Jeff > Jeff's Quotes

“When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching -- they are your family. ”
― Jim Butcher

“Evil isn’t the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it’s a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference.”
― Jim Butcher, Vignette

“You can’t win unless you try to win, but you can lose by trying not to lose.”
― Jack Campbell, Relentless

“I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad.”
― Jack Campbell, Dauntless

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes...you're Doing Something.”
― Neil Gaiman

“Security is not a license for people in authority to hide the tactics they would never openly admit to using.”
― Jack Campbell, Invincible

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange.
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never could.”
― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

“There are things we don't do. From this moment forth, let us all ensure our every action reflects well on us and our ancestors. Let us live to the highest standards, lest we win this war only to find ourselves staring in the mirror at the face of our late enemy.”
― Jack Campbell, Dauntless

“Here's a quick rule of thumb: Don't annoy science fiction writers. These are people who destroy entire planets before lunch. Think of what they'll do to you.”
― John Scalzi

“If you want me to treat your ideas with more respect, get some better ideas.”
― John Scalzi, Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded

“Humanity's gift to the universe. Duct Tape.”
― Jack Campbell, Invincible

“I have a scholar's love of silence and solitude. To sit and pass hour after hour in idle chatter with a roomful of strangers is to me the worst sort of torment.”
― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

“Sleep is God. Go worship.”
― Jim Butcher, Death Masks

“You're in America now," I said. "Our idea of diplomacy is showing up with a gun in one hand and a sandwich in the other and asking which you'd prefer.”
― Jim Butcher, Turn Coat

“I died. I died and someone made a clerical error and I am in Heaven.”
― jim butcher, Summer Knight

“Reality is like a fruitcake; pretty enough to look at but with all sorts of nasty things lurking just beneath the surface.”
― A. Lee Martinez, Gil's All Fright Diner

“The clever people at CERN are smashing particles together in the hope that Doctor Who will turn up and tell them to stop”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho

“We can learn from history, but we can also deceive ourselves when we selectively take evidence from the past to justify what we have already made up our minds to do.”
― Margaret MacMillan

“The memory of being shot by a woman pretty much kills any sexual urge you have toward her. And if it doesn't, you have issues.”
― Steve McHugh, Crimes Against Magic

“Whoever said ignorance is bliss must have died a horrible death with a really surprised look on his face.”
― Lisa Shearin, Armed & Magical

“Sometimes I hated it when I was right, but I always hated it when someone else was. Especially when their being right made me wrong. I’m irrational that way. It’s something I’m working on.”
― Lisa Shearin, Magic Lost, Trouble Found

“I wouldn't be comfortable, but at least I'd have marginal protection against pointy steel objects that went stab in the night.”
― Lisa Shearin, Magic Lost, Trouble Found

“He remembered the moment when his thoughts had inverted themselves—that shift from not being able to please everyone to not trying—and the way that change had enabled him to see past the maneuverings and histrionics of the representatives to the deeper structures of the problem; it was the same with the Corazhas.”
― Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor

“For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time. Still, it was a close call.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho

“Conflict resolution,' said Nightingale. 'Is this what they teach at Hendon these days?'
'Yes, sir,' I said. 'But don't worry, they also teach us how to beat people with phone books and the ten best ways to plant evidence.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot

“The motto of West African cooking is that if the food doesn't set fire to the tablecloth the cook is being stingy with the pepper.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot

“What's the biggest thing you've zapped with a fireball?' I asked.
'That would be a tiger,'said Nightingale.
'Well don't tell Greenpeace,' I said. 'They're an endagered species.'
'Not that sort of tiger,' said Nightingale. 'A Panzer-kampfwagen sechs Ausf E.'
I stared at him. 'You knocked out a Tiger tank with a fireball?'
'Actually I knocked out two,' said Nightingale. 'I have to admit that the first one took three shots, one to disable the tracks, one through the driver's eye slot and one down the commander's hatch - brewed up rather nicely.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho

“It’s a truism in policing that witnesses and statements are fine, but nothing beats empirical physical evidence. Actually it isn’t a truism because most policemen think the word ‘empirical’ is something to do with Darth Vader, but it damn well should be.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho

“Zap,’ I said. ‘That’s the technical term for it, is it? What do you call someone who’s been zapped?’

‘Mr. Crispy,’ said Kumar.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Whispers Under Ground

“Sig is like that. She tends to have an “it takes a village” attitude toward monster hunting. I have mostly hunted supernatural predators alone, partly because I had no choice and partly because I’m an idiot.”
― Elliott James, Fearless