“The secret of contentment is never to allow yourself to want anything which reason tells you you haven't a chance of getting.”

“What do you mean by sound government?'Good public order, no corruption in high places, freedom from fear and war and crime, a reasonably equitable distribution of wealth and resources, concern for the individual life.'Then we haven't got sound government.”

“It shows considerable wisdom to know what you want in life and then to direct all your energies towards getting it.”

“I don't want anyone to look to me, not for protection, not for happiness, not for love, not for anything.”

“Feel, he told himself, feel, feel, feel. Even if what you feel is pain, only let yourself feel.”

“He didn't want her; he wanted me. Well, you know how it is."Dalgliesh did know. This, after all, was the commonest, the most banal of personal tragedies. You loved someone. They didn't love you. Worse still, in defiance of their own best interests and to the destruction of your peace, they loved another. What would half the world's poets and novelists do without this universal tragicomedy?”

“For heaven's sake, Darling, keep your crusading instinct [for social justice] under control...It's uncomfortable to live with especially for those of us who haven't got one.”