Quotes from The Quantum Thief

Hannu Rajaniemi ·  336 pages

Rating: (15.5K votes)


“The criminal is a creative artist; detectives are just critics.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“Suokaa anteeksi, mutta minun on nyt mentävä, jotta ehdin irstailla kyllikseni ennen kuin kuolen.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“A strange thing happens when you are very rich, even when one’s wealth is as artificial as in our society. You develop a solipsism of sorts. The world yields itself to your will. Everything becomes your reflection, and after a while looking into your own eyes is dull.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“Deep learning still comes from approximately ten thousand hours of work on any given subject.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“I don't care what your Oort woman wants you to steal for her," she says. "You already did your worst. You stole what could have been. From me and from yourself. And you can never have it back.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief



“I always loved the way you are so quick to see everybody else as monsters.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“What is it about it, anyway? Stealing.’ ‘It’s …’ It’s an instinct, I want to say. ... It’s art. But she would not understand, so I merely repeat the old joke. ‘It’s about respecting other people’s property. I make it my property so that I can properly respect it.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“You’re bigger than the toys. We are always bigger than the things we make. Put them away. Make something new with your life, with your own mind and hands.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“Whisky has always tasted like introspection to me, a quiet moment after taking a sip, the lingering aftertaste, inviting you to ponder upon the flavours on your tongue.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“Hell,’ I tell her, ‘is where all the interesting people are.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief



“Tell me one thing,’ Isidore says. ‘What was this place before?’ The Eldest pauses. An expression of sadness flickers across her serene face.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“How do you find out if there are shadowy forces manipulating people’s minds? You find a clean template, and make a before-and-after comparison.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“I don’t understand people. I need to deduce things. I don’t know why anyone says or does anything if I don’t think about it.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“The carriage lurches back and forth as the vehicle – the bastard child of a spider, a H. G. Wells war machine and a taxi – leaps over rooftops and clings to walls.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“She smiles, displaying an uneven row of sugar cube teeth.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief



“I merely repeat the old joke. ‘It’s about respecting other people’s property. I make it my property so that I can properly respect it.”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


“You are a policeman, yes? A sysadmin?”
― Hannu Rajaniemi, quote from The Quantum Thief


About the author

Hannu Rajaniemi
Born place: in Ylivieska, Finland
Born date March 9, 1978
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Once again a 'hate stare' drew my attention like a magnet. It came from a middle-aged, heavyset, well-dressed white man. He sat a few yards away, fixing his eyes on me. Nothing can describe the withering horror of this. You feel lost, sick at heart before such unmasked hatred, not so much because it threatens you as because it shows humans in such an inhuman light. You see a kind of insanity, something so obscene the very obscenity of it (rather than its threat) terrifies you. It was so new I could not take my eyes from the man's face. I felt like saying, 'What in God's name are you doing to yourself?”
― John Howard Griffin, quote from Black Like Me


“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
― Marcus Aurelius, quote from Meditations


“A rape victim...a rape victim who fights...They've been violated, made helpless and afraid. It breaks their confidence in the safety of their little world. It makes them afraid."

[....]

"If you don't fight, it's not quite the same. If they make you help, make you cooperate, then it's not clear to you anymore. Is it rape? You feel dirty, violated, and guilty. Most of all guilty because you should have fought. Especially if you're Mercy and you fight everything."

[...]

"She chooses to go to Tim's house, but she also feels on some level that it's the wrong thing to do. Her choice. Her fault. Her fault when she drinks from that bloody fairy cup. Her fault that he - "

Just that fast Adam had Ben on the ground underneath him while he snarled. "It's not her fault she was raped," he growled.

Ben lay limp and gave Adam his throat, but he didn't quit talking, even though a tear slid down his cheek. "She thinks so."

Adam stilled.

"What's more," he continued hoarsely. "I bet she wonders if she was raped at all.”
― Patricia Briggs, quote from Iron Kissed


“Well, I'll take these pages and move on. Things are happening elsewhere. Things are always happening. It seems wherever I go there is drama. People are like lice - they get under your skin and bury themselves there. You scratch and scratch until the blood comes, but you can't get permanently deloused. Everywhere I go people are making a mess of their lives. Everyone has his private tragedy. It's in the blood now - misfortune, ennui, grief, suicide. The atmosphere is saturated with disaster, frustration, futility. Scratch and scratch, until there's no skin left. However, the effect upon me is exhilarating. Instead of being discouraged or depressed, I enjoy it. I am crying for more and more disasters, for bigger calamities, grander failures. I want the whole world to be out of whack, I want every one to scratch himself to death.”
― Henry Miller, quote from Tropic of Cancer


“I stare up at Nick. "You're late."
.... "I had things to take care of," he says, all growly, looking away from me and staring Ian down. They do the whole I'm alpha - No, I'm alpha thing, with the staring and pulling the shoulders back and posturing.
Devyn whispers to Issie, loud enough for us to hear. "They're so sad sometimes."
She whispers back, "I know.”
― Carrie Jones, quote from Need


Interesting books

The Private Patient
(13K)
The Private Patient
by P.D. James
Bearers of the Black Staff
(8.3K)
Bearers of the Black...
by Terry Brooks
The Red Book: Liber Novus
(2.5K)
The Red Book: Liber...
by C.G. Jung
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
(15.1K)
The Language Instinc...
by Steven Pinker
About That Night
(20.3K)
About That Night
by Julie James
The Secret Wisdom of the Earth
(7.3K)
The Secret Wisdom of...
by Christopher Scotton

About BookQuoters

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.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.