Uniform Justice Quotes

“Brunetti thought of Parliament in the way most Italians thought of their mothers-in-law. Not due the loyalties created by ties of blood, a mother-in-law still demanded obedience and reverence while never behaving in a manner that would merit either. This alien presence, imposed upon a person’s life by sheerest chance, made ever-increasing demands in return for the vain promise of domestic harmony. Resistance was futile, for opposition inevitably led to repercussions too devious to be foreseen.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“It doesn’t matter what happens to my hearing,’ the boy explained. ‘Doesn’t matter?’ Brunetti asked, utterly at a loss to grasp his meaning. ‘That you go deaf?’ ‘No, not that,’ he answered, paying real attention to Brunetti and apparently now interested in making him understand. ‘It takes a lot of years for something like that to happen. That’s why it doesn’t matter. Like all that Global Warming stuff. Nothing matters if it takes a long time.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“Little that Brunetti had observed during his own undistinguished term of military service or in the decades since then had persuaded him that Paola was wrong. Brunetti realized that not much he had seen could persuade him that the military, either Italian or foreign, was much different from the Mafia: dominated by men and unfriendly to women; incapable of honour or even simple honesty beyond its own ranks; dedicated to the acquisition of power; contemptuous of civil society; violent and cowardly at the same time. No, there was little to distinguish one organization from the other, save that some wore easily recognized uniforms while the other leaned toward Armani and Brioni.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“how he could see his children sitting side by side on the sofa, doing something stupid like watching television, and not feel his bowels churn with terror at the many dangers that would beset their lives.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“His nose brought him back to his senses. As he opened the door to the apartment he was greeted by aromas from the kitchen: something roasting, perhaps pork; and garlic, so pervasive it suggested that an entire field of garlic had been seized and tossed into the oven along with the pork. He hung up his jacket, remembered that he had left his briefcase in his office and shrugged off the thought. He paused at the door to the kitchen, hoping to find his family already seated at the table, but the room was empty, except for the garlic, the odour of which seemed to be coming from a tall pot boiling over a low flame. Devoting his entire attention to the smell, he attempted to remember where he had smelled it before. He knew it was familiar, as a melody is familiar even when a person cannot remember the piece from which it comes. He tried to separate the scents: garlic, tomato, a touch of rosemary, something fishy like clams or shrimp – probably shrimp – and, perhaps, carrots. And the garlic, a universe of garlic. He summoned up the sensation he had experienced in the office, of his spirit being steeped in misery. He breathed deeply, hoping that the garlic would drive the misery out. If it could drive away vampires, then surely it could work its herbal magic against something as banal as misery.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“Brunetti thought of Parliament in the way most Italians thought of their mothers-in-law.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“The Cloud of Unknowing.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“from exerting his full force out of consideration for what it would do to Brunetti’s hand.”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice

“mother-in-law still demanded obedience and reverence while never behaving in a manner that would merit either. This alien presence, imposed upon a person’s life by sheerest chance, made ever-increasing demands in return for the vain promise of domestic harmony. Resistance was futile, for opposition inevitably led to”
― Donna Leon, Uniform Justice