“But those who read thrillers are an impatient race. They chafe at scenic rhapsodies and want to get on to the rough stuff.”

“Scholars are those who have read in books, but thinkers, men of genius, world-enlighteners, and reformers of the human race are those who have read directly in the book of the world.”

“The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.”

“I just know that there are plenty of people who are in terrible trouble and can't get out. And so I'm impatient with those who think that it's easy for people to get out of trouble.”

“I write thrillers for the same reason that people read them – it's escapism.”

“I'm equally sure, however, that I won't walk into a lamp-post while reading {literature}, like I did with {a legal thriller} all those years ago; you don't walk into lamp-posts when you're reading literary novels, do you?”