Quotes from The Monster of Florence

Douglas Preston ·  322 pages

Rating: (24.9K votes)


“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


About the author

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

“إن ما تشعرون به من الألم هو انكسار القشرة التي تغلف إدراككم . وكما أن القشرة الصلدة التي تحجب الثمرة يجب أن تتحطم حتى يبرز قلبها من ظلمة الأرض إلى نور الشمس .. هكذا أنتم أيضاً .. يجب أن تحطم الآلام قشوركم قبل أن تعرفوا معنى الحياة .. لأنكم لو استطعتم أن تعيروا عجائب حياتكم اليومية حقها من التأمل والدهشة لما كنتم ترون ألامكم أقل غرابة من أفراحكم .. أنتم مخيرون في الكثير من آلامكم .. وهذا الكثير من آلامكم هو الجرعة الشديدة المرارة التي بواسطتها يَشفي الطبيب الحكيم الساهر في أعماقكم أسقام نفوسكم البشرية ..”
― Kahlil Gibran, quote from The Prophet


“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream


“Lancelot: Morgaine, Morgaine - kinswoman, I have never seen you weep.

Morgaine: Are you like so many men, afraid of a woman's tears? (...)

Lancelot: No (...) it makes them seem so much more real, so much more vulnerable - women who never weep frighten me, because I know they are stronger than I, and I am always a little afraid of what they will do.”
― Marion Zimmer Bradley, quote from The Mists of Avalon


“Like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker.”
― Joseph Conrad, quote from Heart of Darkness


“If I look upon my whole life, I cannot think of another time when I felt more comfortable: when I had no worries, fears, or desires, when my life seemed as soft and lovely as lying inside a cocoon of rose silk.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Joy Luck Club


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