Stieg Larsson

“I'm unhappy. I don't want to fall in love with you. It'll hurt far too much when it's over”

“And I guess that in some way I'm falling for you because you are who you are. It's easy to sleep with you because there's no bullshit and you make me feel safe. But this all started because I gave in to a crazy impulse. It doesn't happen very often, and I hadn't planned it.”

“I'm not going to apologize for the way I've led my life.”

“If love is liking someone an awful lot, then I suppose I'm in love with several people.”

“From a purely physical standpoint she didn't have a chance, but her attitude was that death was better than capitulation.”

“I mean, I may not hold the record in cleaning house either, but if I've got old milk cartons that smell like maggots I bundle them up and put them out.""I'm on a disability pension'" he said. "I'm socially incompetent.”

“Capitalists' wet dreams is to be involved in charity.”

“Harley-Davidson," she said. "Sweet.”

“You know what? I think you ought to recruit her for the Section.”

“The same source that tipped us off about her and Wu at Kvarnen says that she used to hang out with a bunch of girls there a while back. Some kind of girl band called Evil Fingers.""Evil fingers?" Bublanski repeated."Seems to be something occult.""Don't tell me Salander is some damned Satanist too," Bublanski said. "The media are going to go nuts.""Lesbian Satanists," Faste said helpfully."Hans, you've got a view of women from the Middle Ages," Modig said. "Even I've heard of Evil Fingers.""You have?" Bublanski said."It was a girl rock band in the late nineties. No superstars, but they were pretty famous for a while.""So hard-rocking lesbian Satanists," Faste said.”

“I am what I am,' Salander said 'I ran away from everything and everybody. I should have said goodbye.”

“To exact revenge for yourself or your friends is not only a right, it's an absolute duty.”

“...you have no idea how mentally handicapped I could be if push comes to shove.”

“I've never had a boy in here," Martin said in a serious voice. "I've never touched another man, as a matter of fact. . . .except for my father. That was my duty."Blomkvist's temples were pounding. He could not put his weight on his feet without being strangled. He tried to use his fingers to get a grip on the concrete wall behind him, but there was nothing to hold onto."It's time," Martin Vanger said.He put a hand on the strap and pulled down. Blomkvist instantly felt the noose cut into his neck."I've always wondered how a man tastes." He increased the pressure on the noose and leaned forward to kiss Blomkvist on the lips at the same time that a cold voice cut through the room."Hey you fucking creep, in this shithole I've got a monopoly on that one.”

“Faste knew better than to argue with a doctor, since they were the closest things to God's representatives here on Earth.”

“But if you want to win, you're going to have to fight.”

“I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.”

“I don't want any inheritance from my father. Do whatever the hell you want with it." "Wrong. You can do what you want with the inheritance. My job is to see to it that you have the opportunity to do so." "I don't want a single ore from that pig." "Then give the money to the Greenpeace or something." "I don't give a shit about whales.”

“Her voice was as rough as sandpaper. As long as Blomkvist lived, he would never forget her face as she went on the attack. Her teeth were bared like a beast of prey. Her eyes were glittering, black as coal. She moved with the lightning speed of a tarantula and seemed totally focus on her prey as she swung the club again, striking Martin in the ribs.”

“When their love was not reciprocated, it could quickly turn to violent hatred.”

“Oh, come off it. That surly cunt is squirming like a snake.” “Could there be some sort of Freudian symbolism in your choice of similes?”“What?” “Forget it...”

“Lie rather still because this is the first time I've used this equipment.”

“As the situation developed, the futility of attempting suicide in the middle of a hospital became apparent.”

“Dear Government... I'm going to have a serious talk with you if I ever find anyone to talk to.”

“But intelligence officers never really retire, they just slip into the shadows.”

“Her absence had felt like torture--almost a form of personal punishment. He had nobody to discuss his feelings with, and for the first time he realised with appalling clarity what a destructive hold she had over him.”

“Much stronger boys in her class soon learned that it could be quite unpleasant to fight with that skinny girl. Unlike other girls in the class, she never backed down, and she would not for a second hesitate to use her fists or any weapon at hand to protect herself. She went around with the attitude that she would rather be beaten to death than take any shit.”

“He's a moron," Blomkvist said. Vanger laughed, but he said: "That may be. But he's not the one who was sentenced by the court.”

“Mikael had rarely managed to surprise Berger. This time she was silent for nearly ten seconds.”

“Mimi was massaging Salander's back and neck. She had been kneading intently for 20 minutes while Salander mainly enjoyed herself and uttered an occasional groan of pleasure. A massage from Mimi was a fantastic experience, and she felt like a kitten who just wanted to purr and wave its paws around.”

“Men could be as big as a house and made of granite, but they all had balls in the same place.”

“What an excellent tool the internet is for freaks.”

“Salander assessed the situation and saw that it was anything but under control. Her brain was working at high speed. Click, click, click.”

“I have already established an elite body called The Knights of the Idiotic Table. We will be holding an annual dinner at which we'll have fun talking crap about you. No, you're not invited.”

“their relationship was built on friendship, and in matters of friendship he was boundlessly loyal. It was a relationship that would survive the harshest test.”

“She had doll-like, almost delicate limbs, small hands, and hardly any hips.But she now had breasts.All her life she had been flat-chested, as if she had never reached puberty. She thought it had looked ridiculous, and she was always uncomfortable showing herself naked.Now, all of a sudden, she had breasts. They were by no means gigantic - that was not what she had wanted, and they would have looked ridiculous on her otherwise skinny body - but they were two solid, round breasts of medium size. The enlargements had been well done, and the proportions were reasonable. But the difference was dramatic.”

“A journalist finds out things by asking questions of people who know.”

“I believe that everyone has it in them to kill another person. In desperation, or hatred, or at least to defend themselves.”

“His attitude had always been that if a woman clearly indicated that she did not want anything more to do with him, he would go on his way. Not respecting such a message would in his eyes, show a lack of respect for her.”

“The Stock Exchange is something very different. There is no economy and no production of goods and services. There are only fantasies in which people from one hour to the next decide that this or that company is worth so many billions, more or less. It doesn't have a thing to do with reality or with the Swedish economy.”

“It doesn't matter how good the enemy's weapons are. If he can't see you, he can't hit you. Cover, cover, cover. Make sure you're never exposed.”

“It would be deplorable if the special interests had the power to silence those voices in the media that they find uncomfortable.”

“When I find the motherfucker who tortured an innocent cat to death just to send us a warning, I'm going to clobber him with a baseball bat”

“To Sally, who showed me the benefits of the sport of golf.”

“Impulsive actions led to trouble, and trouble could have unpleasant consequences.”

“Those pointless equations, to which no solution exists, are called absurdities.”

“What do you need me for? Salander's greatest fear, which was so huge and so black that it was of phobic proportions, was that people would laugh at her feelings. And all of a sudden all her carefully constructed self-confidence seemed to crumble.”

“As a girl, she was a legal prey, especially if she was dressed in a worn black leather jacket and had pierced eyebrows, tattoos, and zero social status.”

“Taking away a person's control of her own life - meaning her bank account - is one of the greatest infringements a democracy can impose, especially when it applies to young people. It is an infringement even if the intent may be perceived as benign and socially valid.”

“Being a homicide detective can be the loneliest job in the world. The friends of the victim are upset and in despair, but sooner or later - after weeks or months - they go back to their everyday lives. For the closest family it takes longer, but for the most part, to some degree, they too get over the grieving and despair. Life has to go on; it does go on. But the unsolved murders keep gnawing away and in the end there's only one person left who thinks night and day about the victim: it's the office who is left with the investigation.”