Dan Brown > Quotes

“Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths … all faiths … are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Google' is not a synonym for 'research'.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer.”
― Dan Brown, Digital Fortress

“Everyone loves a conspiracy.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time."
Faukman's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail."
"I was referring to the Bible."
Faukman cringed. "I knew that.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“History 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?”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.”
― Dan Brown, Deception Point

“Faith - Acceptance of which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Great minds are always feared by lesser minds.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“God answers all prayers, but sometimes his answer is 'no'.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven…The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“The only difference between you and God is that you have forgotten you are divine”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“You are confused because the Bible describes God as an omnipotent and benevolent deity…Omnipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning.”
I understand the concept. It’s just…there seems to be a contradiction.”
Yes. The contradiction is pain. Man’s starvation, war, sickness…”
Exactly!” Chartrand knew the camerlengo would understand. “Terrible things happen in this world. Human tragedy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. If He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn’t He?”
The Camerlengo frowned. “Would He?”
Chartrand felt uneasy. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was this one of those religious questions you just didn’t ask? “Well…if God loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either omnipotent and uncaring, or benevolent and powerless to help.”
Do you have children, Lieutenant?”
Chartrand flushed. “No, signore.”
Imagine you had an eight-year-old son…would you love him?”
Of course.”
Would you let him skateboard?”
Chartrand did a double take. The camerlengo always seemed oddly “in touch” for a clergyman. “Yeah, I guess,” Chartrand said. “Sure, I’d let him skateboard, but I’d tell him to be careful.”
So as this child’s father, you would give him some basic, good advice and then let him go off and make his own mistakes?”
I wouldn’t run behind him and mollycoddle him if that’s what you mean.”
But what if he fell and skinned his knee?”
He would learn to be more careful.”
The camerlengo smiled. “So although you have the power to interfere and prevent your child’s pain, you would choose to show your love by letting him learn his own lessons?”
Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It’s how we learn.”
The camerlengo nodded. “Exactly.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Religion is like language or dress. We gravitate toward the practices with which we were raised. In the end, though, we are all proclaiming the same thing. That life has meaning. That we are grateful for the power that created us.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.”
― Dan Brown

“Telling someone about what a symbol means is like telling someone how music should make them feel.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“God, grant me strength to accept those things I cannot change.”
― Dan Brown

“Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Our minds sometimes see what our hearts wish were true.”
― Dan Brown

“The power of human thought grows exponentially with the number of minds that share that thought.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Small minds have always lashed out at what they don't understand.”
― Dan Brown

“Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Knowledge grows exponentially. The more we know, the greater our ability to learn, and the faster we expand our knowledge base.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Every faith in the world is based on fabrication... Every religion describes God through metaphor, allegory, and exaggeration, from the early Egyptians through modern Sunday school... Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“Time is a river...and books are boats. Many volumes start down that stream, only to be wrecked and lost beyond recall in its sands. Only a few, a very few, endure the testings of time and live to bless the ages following.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Professor Langdon,' called a young man with curly hair in the back row, 'if Masonry is not a secret society, not a corporation, and not a religion, then what is it?'
'Well, if you were to ask a Mason, he would offer the following definition: Masonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.'
'Sounds to me like a euphemism for "freaky cult." '
'Freaky, you say?'
'Hell yes!' the kid said, standing up. 'I heard what they do inside those secret buildings! Weird candlelight rituals with coffins, and nooses, and drinking wine out of skulls. Now that's freaky!'
Langdon scanned the class. 'Does that sound freaky to anyone else?'
'Yes!' they all chimed in.
Langdon feigned a sad sigh. 'Too bad. If that's too freaky for you, then I know you'll never want to join my cult.'
Silence settled over the room. The student from the Women's Center looked uneasy. 'You're in a cult?'
Langdon nodded and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. 'Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh.'
The class looked horrified.
Langdon shrugged. 'And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion.'
The classroom remained silent.
Langdon winked. 'Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Pain is a part of growing-up. It is how we learn..”
― Dan Brown

“The media is the right arm of anarchy.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Nothing in Christianity is original.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“My lawyers will fricassee your testicles for breakfast. And if you dare board my plane without a warrant, your spleen will follow.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an 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.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“No good deed goes unpunished.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history? ”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Truth has power. And if we all gravitate toward similar ideas, maybe we do so because those ideas are true...written deep within us. And when we hear the truth, even if we don't understand it, we feel that truth resonate within us...vibrating with our unconscious wisdom. Perhaps the truth is not learned by us, but rather, the truth is re-called...re-membered...-re-cognized...as that which is already inside us.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Forgiveness is God's greatest gift”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“It seemed there was always a close correlation between true believers and high body counts.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Imagine how different a world might be if more leaders took time to ponder the finality of death before racing off to war.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Time is a river, and books are boats.”
― Dan Brown

“Sometimes, divine revelation simply means adjusting your brain to hear what your heart already knows."
Angels and Demons p. 484”
― Dan Brown

“What really matters is what you believe.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“Darkness feeds on apathy.”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“the strange ideas we derive today will one day be our celebrated truths”
― Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“Seek the goodness, become the goodness.D”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons

“Fear cripples faster than any implement of war.”
― Dan Brown, Angels and Demons