The Leopard Quotes

“I think it's possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you've realized something, it's too late.”
― Jo Nesbø, Panserhjerte

“no one is as they seem, and most of life, apart from honest betrayal, is lies and deceit. And the day we discover we are no different is the day we no longer want to live.”
― Jo Nesbø, Panserhjerte

“Incidentally, I really agree with those who say that the capacity to forgive says something about the essential quality of a person. I'm the lowest grade.'
'I didn't mean to criticize you.'
'I promise to be better in my next life...”
― Jo Nesbø, Panserhjerte

“...'I've never told you this, but when you were in your teens one of your teachers called us. He said you'd been fighting in the playground again. With two of the boys from the grade above, but this time it hadn't turned out so well--they'd had to send you to the hospital to have your lip sewn and a tooth taken out. I stopped your allowance, remember? Anyway, Øystein told me about the fight later. You flew at them because they'd filled Tresko's knapsack with water from the school fountain. If I remember correctly, you didn't even like Tresko much. Øystein said the reason you'd been hurt so badly was that you didn't give in. You got up time after time and in the end you were bleeding so much that the big boys became alarmed and went on their way.'
Olav Hole laughed quietly. 'I didn't think I could tell you that at the time--it would only have been asking for more fights--but I was so proud I could have wept. You were brave, Harry. You were scared of the dark, but that didn't stop you going there.'...”
― Jo Nesbø, Panserhjerte

“No, of love. It’s the same currency. Everything starts with love. Hatred is just the other side of the coin.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“I promise to be better in my next life,”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Physical pain is not the worst thing a human has to deal with,” Altman said. “Believe me, I see it every day. Not death, either. Nor even fear of death.” “What is the worst, then?” “Humiliation. To be deprived of honor and dignity. To be disrobed, to be cast out by the flock. That’s the worst punishment; it’s akin to being buried alive. And the only consolation is that the person will perish fairly quickly.” “Mm.” Harry kept eye contact with Altman. “You don’t have anything in that cupboard to lighten the atmosphere,”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“That was what life was: a process of destruction, a disintegration from what at the outset was perfect. The only suspense involved was whether we would be destroyed in one sudden act or slowly.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Physical pain is not the worst thing a human has to deal with,” Altman said. “Believe me, I see it every day. Not death, either. Nor even fear of death.” “What is the worst, then?” “Humiliation. To be deprived of honor and dignity. To be disrobed, to be cast out by the flock. That’s the worst punishment; it’s akin to being buried alive.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Мы верим, потому что хотим верить. В богов, потому что это заглушает страх смерти. В любовь, потому что это скрашивает наши представления о жизни. В слова женатых мужчин, потому что их говорят женатые мужчины”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“»Stimmt«, sagte Harry. »Du hast gewonnen.«
»Fehlt dir dein Mittelfinger?«
»In diesem Augenblick, ja.«”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Haris kažką numykė apie savo nevikrumą ir ėmė galvoti, kada vaikai užauga ir ima saugoti tėvus nuo tikrovės. Padarė išvadą, kad sulaukę maždaug dešimties.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“- Я просто развалился на куски.
Хаген вздохнул:
- Соберём.
- Beyond repair, - парировал Харри.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Kan du tenke deg hvordan det er å ligge aleine og tenke at akkurat nå blir could-have-been-kona di knulla på en kontorpult, se for deg ei lusekofte med ei naken, hvit bonderompe under som jobber på, helt til den stopper og liksom suger inn rompekinna og typen gauler: EG KJEM!”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“<<...η ικανότητα ενός ανθρώπου να συγχωρεί λέει κάτι για την ποιότητα του ανθρώπου.>>”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“...η ικανότητα ενός ανθρώπου να συγχωρεί λέει κάτι για την ποιότητα του ανθρώπου.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Let’s say that even those who believe themselves to be homeless occasionally discover that they have a home. A place where you could imagine being buried one day.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“rapture of the deep”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“I think it’s possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you’ve realized something, it’s too late. For example, someone one you love might ask you for a favor, an act of love. Like helping him die. Which you say no to because you haven’t learned, you haven’t had the insight. When you do finally see the light, it’s too late. - Harry Hole”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Injustice is like the weather. If you can’t live with it, move. Injustice is not part of the systems’s machinery. It is the machinery. - Sigurd Altman”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Friendship means nothing to a man if he has a tempting enough offer.- Harry Hole”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Surveys proved that people had less confidence in overweight public figures, who were subconsciously perceived to be lacking in self-control.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“It often strikes me how I ought to wish I had more regrets,” Øystein said. “But I don’t give a shit. I think I just accepted from my first waking second that I was an asshole. What about you?”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Because pain and death are not the worst that can befall mankind,” Harry said, again hearing the echo. “Humiliation is. That was what he wanted for Leike. The humiliation of having everything you possess taken from you. The fall, the shame.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Light, expensive and yet spartan in that cool modern way that is not intentionally minimalist, just somewhat soulless. A room that demands efficiency so that you can get the hell out of it.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“You are Bellman, aren’t you? The genius who sent the sauna ape after me?” Harry nodded toward the Finn.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Harry shrugged. “I think it’s possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you’ve realized something, it’s too late.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten. “We want to do things that are complex, that mesh, where we control our fates and can feel like rulers of our own universes.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“Rikshospital. He was in the rhythm now. Time was not chopped up by events; it flowed in an even stream.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard

“-¿Has bebido, Harry?
—¿Quieres oírlo?
—Tu abuelo bebía. Yo lo quería mucho. Borracho o sobrio. No hay mucha gente que pueda decir lo mismo de un padre borracho. No, no quiero oírlo.
—Ya.
—Y lo mismo puedo decir de ti. Te quiero. Siempre. Borracho o sobrio. Ni siquiera ha sido difícil. Aunque eras muy combativo. Te enfrentabas a la mayoría, incluido tú mismo. Pero quererte es lo más fácil que he hecho en la vida, Harry.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Leopard