Quotes from Still Life With Crows

Douglas Preston ·  564 pages

Rating: (26.5K votes)


“Where are you from, Mr. Pendergast? Can't quite place the accent.”
“New Orleans.”
“What a coincidence! I went there for Mardi Gras once."
“How nice for you. I myself have never attended.”
Ludwig paused, the smile frozen on his face, wondering how to steer the conversation onto a more pertinent topic.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Still Life With Crows


“I have found that liars in the end communicate more truth than do truth tellers.” “How’s that?” “Because truth is the safest lie.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Still Life With Crows


“quotation from Einstein: ‘The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.’ I would suggest to Dr. Chauncy that in combination, the two qualities are even more alarming.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Still Life With Crows


“Chauncy made a huge effort to control himself. “I had lunch at Maisie’s Diner.”
“And?”
“And what? It was the most revolting lunch it has been my misfortune to consume.”
“And after?”
“Diarrhea, of course.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Still Life With Crows


“She picked up the book she was reading, Beyond the Ice Limit, found her dog-eared place at the beginning of chapter six, and began to read. The sea horizon lay against the sky, blue against perfect blue, and it seemed to beckon the ship southward, ever southward. She closed the book, put it down again. Not bad, but it lacked the punch of the original.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Still Life With Crows



About the author

Douglas Preston
Born place: in Cambridge, Massachusetts, The United States
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Popular quotes

“After that, we don’t talk, instead we get hammered. Shot after shot we down, chasing each one with a Little Debbie snack. Before we know it, we’re hanging on to the bar counter floating around in a sugar and alcohol coma, just the way I like it.

“There’s my girl,” Racer shouts as he topples off his stool and onto the floor, laughing hysterically. Georgie stops in her tracks and looks over at Emma, who’s standing next to her, both holding two boxes of Little Debbie snacks each.

“Emmmmmmmma,” Tucker drags out, waving his glass in the air. “You brought the snacks.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Emma mutters as she approaches us.

I point to my mouth and say, “Feed me. Daddy needs sugar.”

Racer is beside me, tangled in the pegs of his bar stool, still laughing. “Did you bring Oatmeal Pies, George? Please tell me you have the pies.”

“Uh, I think you’ve had enough for tonight,” she says, looking down at her boyfriend.

“Never!” Racer struggles to get up and finally knocks the chair over to free himself. “Fucking bitch chair, digging into me with its claws.” Talking to the stool directly he says, “I’m taken, warm someone else’s ass.”

“He’s going to propose, chair, leave him alone,” Tucker announces, causing me to cringe.

“Dude, don’t say it out loud.” I punch Tucker in the shoulder. “Georgie is right there.” All three of us turn to Georgie, who’s shaking her head in humor. Hopefully.

“I’ll take Aaron,” Emma tells Georgie. “Seems like Racer is more of a handful.”

“Hell yeah, I am.” Racer stumbles while cupping his crotch. “A giant handful.”

Georgie rolls her eyes. “And that’s our cue to leave.”

“But we didn’t eat our snacks.”

“Seems like you had enough.” Georgie grabs Racer by the hand. “Come on.”

As they walk away, Racer asks, “Want to have sex in the car?”

“Not even a little.”

“Here, you two, you can have your boxes of snacks.” Emma hands Tucker and me both a box of Oatmeal Pies that we clutch to our chests.

“You’re the best,” I admit.

“She is, isn’t she?” Tucker says. “I love her so fucking hard. Best wife ever.”

She pulls on both of our hands to get us moving. “She wins wife of the year award,” I announce. “Best wife goes to Emma. Can we get a round of applause?”

Tucker breaks open his Oatmeal Pies and starts spraying them like confetti. “Emma. Emma. Emma.” He chants, getting the three other patrons in the bar to join in.

I pump my fist as well, forgetting everything from earlier. I knew I could count on my guys.

“Emma. Emma. Emma . . .”

And then, everything fades to black. Emotions and feelings are non-existent as I pass out, just the way I like it. Just the way I need it.”
― Meghan Quinn, quote from The Other Brother


“Living every day in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
― Min Jin Lee, quote from Pachinko


“Actually, it’s kind of a love story.”
― Ruth Emmie Lang, quote from Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance


“Order, the Bowery, the city itself. It was all the same to Harte. Each one was holding him down, holding him back. He’d throw them off one by one, until he was free, or he’d die trying.”
― Lisa Maxwell, quote from The Last Magician


“The problem, however, is that I have yet to meet anyone, materialist or otherwise, who was able to dispense with value judgements. On the contrary, the literature of materialism is peculiarly marked by its wholesale profusion of denunciations of all sorts. Starting with Marx and Nietzsche, materialists have never been able to refrain from passing continuous moral judgement on all and sundry, which their whole philosophy might be expected to discourage them from doing.”
― Luc Ferry, quote from A Brief History of Thought: A Philosophical Guide to Living


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