Quotes from The White Road

John Connolly ·  503 pages

Rating: (6.3K votes)


“An interesting thing happened today,” she said, giving me just enough time to get the word “hi” out of my mouth. “I opened the front door and there was a man on my doorstep. A big man. A very big, very black man.”

“Rachel —”

“You said it would be discreet. His T–shirt had the words ‘Klan Killer’ written on the front.”

“I —”

“And do you know what he said?”

I waited.

“He handed me a note from Louis and told me he was lactose intolerant. That was it. Note. Lactose intolerant. Nothing else. He’s coming to the reading with me. It was all I could do to get him to change his T–shirt. The new one reads ‘Black Death.’ I’m going to tell people it’s a rap band. Do you think it’s a rap band?”

I figured it was probably his occupation, but I didn’t say that. Instead, I said the only thing I could think of to say.

“Maybe you’d better buy some soy milk.”

She hung up without saying good–bye.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road


“You still carrying an arsenal in the trunk of your car?”

“Why, you need something?”

“No, but if your car is hit by lightning I’ll know where my lawn went.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road


“So what you gonna do?”

“Push a stick into the beehive and rustle up some bees. The Larousses are hosting a party today. I think we should avail ourselves of their hospitality.”

“We got an invite?”

“Has not having one ever stopped us before?”

“No, but sometimes I just like to be invited to shit, you know what I’m sayin’, instead of havin’ to bust in, get threatened, irritate the nice white folks, put the fear of the black man on them.”

He paused, seemed to think for a while about what he had just said, then brightened.

“Sounds good, doesn’t it?” I said.

“Real good,” he agreed.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road


“I have found in the past that what passes for coincidence is usually life’s way of telling you that you’re not paying enough attention.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road


“THE AFRO-AMERICAN HAS BEEN HEIR TO THE MYTHS THAT IT IS BETTER TO BE POOR THAN RICH, LOWER-CLASS RATHER THAN MIDDLE OR UPPER, EASYGOING RATHER THAN INDUSTRIOUS, EXTRAVAGANT RATHER THAN THRIFTY AND ATHLETIC RATHER THAN ACADEMIC.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road



“So, how we doin'?"
"Same as usual: dead people, a mystery, more dead people."
"Who we lost?"
"The boy. His guardians. Maybe Elliot Norton."
"Shit, don't sound like we got anybody left. Anyone hires you better leave you your fee in their will.”
― John Connolly, quote from The White Road


About the author

John Connolly
Born place: in Dublin, Ireland
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“It’s like, Earthlings, you idiots, get it together!”
― Pittacus Lore, quote from The Last Days of Lorien


“he first time I ever laid eyes on you, you were jogging with your friend, Hilary,” he murmured. I lowered my gaze back to the tiny shoe and smiled.

“The first time I ever had the pleasure of hearing your voice,” he titled his head in thought, “you ended up tripping and needed bandaged.”

His finger brushed over the tiny silver Band-Aid. Tears began pooling in my eyes. His gift was unlike anything I ever expected. I wasn’t sure what to think or even feel in that moment.

“The first time I knew you were more than a pretty face,” he smiled, his thumb caressing my cheek for the briefest moment, “you brought Oliver and me muffins.” His voice cracked and I bit my bottom lip as he touched upon the tiny muffin.

The burn of a stray tear as it slipped down my cheek pulled my gaze to my lap. Quickly, I wiped it away.

Next, he held up the miniature swimming pool in his hand and I laughed, looking up at him.

“This one speaks for itself, sweetheart.” His smile widened into a broad grin. “It was a night I’ll never forget…and one I wouldn’t mind experiencing again next summer.”

My head shot down, heat creeping up my cheeks. I shook my head, chuckling.

“This,” he held up a music note, “is for the first time we danced.” He lowered the bracelet and looked me in the eyes. “I wanted you that night, Cassandra. More than I’ve ever wanted any woman. But I’m thankful every day that you wouldn’t let me have my way.” He sighed. “We wouldn’t be here today if I had slept with you then.”

He looked back down, frowning. “I can’t image you not being here today.”

My heart swelled helping me find my voice.

“The pumpkin patch,” I said, running my fingers over the shiny jack-o-lantern.

“Yes, the first day I realized I wanted nothing more than to protect you. From your ex, from anyone that could hurt you.”

I smiled, his words soothing every part of my soul.

“The carnival.” I smiled, remembering our day together. The charm was of a Ferris wheel and the only one that was gold.

Logan took my hand and clasped the bracelet around my wrist. He looked up at me, my hand still in his.

“The first day I knew Oliver was falling in love with you.”
― Angela Graham, quote from Inevitable


“I always knew I had no small talk, and now I know I've got no big talk either.”
― Sue Townsend, quote from The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole


“He really was a very bad leader in that respect—and it was why his Arrows gave him their unswerving dedication. All of them rejects from the world, from their families. No one else had ever come for them, ever would. Silence or not, it mattered that Aden would.”
― Nalini Singh, quote from Shards of Hope


“One of these days, Prince, you will meet your own fate.”
“And I’ll do so quite spectacularly,” he quipped back. “Looking damn good while I do it, too.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, quote from Every Last Breath


Interesting books

A Plague Upon Your Family
(6.2K)
A Plague Upon Your F...
by Mark Tufo
Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters
(4.7K)
Start: Punch Fear in...
by Jon Acuff
Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
(318)
Native Realm: A Sear...
by Czesław Miłosz
The Social Contract
(28.9K)
The Social Contract
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I Married a Communist
(5.1K)
I Married a Communis...
by Philip Roth
Cocaine
(257)
Cocaine
by Pitigrilli

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.