The Institute Quotes

“Great events turn on small hinges.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“He wanted to tell Luke that he loved him. But there were no words, and maybe no need of them. Or telepathy. Sometimes a hug was telepathy.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“this life we think we’re living isn’t real. It’s just a shadow play, and I for one will be glad when the lights go out on it. In the dark, all the shadows disappear.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“It came to him, with the force of a revelation, that you had to have been imprisoned to fully understand what freedom was.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Between midnight and four, everyone should have permission to speak freely.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“It was so simple, but it was a revelation: what you did for yourself was what gave you the power.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“He was only twelve, and understood that his experience of the world was limited, but one thing he was quite sure of: when someone said trust me, they were usually lying through their teeth.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Back in the main corridor—what Luke now understood to be the residents’ wing—the little girls, Gerda and Greta, were standing and watching with wide, frightened eyes. They were holding hands and clutching dolls as identical as they were. They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“There was an abyss. And books contained magical incantations to raise what was hidden there, all the great mysteries.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“.. .what is the mother of carelessness if not assumption?”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“If I may borrow from George R. R. Martin, she is my sun and stars.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Sane people don't sacrifice children on the altar of probability. That's not science, it's superstition.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Don’t say things that invite sorrow,”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Try not to think of a polar bear, Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said, and you will see the cursed thing come to mind every minute.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“losers so dumb that they mistook wrapping themselves in the chains of addiction as an act of rebellion.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“There were other people here with at least some shreds of decency left, but working in a place like this destroyed your moral compass.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Trump and his cronies took it all back. They understand culture no more than a donkey understands algebra.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“There’s a town in Maine, Jerusalem’s Lot, and you could ask the people who lived there about the men in the black cars.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“It came to him (and with the force of a revelation) that life was basically one long SAT test, and instead of four or five choices, you got dozens.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Around and around it went, and what was round had no point, any fool knew that.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Love don't die with the earthly body, son. It's a purely ridiculous notion.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“He had no psychic powers, but there was one power he did have: he was the grownup. The adult.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Seventy years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by atomic bombs, the world is still here even though many nations have atomic weapons, even though primitive human emotions still hold sway over rational thought and superstition masquerading as religion still guides the course of human politics.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“You know, Jamieson, this life we think we’re living isn’t real. It’s just a shadow play, and I for one will be glad when the lights go out on it. In the dark, all the shadows disappear.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Almost an hour after Julia’s last contact—much too long—Stackhouse’s box phone lit up and began to buzz. He grabbed it. “Have you got him, Julia?” The voice that replied was so astounding that Stackhouse almost dropped the phone. “No,” Luke Ellis said, “you’ve got it backward.” Stackhouse could hear undeniable satisfaction in the little shit’s voice. “We’ve got her.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Orphan Annie stood her ground. She had been raised that way in the Georgia canebrakes by a father who told her, “You don’t back down, girl, not for nothin.” Jean Ledoux had been a crack shot whether drunk or sober, and he had taught her well. Now she opened fire with both of Drummer’s handguns, compensating for the .45 auto’s heavier recoil without even thinking about it.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“As his father liked to say, it was good to have goals. They could bring you through tough times.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“It wasn't very nice, but the truth seldom was.”
― Stephen King, The Institute

“Luke Ellis was the guy who went out of his way to be social so people wouldn’t think he was a weirdo as well as a brainiac. He checked all the correct interaction boxes and then went back to his books. Because there was an abyss, and books contained magical incantations to raise what was hidden there: all the great mysteries. For Luke, those mysteries mattered. Someday, in the future, he might write books of his own.”
― Stephen King, The Institute