up for dinner at night. That was it. There was no Internet, no TV, no phones, yes lights, but no motorcar, not a single luxury.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“I treat every student who walks through those doors the same because we are here to teach, if not political science, maybe a little something about critical thinking or even—gasp!—life. If students came to us fully formed and without insecurities, what would be the point?”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


“When class started, I stood in the front of the room and shouted “Good morning, everyone!” like a born-again cheerleader on too much Red Bull. The students gave me curious looks. I was starting to scare myself, so I tried to dial it back. You”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years


About the author

Harlan Coben
Born place: in Newark, New Jersey, The United States
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