Broken Quotes

“Behavior that was cute when you were in your twenties becomes aggravating in your thirties, pathetic in your forties and tragic in your fifties.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101: “Trust” is a word generally used by convicts and usually in the past tense—i.e., “I trusted him.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“There’s almost always a way out of a wave if you can hold your breath long enough to find it. And if there isn’t . . . Well, you die.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Boone’s been surfing his whole life—literally before he was born, in his mother’s belly—and the one thing he’s learned is that there’s no wave that takes you anywhere but back to who you are.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Boone yells, “Terry, don’t!” Yeah, like Terry, don’t! has ever stopped him. Terry, don’t paddle out into that wave. Terry, don’t do another shot. Terry, don’t shoot smack. Terry Maddux has defined his entire life by defying Terry-don’ts and turning them into Terry-dids, and now he’s calculating the odds of running across the tracks in front of a speeding train and putting it between him and his pursuers.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“It takes money to go off the radar.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“If you love me, you’ll do this for me.” In Duke’s experience, mothers are the worst. They almost always go for this one, or if they start to object, there’s the similar argument, “If you love me, don’t do this to me.” That is, throw him out or turn him in. Girlfriends are the next worst. Generally, they fall into one of two categories: an otherwise straight woman who falls in love with a criminal she thinks she can save from himself, or the woman is herself a criminal—usually a drug addict like the boyfriend—so she’ll hide him out of habit.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Because sometimes you’re broken, broken so bad you don’t know yourself, and then suddenly you do. You’re stronger than you ever were, strong enough to take all that anger and hate and rage and stop the bleeding.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“You’re bluffing.” “I’m Danny McNabb’s brother.” Fidel’s eyes get wide. “Yeah, you recognize the name,” Jimmy says. “You still think I won’t do it?” “I swear,” Fidel says. “I never touched your brother. All I did was hold the camera.” “That’s all you did?” Jimmy asks. “You dumb fuck, I didn’t think you were there.” “I swear!” “Well, if that’s all you did,” Jimmy says, “just tell me where we can find Quintero.” Fidel tells him. Jimmy takes the .25 off the table and shoots Fidel in the head. “Another drug deal gone bad,” Jimmy says. They leave the house. One down.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. —Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“he also thinks it’s true of most people, that the best part of ourselves is trapped inside the worst part of ourselves and just can’t manage to get out.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“There are no humanitarians in cages,”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Now he’s standing beside five other cops watching the chimp climb up the wall of the Museum of Man. That’s what I need tonight, Chris thinks, a chimp with a firearm and a sense of irony.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101, Davis thinks. Always do what Steve McQueen would do.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101: There’s a word for a man who believes in coincidence: the defendant.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101: Laws are made to be broken, with rules that are made to be followed.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“No one knows how the chimp got the revolver.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Professor Asshole would never hold a door open, considering it a condescending, paternalistic passive-aggressive gesture perpetuating the male power structure.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Do I have a concussion?” “I don’t know,” she says. “Is my nose broken?” “And you have a concussion,” she says.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Before we pitch our tent on the grassy knoll,” Lou says, “let’s consider the possibility that this wasn’t an inside job.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101: Laws are made to be broken, with rules that are made to be followed. Crime 101: Get there before the other guy.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“He wishes Marie were here, that’s all. No one who hasn’t missed a beloved spouse will ever know the literal meaning of the word “heartache”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Later, when Marie was so sick and they both knew that their sunsets together were numbered, he would bundle her up in a coat and a blanket, a knit cap for her bare head, make her a cup of hot tea because she was always cold, and they would sit and watch the sunset, knowing it was their own as well. Now he sits and watches alone, although he still pours a glass of red wine for her, which he tosses over the deck into the bushes when he’s ready to go inside. It’s”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“The first time he saw the child, she was in a cage. The last time he saw her, she was free.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Crime 101: Getting out one job too early puts you on the beach. Getting out one job too late puts you in a cell.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“father” and “mother” are verbs before they’re nouns.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“You set someone straight, you have to go on the crooked road yourself. Sometimes you get lost.”
― Don Winslow, Broken

“Every word you say after ‘but’ means every word you said before it is bullshit,”
― Don Winslow, Broken