The Malta Exchange Quotes

“Dictators never accepted failure. They preferred to have their mistakes forgotten, overshadowed with spectacle.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual, but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money. For many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in his name. —POPE FRANCIS I”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“War doesn’t determine who’s right, only who’s left. And that had not been him.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“time was indeed the best teacher. Trouble was, eventually it killed all of its students.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Even Constantine had thought the argument silly, worthy of inexperienced children, not of priests and prelates and reasonable men. He ended the division, proclaiming that Christ was begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“The history books loved to tell of how Constantine saw a vision in the sky, then won a great battle, crediting Christ with his victory. In gratitude, he supposedly converted and proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of the empire. But that was merely half right. Constantine only converted on his deathbed, though even that is open to debate. He spent his life hedging his bets, worshiping”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Constantine the Great summoned the Christian bishops to Nicaea, bringing all of the players to one place for the first time, his terms simple. Agree on a universal—a catholic—church, and the Crown would drape the new religion with great political advantage. Fail to do so and the persecutions would continue. Nobody knew for sure how many clerics heeded the call, but enough that they were able to forge a statement of their beliefs, one that to this day defined what it meant to be Catholic.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Asking a dumb question is far better than doing something dumb. Watch and learn from other people. And never use everything offered to you. Instead, make that knowledge work for you, in your own way.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Interesting how dictators required shows of greatness as a way to prove they were entitled to power. Democratically elected leaders never had such a need since the people themselves vested them with power, and no one expected perfection. In fact, failure could be another stepping-stone to greatness. Dictators never accepted failure. They preferred to have their mistakes forgotten, overshadowed with spectacle.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“True, the pessimist might be right in the long run, but he’d come to know that the optimist had a better time along the way. So he decided to keep an open mind.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Religion is a concept created by humans and long used by humans for political advantage. That’s historical fact.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Like he always said, if flying was so safe, why’d they call the airport a terminal?”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“The crazed Argentine was far more concerned with people worshiping him than protecting the faith.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“you can hire anybody to do anything.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“agreed with Harry Truman. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“blame it all on the devil. Another New Testament creation. A fictitious nemesis upon which all bad things can be laid.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“forgiveness, of course, coming only from one source. The church.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“A womb-to-grave influence over every aspect of a person’s life, each milestone dependent solely on adherence to church doctrine.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“To keep people dependent on the church for their entire lifetime, create more sacraments.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Faith was the death of reason. Faith relied on blind allegiance, without thought, only an unquestioned belief.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Rash thinking always resulted in unsatisfying results.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“didn’t need to wallow with the pigs to know it stunk in the pen.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“It’s a palindrome. Sator. Arepo. Tenet. Opera. Rotas.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Women seemed to marry a man expecting him to change, but he doesn’t. Men marry a woman expecting that she won’t change, but she does.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“A good offense is the best defense.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Hard to get lost on this island, the whole place smaller than back home in Blount County, Tennessee.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Faith was the death of reason. Faith relied on blind allegiance, without thought, only an unquestioned belief. Irrationality seemed the nature of faith, and to institutionalize faith man created religion, which remained one of the oldest and strongest conspiracies ever formed. Look at what they fought about at Nicaea.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“Interesting how dictators required shows of greatness as a way to prove they were entitled to power. Democratically elected leaders never have such a need since the people themselves vested them with power, and no one expected perfection. In fact, failure could be another stepping-stone to greatness. Dictators never accept failure. They preferred to have their mistakes forgotten, overshadowed with spectacle.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange

“He told himself to hurry. Get it done. Indecision was what usually got you. He’d learned that early on from Malone. Be right. Be wrong. Doesn’t matter. Just don’t hesitate.”
― Steve Berry, The Malta Exchange