Run Away Quotes

“There are virtually no major life decisions you make that are not in some way based on your finances.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Most religious people don’t believe the dogma, Ash. We take from it what we want, we discard what we don’t. We form whatever narrative we like—kind God, vengeful God, active God, laid-back God, whatever. We just make sure we get something out of it. Maybe we get life everlasting while people we resent burn for eternity. Maybe we get something more concrete—money, a job, friends. You just change the narrative.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Perception is often more important than reality.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Love your parents - while we are busy growing up, they are growing old.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“He didn’t believe in karma, but then again there was no reason to poke karma in the ribs.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Paige has to come to it on her own. Don’t you see that? I didn’t ‘let her go’”—Ingrid spat out the words—“because I don’t love her anymore. I let her go because she’s gone—and we can’t bring her back. Do you hear me? We can’t. Only she can.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“and then every once in a while, you remember to pull up and look at your partner, your life partner, really look at the one who travels down the lonely road right by your side, and you realize how much you are in this together.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Terrific," Simon said. "The psychos are on my side.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“God, grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, The COURAGE to change the things I can, The WISDOM to know the difference.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“A tip jar read: FEAR CHANGE. LEAVE IT WITH US.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“He loved her. She loved him. Simple but there you have it. You have careers and you raise kids and there are victories and defeats and you just sort of coast along, living your life, the days long. The years short, and then every once in a while, you remember to pull up and look at your partner, your life partner, really look at the one who travels down the lonely road right by your side, and you realize how much you are in this together.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Facts don't care about your feelings.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“And bad stays. Bad doesn’t go away. You bury bad, it digs itself out. You throw bad in the middle of the ocean, it comes back at you like a tidal wave.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“hand”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“In the end, she had discovered, as she put it, that searching the whole world just makes you find home.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Dee Dee always strode with her head high, her shoulders back, the definition of confidence. Now she was bent over, eyes lowered, her whole persona subservient. The transformation startled him. And pissed him off. Dee Dee has left the building, Ash said to himself. Holly is here now.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“here, Rocco.” “Just stay put,” Rocco”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Pooh-pooh it all you want. Money may not buy happiness, but…well, nonsense. Money, pretty much more than anything else you might be able to control, can conjure up and elevate that elusive ideal we call happiness. Money eases stress. It provides better education, better food, better doctors—some level of peace of mind. Money provides comfort and freedom. Money buys you experiences and conveniences and most of all, money buys you time, which, Simon had realized, was right up there with family and health. If you believe that—and even if you don’t—the person you chose to handle your finances was up there with choosing a doctor or clergyman, though Simon would argue that your wealth manager was even more involved in your daily life. You work hard. You save. You plan. There are virtually no major life decisions you make that are not in some way based on your finances. It was an awesome responsibility when you stepped back and thought about it.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“They say time slows down at times of great danger, almost like Neo being able to see and dodge bullets in The Matrix. That was just an illusion, of course. Time is constant. But Simon remembered reading that this particular time illusion was caused by how we store memory. The richer and denser the memory of an event—for example, during moments when you are terrified—the longer you perceive that event lasted. This phenomenon also explains why time seems to go faster as you age. When you’re a child, experiences are new and so your memories are fresh and intense—so again time seems to slow down. As you grow older, especially when you are stuck in a routine, very few new or vibrant memories are being laid and so time flies by. That’s why when a child looks back on summer, it seemed to last forever. For adults, it’s barely a blink.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“They heard a door nearby open. Dee Dee moved fast. She dropped her weapon onto the mattress, stepped outside, and closed what was left of the door behind her. A man had exited his apartment. He wore earbuds with music turned up so loud, Dee Dee could hear it from fifteen feet away. He was near the stairs, almost ready to start heading down, and he hadn’t seen her yet. She stayed frozen, hoping that he wouldn’t turn toward her. But he did. When the man saw her, he pulled out his earbuds. Dee Dee rewarded him with her full-wattage smile. “Hello,” she said, almost making this simple greeting a double entendre. “I’m looking for Cornelius.” “Wrong floor.” “Oh?” “Cornelius is on the second floor. Apartment B.” “Silly me.” “Yeah.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Rocco was the kind of gigantic it was hard to fathom, so that each time you saw him, you were struck anew by the sheer size of him. When he strolled around Cornelius’s apartment, Simon half expected to hear fee-fie-fo-fum à la “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Good time to fill me in,” Cornelius said. So he did. “That’s messed up,” Cornelius said when he finished. “Yup.” Then: “Why did you help us, Cornelius?” “Why not?” “I’m serious.” “So am I. Not a lot of chances to be a hero in real life. You got to step up when the opportunity presents itself.” Cornelius shrugged as if to emphasize it was a no-brainer and that simple, and Simon believed that maybe it was.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Simon collapsed into a seat on the subway. He stared out the window across the car without focusing, letting the underground whiz by in a hazy blur. He tried to comprehend what he’d just learned. Nothing made sense. He’d gotten more pieces to the puzzle, important pieces, perhaps even an explanation of what had started his daughter’s spiral into drug addiction. But the more pieces he got, the less clear the final image was becoming.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Elena actually put up a calming hand, which of course made no sense when you’re on the phone. “Okay, sure, I see.” “They’re watching you. They’re watching us.” The woman sounded more than a little paranoid, but then again, at least three people were dead.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“People say college opens the world to you. In some ways, of course, that’s true. But for the most part, it does the opposite. You come in thinking you can do anything when you leave. Your options are endless. Point of fact though, your options dwindle every day you’re here. By the time you graduate, again, reality has splash-landed.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Dee Dee stood next to Ash, hands clasped, eyes lowered as though in prayer. The two brothers did the same. In the corner, two gray-uniformed women quietly sobbed in unison, almost as if they’d been ordered to provide a soundtrack for the scene. Only the Truth kept his eyes open and up. He lay in the middle of the bed adorned in some kind of white tunic. His gray beard was long, so too his hair. He looked like a Renaissance depiction of God, like the creation panel in the Sistine Chapel that Ash had first seen in a book in the school library. That image always fascinated him, the idea of God touching Adam, as though hitting the On switch for mankind.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“It’s okay,” Dee Dee said in the soothing voice of something still confusingly celestial. “Just stay still.” He glanced past her as he swam back to full consciousness. Yep, he was still in the cult compound. The decor in the room was closer to nonexistent than austere. Nothing on the walls, no furniture in view. The walls were that same inescapable gray.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“A tip jar read, FEAR CHANGE—LEAVE IT WITH US. Elena liked that. She handed the woman her business card with her private numbers on it. The woman picked it up and started reading it.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“This was all a tremendous long shot. The Hope Faith Adoption Agency was located in a small office complex behind an Applebee’s on Roosevelt Trail. The owner, a man covered in untamed gray hair and named Maish Isaacson, greeted her with a nervous smile and a dead-fish handshake. He wore stylish tortoise-frame glasses and an unruly beard. “I don’t see how I can help,” Isaacson said for the third time.”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away

“Simon gave her a blank look. “Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Elena said, waving it away. “The important thing is, Lou is still searching for names. I also have my office looking into Aaron Corval’s background—his birth certificate, anything—so we can get a handle on that. Which brings me to the big thing.” Elena stopped and let loose a deep breath. “What?” he said. “I found another connection.” There was something odd in her voice. “Between all of them?”
― Harlan Coben, Run Away