Blindside Quotes

“If you don’t get something out of your job other than money, what’s the point?”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“add that technically it was medicine. It was just that people like him had ruined a useful tool for people in pain. I said, “You know anything that could help me find this Tight?” Flash shook his head. We stood in an awkward silence until he said, “Ain’t you goin’ to ask me about the kid you shot? Ronald Timmons Junior?” “Nope. Separate investigation. I’m just a subject in that one.” “The Reverend Caldwell sees it different. He’s got everyone in the Bronx”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“The one thing in the world that can screw up a good education, derail career plans, and generally mess with your head: love.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“I still had hope. That was the key to a happy life.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“I liked a radical, no matter who he worked for. Radicals tended to make life more interesting.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Sometimes I’m dramatic even to myself.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“as a collector for a loan shark. Christoph’s mother had believed her husband’s lie, that he was an accountant for a private equity firm. The gullible tend to be the happiest.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Christoph knew this deception would work because for twenty-five years his father had worked”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“If a shepherd cares for one hundred sheep and one wanders off, will he not leave the other ninety-nine to look for that one?”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Elmore Leonard, and a newer author named Mark Greaney. Can’t get enough of either of them.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Experience is a tricky thing. You never realize how important it is until you gain it. The ultimate catch-22.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“The entire amount was wired here from Danske Bank in Tallinn, Estonia”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“When you allow for too much choice, it always leads to some form of chaos.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Her grandmother had always told her that men who bragged were hiding their flaws.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“needed a woman to show him how to groom. That’s what she always thought about men with ponytails or man buns.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“As we held a hug for a few seconds, I felt the missing Brian like a physical pain. It made me think about a verse from Matthew. I could just get it roughly right in my head. “If a shepherd cares for one hundred sheep and one wanders off, will he not leave the other ninety-nine to look for that one?” Now that verse made more sense than ever before.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“I caught the attention of the bartender. He was older than I’d thought. Maybe in his early seventies. But he looked good. Like an in-shape grandpa. I said, “Can I grab my bill?” He shook his head. “You don’t get a bill. Thank you for your service.” Holy cow, did I need to hear something like that about now. I laid a ten-dollar tip on the bar. I was a little choked up and couldn’t speak. That surprised me. The bartender said, “This too shall pass. That’s what they told me when I came back from Vietnam. No one gave a damn about me. I remember walking through East Harlem in my uniform and someone threw a tomato at me. Another woman called me a baby killer. But they all came around. It may have taken twenty-five years, but people finally understood that we were just doing our duty. You’ll see. The same attitude will come around about cops. In the meantime, stay safe.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Alfred Hanna had slipped into the mayor’s office by the thinnest of margins. Every cop in the city used the term LFP, for little fat prick, to refer to him. I had even heard LFP used on the radio. Since his election, he had managed to piss off virtually all city workers, the Puerto Rican population, Staten Island residents, and even tourists, when he’d referred to a group from Arkansas touring City Hall as “a bunch of rednecks.” Nothing anyone else in the city wouldn’t have said. But the mayor was held to a higher standard. Barely. In short, Alfred Hanna was a true New Yorker.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“You need to understand that life’s not fair. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. You’re like all the other Americans I know. Spoiled. Spoiled and entitled. It’s infuriating. You have never known hardship, so you whine about anything that happens.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Then I heard a voice—a booming, commanding voice. I recognized it immediately. It may not have been God, but it was the best I could hope for right now. It was just a simple “Everyone freeze.” And they did. My lieutenant, Harry Grissom, stepped out of a black, unmarked NYPD Suburban. The tall, lean, twenty-six-year veteran of the force looked like an Old West gunfighter, his mustache creeping along the sides of his mouth. He was toying with the NYPD grooming policy, but so far no one had the balls to say anything to him about it. A gold badge dangled from a chain around his neck. His tan suit had some creases but gave him an air of authority. As if he needed something extra. He kept marching toward the crowd without any hesitation. As he got closer, he said in a very even voice, “What’s the problem here?” The pudgy leader yelled, “He shot an unarmed man.” Someone in the back of the crowd added, “For no reason.” Other people started to crowd in around Harry to tell him why they were so angry. And he listened. At least to the people not shouting obscenities. Harry was an old-school pragmatist. He’d been part of the enforcement effort that helped clean up New York City. He didn’t need to knock heads. He could talk. He engaged the heavyset guy. “Who is an actual eyewitness?” No one answered. Harry kept a calm tone. “What do you say I give you my card and we talk in a couple of days? That way you can see what we find out. The shooting will be investigated thoroughly. Just give it forty-eight hours. Is that too much to ask?” The heavyset man had a hard time ignoring such a reasonable request. He tentatively accepted Harry’s card. The crowd wasn’t nearly as discerning. That’s how it always is. In sports and politics and real life. A rowdy crowd drives the conversation and clouds the issues.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“The captain was almost as tall as me. He wore his dark hair slicked tightly against his scalp. There were definite cliques inside the NYPD. Divisions happen in all large organizations. The simple old Irish-versus-Italian rivalry had given way to a much more complicated system. Ramirez identified strongly with the Hispanic clique and didn’t give a crap if I was Irish, Italian, or black. I wasn’t Hispanic so he didn’t cut me any slack.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“But if you believe in coincidence, you probably shouldn’t be a cop.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Have something serious happen to you, then try to tell an Irish woman not to make a fuss. It would be easier to keep the sun in the sky an extra two hours.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“A mom’s power never really diminishes, no matter how big a child grows.”
― James Patterson, Blindside

“Everyone is an idealist, until the issue affects them. I knew I was going to do what I had to do.”
― James Patterson, Blindside