David Baldacci

“He looked around at the others....They were all staring at their computers, or reading books or newspapers. Not one of them has noticed the weather. Maybe that's how the world was now....Everyone was so wrapped up in his or her own little world that no one ever really saw anything anymore.”

“You know what kind of person it takes to run for President? Not normal. They could start out okay, but by the time they reach that level they've sold their soul to the devil so many times and stomped the guts out of enough people that they are definitely not like you and me, not even close.”

“There was a time when Stone would have rated a platoon of crackerjack killers coming for him by land, sea and air. Those days apparently were over. A quartet of suits in a Cadillac on steroids was enough.”

“I guess we're all lonely in some way. - Oliver Stone”

“Every time I walk with Alex I'm reminded both how lucky I am to have friends like him and also how unworthy I am to have friends like him. - Oliver Stone”

“The one thing I learned is that the Russians are some of the most cunning people on earth. They never do anything without a very good reason. And just because they're no longer a superpower doesn't mean they don't want to be again. - Oliver Stone”

“Time doesn't really heal, it just makes you not to give a crap”

“As my father wrote, one's courage, hope, and spirit can be severely tried by the happenstance of life. But as I learned on this Virginia mountain, so long as one never loses faith, it is impossible to ever truly be alone.”

“It's hard, Cotton. To let yourself love something you know you may never have.”

“Anyone who's lived has lost somebody.”

“There's always more to life than money, Will. Money is just a means to an end. It shouldn't be the goal. Annnie Lambert”

“Diamond Skinner had had no material possessions to his name and yet had been the happiest creature Lou had ever met. He and God would no doubt get along famously.”

“He'd been given an assignment to write about teen beauty pageants [...], which he'd accepted because he enjoyed blood sports as much as the next person.”

“It's often said that God works in mysterious ways. You have to really think about what He's trying to do. You can't be lazy and believe in God; He doesn't make it that easy. It takes spirit and faith and passion to really believe. Like most things worthwhile in life, you get back what you put into it. Only with faith, you get back a lot more.”

“...love is like a good piece of wood: It just gets stronger and stronger as the years go by.”

“Two people can care for each other but not want the same things.”

“If you really love each other, you'd be surprised what you can accomplish.”

“It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between.”

“It had always bothered Tom that women thought they could win an argument with a man simply by appealing to his baser instincts, by holding out the mere possibility of award-winning carnal knowledge. It was the gender equivalent of a preemptive nuclear strike. He thought it unfair and, quite frankly, disrespectful of the entire male population.”

“It's the hardest thing in the world to put yourself in someone else's place, try to really feel what they feel, figure out why they do the things they do. Especially when it's easier to stick a label on something. Or someone.”

“Things might look bad now,but in matters of the heart you'd be surprised how quickly things change.”

“The world is complicated, so people seek complicated solutions. And there's nothing wrong with that because simple answers don't usually work. But sometimes the answers are simple and people still refuse to see them. - Edgar Roy”

“You haven't yet seen me be rude. When I am it's unmistakable. - Michelle Maxwell.”

“National security trumps a lot. It can trampke civil rights. It can denude personal liberties. But it cannot and never will triumph over political gamesmanship. - Kelly Paul”

“Confidence is inspiring. Yet so often misplaced. (Robert Thornhill)”

“It would actually constitute more than a miracle, he realised. It would take divine intervention plus luck, plus some unknown element of cosmic wizardry.”

“Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.”

“Miz Louisa, she believed in God with all her soul. But she don’t subscribe to church much. She say the way some folk run they’s churches, it take God right out cha heart.’ - Eugene Randall”

“Lou looked at Davis there praying like God was in his heart and home, while his family remained behind in rags and fear and would have starved except for the kindness of Louisa Cardinal. She could only shake her head.”

“Well, that dog was all Diamond had. When you love something, you can’t just sit by and not do anything.’‘I suppose it may be God’s way of telling us to love people while they’re here, because tomorrow they may be gone. I guess that’s a pretty sorry answer, but I’m afraid it’s the only one I’ve got.’‘You’re wise beyond your years. And what you say makes perfect sense. But I think when it comes to matters of the heart, perfect sense may be last thing you want to listen to.’ - Cotton Longfellow”

“See, that why I ain’t go to church. Figger I got me a church wherever I be. Want’a talk to God, well I say, ‘howdy-howdy, God,’ and we jaw fer a bit.’ - Jimmy ‘Diamond’ Skinner”

“And he goes round with a fat roll of dollar bills, and got this nice farm, and all them fancy machines, and man let his family starve.’ - Louisa Mae Cardinal”

“Number of children fathered got little enough to do with being a good daddy.’ - Louisa Mae Cardinal”

“Depending on the situation, sometimes you can know a person better in ten minutes than someone you have crossed paths with all your life.”

“The real worth of a person came from how he acted during the bad times. (John Fiske)”

“Confidence is one thing, disrespect is quite another. (Justice Elizabeth Knight)”

“I will never forget that the passing down of memories is the strongest link in the gossamer bridge that binds up as people. I plan to devote my live to doing just that. And if you've taught me anything, it's that what we hold in our hearts is truly the fierest component of our humanity.”

“Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?”

“Why are trains so popular at Christmas? People get on to meet their country over the holidays.”

“All you have to do [to win a Pulitzer Prize] is spend your life running from one awful place to another, write about every horrible thing you see. The civilized world reads about it, then forgets it, but pats you on the head for doing it and gives you a reward as appreciation for changing nothing.”

“Shaw, we're going to die, aren't we?"Probably. Why?"Just wanted confirmation.”

“Pender laughed. "Verify? In this day and age? Who cares about verifying anything? It's all about the speed. Who gets there first defines the truth. You know that as well as any man living.”

“Most folks here got rules 'bout trespassing. Warning shot's fired right close to the head. Get they's attention. Next shot gets a lot more personal. Now I'm too old to waste time firing a warning shot.....”

“IF U WANT TO KICK THE TIGER ASS BECAREFULL OF HIS TEETH FIRST.”

“It's my experience that most folk who ride trains could care less where they're going. For them it's the journey itself and the people they meet along the way. You see, at every stop this train makes, a little bit of America, a little bit of your country, gets on and says hello.”

“When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.”

“Small mistakes tend to lead to large ones. Ours is a lifetime appoinment, and all you have is your reputation. Once it's gone, it doesn't comeback.”