Mystery Novels

"Jesus, man, you get hit in the head that many times, you hear one thing, you see something else, find out the people you respected and loved are setting you up because you're getting older and slower? You'd be a fucking saint not to let that affect you."

"A guy makes his living with his fists, it gets so that's the only thing he knows how to do. And when you're pro, you learn things you don't want to learn. You can get like me and get out, do something else, scrub yourself, and try not to look back."

"This sport, it's a business more than ever now. The rankings don't mean anything. Those rankings were fixed when I was in the circuit, no reason to believe they're any different now. Talent talks, but it's the money that keeps you running. You got promoters paying off boards so their fighters can square off against each other and keep the dollars rolling through the gate. Doesn't matter who knocks down who, the promoter's the only one that really wins."

"I miss heroes. I miss real heroes. Used to be, you knew who the heroes were just by looking at them. Good guy in the white hat, bad guy in the black hat. You knew where you stood."

"I was a pain in the ass when I fought. You want something that much, you think you can do it, that's all that matters. People, they're a waste of breath. Can't talk to people, because they're never gonna see the world like you see it. You get so wrapped up in yourself and your goals you can't see beyond the ring."

"Innes, for all his faults and problems, is an engaging character with a sharp sense of humor and a ton of turmoil in his life. And Banks, a member of the so-called 'Brit grit' movement, has an easy, breezy style that keeps you flipping the pages."

"Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light."

"Wealth is commonplace, but wisdom is rare."

"Although many people erroneously interpreted apocalypse as a cataclysmic end of the world, the word literally signified an “unveiling,” predicted by the ancients to be that of great wisdom. The coming age of enlightenment. Even so, Langdon could not imagine such a vast change being ushered in by . . . a word."

"Throughout history, the circumpunct has been all things to all people — it is the sun god Ra, alchemical gold, the all-seeing eye, the singularity point before the Big Bang..."

"In 1991, a document was locked in the safe of the director of the CIA. The document is still there today. Its cryptic text includes references to an ancient portal and an unknown location underground. The document also contains the phrase "It’s buried out there somewhere." All organizations in this novel exist, including the Freemasons, the Invisible College, the Office of Security, the SMSC, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences. All rituals, science, artwork, and monuments in this novel are real."

"The secret is how to die. Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die."

"He gazed up through the rain-speckled glass ceiling at the mountainous form of the illuminated Capitol Dome overhead. It was an astonishing building. High atop her roof, almost three hundred feet in the air, the Statue of Freedom peered out into the misty darkness like a ghostly sentinel. Langdon always found it ironic that the workers who hoisted each piece of the nineteen-and-a-half-foot bronze statue to her perch were slaves — a Capitol secret that seldom made the syllabi of high school history classes."

"Sorry, but the word occult, despite conjuring images of devil worship, actually means "hidden" or "obscured." In times of religious oppression, knowledge that was counterdoctrinal had to be kept hidden or "occult," and because the church felt threatened by this, they redefined anything "occult" as evil, and the prejudice survived."

"Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh....And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion."

"Our connection was fine professor, and I have an extremely low tolerance for bullshit"

"Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, its impact is in the hands of the user."

"America’s intended destiny has been lost to history. The forefathers who founded this capital city first named her “Rome.” They had named her river the Tiber and erected a classical capital of pantheons and temples, all adorned with images of history’s great gods and goddesses — Apollo, Minerva, Venus, Helios, Vulcan, Jupiter. In her center, as in many of the great classical cities, the founders had erected an enduring tribute to the ancients — the Egyptian obelisk. This obelisk, larger even than Cairo’s or Alexandria’s, rose 555 feet into the sky, more than thirty stories, proclaiming thanks and honor to the demigod forefather for whom this capital city took its newer name. Washington."

"Don't tell me, bookish bachelor seeking single Noetic Scientist?"

"I’m the only one that can help you, Keiichi-kun. I won’t allow you to transfer away..." - to Keiichi Maebara"

"Hello, Keiichi. Found you..." - to Keiichi Maebara"

"Don't worry, I used the blunt end of the knife." - to Keiichi Maebara"

"Commander Olivetti"

"Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca"

"Vittoria Vetra"

"Leonardo Vetra"

"Robert Langdon"

"Maximilian Kohler"

"Lieutenant Chartrand"

"Captain Rocher"

"Simon Edwards: I'm afraid your arrival has taken us a bit off guard, sir. Sir Leigh: I know. I'm off my schedule, I am. Between you and me, the new medication gives me the tinkles. Thought I'd come over for a tune-up."

"Robert: Leigh, you lie entirely too well. Sir Leigh: Oxford Theatre Club. They still talk of my Julius Caesar. I'm certain nobody has ever performed the first scene of Act Three with more dedication. Robert: I thought Caesar was dead in that scene. Sir Leigh: Yes, but my toga tore open when I fell, and I had to lie on stage for half an hour with my todger hanging out. Even so, I never moved a muscle. I was brilliant, I tell you."

"On the verge of unveiling one of history’s greatest secrets, and he troubles himself with a woman who has proven herself unworthy of the quest."

"The blind see what they want to see."

"I can't imagine your complaint, sir. You trespassed in my home and placed a nasty welt on the skull of a dear friend. I would be well within my rights to shoot you right now and leave you to rot in the woods."

"Robert: Who is that? What… happened? Sir Leigh: You were rescued by a knight brandishing an Excalibur made by Acme Orthopaedic."

"Silas: Stand up slowly, and give it to me. Sir Leigh: Standing is difficult for me. Silas: Precisely. I would prefer nobody attempt any quick moves."

"In my experience, men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire."

"Robert: The keystone is well hidden. Sir Leigh: Extremely well hidden, I hope! Robert: Actually, that depends on how often you dust under your couch."

"[H]istory is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books—books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, "What is history, but a fable agreed upon?" By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account."

"Sir Leigh: [to Robert and Sophie] Sometimes I wonder who is serving whom? Sir Leigh: [over the intercom to Rémy] I'll be right there, Remy. Can I bring you anything when I come? Rémy: Only freedom from oppression, sir."

"Sophie: Leigh, I was serious about the French police finding your plane before we return. Sir Leigh: Yes, imagine their surprise if they board and find Rémy. Sophie: Leigh, you transported a bound hostage across international borders. This is serious. Sir Leigh: So are my lawyers. Robert: But you tied [Silas] up and flew him to London! Sir Leigh: "Your honour, forgive an eccentric old knight his foolish prejudice for the British court system. I realize I should have called the French authorities, but I'm a snob and I do not trust those laissez-faire French to prosecute properly. This man almost murdered me. Yes, I made a rash decision forcing my manservant to help me bring him to England, but I was under great stress. Mea culpa. Mea culpa." Robert: Coming from you, Leigh, that just might fly."

"Chief inspector: I am here at the orders of the French Judicial Police. They claim you are transporting fugitives from the law on this plane. Sir Leigh: Is this one of those hidden camera programmes? Jolly good! Chief inspector: This is serious, sir. The French police claim that you also may have a hostage onboard. Rémy: I feel like a hostage working for Sir Leigh, but he assures me that I am free to go. … Sir Leigh: Inspector, I'm afraid I don't have time to indulge in your games. I'm late, and I'm leaving. If it is important for you to stop me, then you'll just have to shoot me. Chief inspector: Stop! I will fire! Sir Leigh: Go ahead. My lawyers will fricassee your testicles for breakfast. And if you dare board my plane without a warrant, your spleen will follow."

"We were apparently rather resistant to the idea of destroying witches in England, unlike views espoused in so-called books — and I use the word "book" very loosely — like The Da Vinci Code. [pretends to spit in disgust] It is complete loose stool water. It is arse-gravy of the worst kind."

"The only difference between The Da Vinci Code and the gospels is that the gospels are ancient fiction while The Da Vinci Code is modern fiction."

"The museum as mortuary, as site of death and entombment, starred in Dan Brown's best-selling Da Vinci Code. Yet the word most commonly linked with museums is 'boring'. Modern Londoners are said to see the as 'dusty, irrelevant and dull, … the place of boring school trips'. It is also stupefying in its immensity. 'Teenagers looking for ancient artefacts have to face an expedition almost as fraught as Indiana Jones's adventures in the Temple of Doom'. In New York's , a fleet-footed guide promises to deliver the top dozen masterpieces in under an hour. The champion of 'the six-minute Louvre' sprints past the ', the ', the ', exulting that 'there isn't a museum in the world that can keep me inside for very long'."

"Get a transport up here. I'm going to London. And get me the Kent local police. Not British MI5. Kent local. Tell them I want Teabing's plane to be permitted to land. Then I want it surrounded on the tarmac. Nobody deplanes until I get there."

"Pilot: Sir, my humble apologies, but my diplomatic flight allowance provides only for you and your manservant. I cannot take your guests. Sir Leigh: Richard, two thousand pounds sterling and that loaded gun say you can take my guests. And that unfortunate fellow in the back."

"Operator: Will you accept charges for a collect call from Robert Langdon? Jonas: Uh… sure, okay. Robert: Jonas? Jonas: Robert? You wake me up and you charge me for it?"

"Fortunately for you, we British judge man’s civility not by his compassion for his friends, but by his compassion for his enemies."