Quotes from The Quantum Thief

“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

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Popular quotes

“I love you, you see...and I fear I have no way to say or show it that isn't terrible, except coming here. I would kill everyone in the world for you, if you wanted.......Or not obviously”
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'Is that an answer?' said Damen.

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“It's sad when everyone knows you, but no one knows you.”
― Ava Dellaira, quote from Love Letters to the Dead

“People who have recently lost someone have a certain look, recognizable maybe only to those who have seen that look on their own faces. I have noticed it on my face and I notice it now on others. The look is one of extreme vulnerability, nakedness, openness. It is the look of someone who walks from the ophthalmologist's office into the bright daylight with dilated eyes, or of someone who wears glasses and is suddenly made to take them off. These people who have lost someone look naked because they think themselves invisible. I myself felt invisible for a period of time, incorporeal. I seemed to have crossed one of those legendary rivers that divide the living from the dead, entered a place in which I could be seen only by those who were themselves recently bereaved. I understood for the first time the power in the image of the rivers, the Styx, the Lethe, the cloaked ferryman with his pole. I understood for the first time the meaning in the practice of suttee. Widows did not throw themselves on the burning raft out of grief. The burning raft was instead an accurate representation of the place to which their grief (not their families, not the community, not custom, their grief) had taken them.”
― Joan Didion, quote from The Year of Magical Thinking

“The names of virtues, with their precepts, were:
1. Temperance. Eat not do dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloths, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
― Benjamin Franklin, quote from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

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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.