Quotes from The Enemy

Charlie Higson ·  406 pages

Rating: (18.9K votes)


“If a wolf attacks his sheep, the shepard kills the wolf, but he eats the sheep when he's hungry.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“No such word as can't. No such word as babagoozle neither!”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“But I'll never see any of those fish," said Maxie."Or those whales. Or any lions or tigers. I'm never going to set foot in a rain forest now, am I? I won't even be able to watch old DVD's about them without electricity. What does the future hold? It's like going back to the middle ages. Nobody knowing what was going on beyond their front doorstep. All I'll ever know is this. This little bit of London.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“There was always a slug on the lettuce.
This was too good to be true.
He had never trusted Jester, and didn't trust David.
He wasn't going to let his gaurd down just yet.
Being carful had kept him alive this far.
There was no reason to stop being careful now.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“There was a reason these boys were still alive, though. Something made them stronger than the other kids, the ones who had died in the early days, who had simply lain down and given up, unable to cope with the terrible things that were happening in the world. These boys were survivors. The will to live was stronger than any other feelings.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy



“Standing in the corridor was a large plastic bin on wheels. He looked inside. Empty tins of dog food. That explained the spaghetti with meat sauce. Oh well, he'd eaten worse.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“I’m different,” said the Kid. “My gran always said I was half clever, half stupid, and half crazy.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“When we're strong enough," said Sam, "will you come with me?"
"Where? To Bucko Palace?"
"Yes. To find Ella."
"Course I will," said the Kid, and he put an arm around Sam. "It'll be a new grand adventure of the old school. They'll write books about us. Long books. Nothing's gonna split us up, small fry. We're a team. Like Batman and Robin Hood."
And he sang.
"Ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-Batman!”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“THIS IS WHERE ARRAN HARPER FELL. WE DON’T KNOW THE DAY OR THE DATE, BUT WE’LL NEVER FORGET IT. HE WAS THE BRAVEST OF US ALL.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“Arran’s grey-blue eyes opened and they were clear and bright. He smiled at Maxie. ‘I love you, Mum,’ he said quietly and he died in Maxie’s arms.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy



“The first drops of rain started to fall.
'God's policemen,' said Jester.
'You what?'
'The police always used to pray for rain before any big demonstration because people wouldn't turn up. Nobody wants to run riot in the streets if it's pouring with rain. Who's going to want to fight in this?”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired,' said Maxie.
'I know how that feels,' said Blue.
'I think some Pharaoh had that carved on his tomb,' Maxie added.
'Yeah? Times don't change much, do they?”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“Remember what I done for you here today,' he shouted and passed out.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“Course I'm scared. I'm always scared when we go somewhere we've not been before. It's good to be scared. Keeps you alive." - Ollie, The Enemy”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy


“I just miss him, is all. He used to make me laugh, nothing else did.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Enemy



About the author

Charlie Higson
Born place: in The United Kingdom
Born date July 3, 1958
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“All depression has its roots in self-pity, and all self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously."

At the time Switters had disputed her assertion. Even at seventeen, he was aware that depression could have chemical causes.

"The key word here is roots," Maestra had countered. "The roots of depression. For most people, self-awareness and self-pity blossom simultaneously in early adolescence. It's about that time that we start viewing the world as something other than a whoop-de-doo playground, we start to experience personally how threatening it can e, how cruel and unjust. At the very moment when we become, for the first time, both introspective and socially conscientious, we receive the bad news that the world, by and large, doesn't give a rat's ass. Even an old tomato like me can recall how painful, scary, and disillusioning that realization was. So, there's a tendency, then, to slip into rage and self-pity, which if indulged, can fester into bouts of depression."

"Yeah but Maestra - "

"Don't interrupt. Now, unless someone stronger and wiser - a friend, a parent, a novelist, filmmaker, teacher, or musician - can josh us out of it, can elevate us and show us how petty and pompous and monumentally useless it is to take ourselves so seriously, then depression can become a habit, which, in tern, can produce a neurological imprint. Are you with me? Gradually, our brain chemistry becomes conditioned to react to negative stimuli in a particular, predictable way. One thing'll go wrong and it'll automatically switch on its blender and mix us that black cocktail, the ol' doomsday daiquiri, and before we know it, we're soused to the gills from the inside out. Once depression has become electrochemically integrated, it can be extremely difficult to philosophically or psychologically override it; by then it's playing by physical rules, a whole different ball game. That's why Switters my dearest, every time you've shown signs of feeling sorry for yourself, I've played my blues records really loud or read to you from The Horse's Mouth. And that's why when you've exhibited the slightest tendency toward self-importance, I've reminded you that you and me - you and I: excuse me - may be every bit as important as the President or the pope or the biggest prime-time icon in Hollywood, but none of us is much more than a pimple on the ass-end of creation, so let's not get carried away with ourselves. Preventive medicine, boy. It's preventive medicine."

"But what about self-esteem?"

"Heh! Self-esteem is for sissies. Accept that you're a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace - and maybe even glory.”
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― Amish Tripathi, quote from The Immortals of Meluha


“He wanted to give me a blade? What's wrong with that?”

“Blades,” he whispered, “and sheaths go together. And your sheath will only ever hold my blade.”
― Nalini Singh, quote from Archangel's Kiss


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