More on this book
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Lycurgus, Numa, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, all these great rogues, all these great thought-tyrants, knew how to associate the divinities they fabricated with their own boundless ambition. —DONATIEN-ALPHONSE-FRANÇOIS, MARQUIS DE SADE
religion is deliberately misused as a label for greedy sons of bitches whose real objective is wealth and power.
David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, Eric Van Lustbader, Martin Hanler—authors of that stripe.
A perfect martini should be stirred gently for thirty seconds, then chilled properly and served stingingly dry and cold.
That’s the trouble with the Internet—there are too many ways to create and maintain anonymity.
“I am the King of War. No gun is fired, no border crossed, no weapons bought or sold but that I am involved. War and the threat of war cultivate commerce and cause innovation to advance by leaps and bounds. War evolves our society and defines our species.”
“I am the King of Lies. Truth is the clay in my hands, and information is the most potent force on earth. Nations rise and fall on what is said and what is believed. A whisper in the ear, a story leaked to the press, a piece of information seeded to an intelligence analyst can change the course of world events.”
“I am the King of Famine. The need for food is a universal constant, and no one takes a bite or lets water pass their lips unless I allow it. Fortunes are made from plenty as they are from want. I am both plenty and want.”
“I am the King of Gold. Money is the blood of this world. The lack of it destroys people and tears kings from thrones; the excess of it corrupts saints. World economies are mine to bend and twist and crush.”
“I am the King of Thieves. My weapons are stocks and banks and loans and the flow of debt between peoples and...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“I am the King of Fear. When a bomb goes off, it has my kiss upon it. Terror stirs the pot of chaos, and in chaos the Seven Kings thrive. I arm the faithful and the fanatical. I allow the disenfranchised a v...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“Hate crimes are mucho profitable. They impact stocks, they shift populations, they influence elections—and there are profits to be taken at every step of that.”
“America has been a crucial element in Middle East politics since the British withdrew in 1971. Despite all of the hate and criticism leveled against them, intelligent people on all sides of the issue know that they are a positive influence on the stability of the region. If their credibility were so badly damaged that they could no longer adequately play their role, then there would be a regional crisis that would cause oil prices to skyrocket. We saw some of that in 2006 and ’7 when Americans were paying over four dollars a gallon to keep their SUVs on the road. Go back in time and you can
...more
“The Inner Circle doesn’t have the same kind of control over this president, which is why they are trying to weaken him and discredit his accomplishments. Once he’s out, they’ll put another one of their mannequins in the White House.”
“None of us have any particular anger toward any religion or ethnic group; however, we agree that hate crimes are good for business. Our business,” said Lies. “Our campaign is being driven through systematic disinformation on the Internet, and through bribes and donations to certain extremist groups who lack only funding and a kick in the backside in order to act.”
The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments’ plans. —BENJAMIN DISRAELI
“That’s the nature of a terrorist organization. They’re more like an online virtual community. They don’t physically exist in any one place. There are some here, some there, … and most of them don’t even know each other. Not on a real level.”
“So the Ten Plagues was a pissing contest?” “I’m not sure biblical scholars would agree with that interpretation. It was supposed to prove the power of the One God over the many gods of Egypt.”
Circe had shooter’s calluses. She had to have prepared for this moment. That preparation saved lives, but you absolutely cannot fully prepare a person for the reality of having ended a human life. But the fact that it appalled Circe was proof of a heart and mind that was not already inured to basic humanity or corrupted by a disregard for the sanctity of all life.
Then someone bent close and used the flame to light their candle. And others did, and more, sharing out the light so that it spread. Slowly and sporadically, but steadily. An infection of light that did not defeat the darkness—the darkness was too big, too vast, too powerful to ever be completely destroyed—but for now, for this moment, those tiny flames conspired together to drive the darkness back.
