“We all have a Monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“You cannot stare evil in the face; it has no face. It has no body, no bones, no blood. Any attempt to describe it ends in glibness and self-delusion.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“The Monster’s crimes were so horrific that a mere man could not possibly have committed them. Satan, in the end, had to be invoked.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“Niccolò, for God’s sake, they accused me of being an accessory to murder, they said I planted a gun at that villa, they’ve indicted me for making false statements and obstruction of justice! They threatened me if I ever return to Italy. And you tell me I shouldn’t be concerned?”
“My dear Douglas, anyone who is anybody in Italy is indagato. I offer you my congratulations on becoming a genuine Italian.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“But we were just picnicking friends”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“As we hoped, our kids began to learn Italian. One day Isaac sat down to dinner, looked at the plate of pasta we’d prepared, made a face, and said, “Che schifo!” a vulgar expression meaning “Gross!” We were so proud.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“Charles backed down. He is reputed to have said, Capon, Capon, vous êtes un mauvais chapon. ‘Capon, Capon, you are one evil chicken.’ ”
“Chicken jokes are quite prevalent in the family,” the countess said.
The count said, “We eat capons at Christmas. It’s a little cannibalistic.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“So I’m in the American Secret Service? Damn.”
“It was all reported in the press the next day.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“But when I open them up, I find that they’re equal! And they both have achieved the same destiny: my zinc gurney. Why, then, did he tire himself out poring over so many books? Boh! Take my advice, journalist: eat, drink, and enjoy yourself—”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“It’s not my place to tell him to stop drinking,” Shelly said. “But being with him or talking to him when he’s drunk is my business.” That’s the difference between boundaries and controlling. We can’t make a person stop drinking. But we can refuse to talk to or date that person. Boundaries concern our behavior—what we will or won’t do. It’s not a boundary if we can’t enforce it. Be clear. If people have room to misinterpret, they will. People hear what they want to and what causes the least pain. We won’t be clear with others if we’re not clear with ourselves. Sometimes we don’t like their behavior, but we don’t want to lose the relationship, so our boundaries are murky.”
― Melody Beattie, quote from The New Codependency: Help and Guidance for Today's Generation
“This is your school, Davidek. Your life, your place in the world—a bunch of blank pages. You got to fill it up with what you want.”
― Anthony Breznican, quote from Brutal Youth
“Josiah said he did not believe in daydreams, although it seemed to her that was all she had to keep hope alive, for reality was proving far more desolate than she could ever have imagined.”
― Tami Egonu, quote from Bird
“We once again man the barricades -- alone. Berated by our smug, so-called allies, of the Western Democracies. Islam is going to turn this world inside out before this century is out and you'd better have enough guts to deal with it.”
― Leon Uris, quote from The Haj
“The thoughts of Man build future worlds, whilst the emotions of the Fey build up this, our Natural World.”
― Gabriel Brunsdon, quote from Azlander: Second Nature
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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