The Cabinet of Curiosities Quotes

“The wise and good are outnumbered a thousand to one by the brutal and stupid.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“One can reach the gates of hell just as easily by short steps as by large.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“I’m afraid I don’t suffer petty bureaucrats gladly. A very bad habit, but one I find hard to break. Nevertheless, you will find, Dr. Kelly, that humiliation and blackmail, when used judiciously, can be marvelously effective”
― Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“If you’re honest with yourself, you can still feel the terrible weight of time pressing on you; that awful, relentless, bodily corruption that is happening constantly to us all.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“PEE-WEE BOXER SURVEYED THE JOBSITE WITH DISGUST. THE FOREMAN was a scumbag. The crew were a bunch of losers. Worst of all, the guy handling the Cat didn't know jack about hydraulic excavators. Maybe it was a union thing; maybe he was friends with somebody; either way, he was jerking the machine around like it was his first day at Queens Vo-Tech”
― douglas preston & lincoln child, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“The light in the room grew abruptly brighter. Smithback’s pulse began to race wildly, faster and faster, until the table beneath him seemed almost to rock in time with the frantic beating of his heart.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Did you know that all ladies at Louis XIV’s court at Versailles were required to have a thirteen-inch waist or less? And that their dresses weighed between thirty and forty pounds?”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Boxer altered his course subtly, as if that was the way he'd already been going, not looking up to acknowledge he had heard, letting his attitude convey the contempt he felt for the scrawny foreman. He stopped in front of the guy, staring at the man's dusty little workboots. Small feet, small dick. Slowly, he glanced up. "Welcome to the world, Pee-Wee. Take a look at this.”
― douglas preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Ex Libris”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“And then, just as the second hand swept toward noon, he had the revelation. The Museum Archives. The Museum curator… It was so overwhelming, so blinding, that it temporarily drove all thoughts of corned beef from his head.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Not going to lunch before noon was a matter of discipline with him. As a police officer, he knew discipline was key. That was what it was all about. He couldn’t let the pressure get to him.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Two guards. Twice the chance of being recognized, half the chance of pulling a fast one on them. He had to get rid of one.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“What is it the Arab sages call death?” Pendergast went on. “The destroyer of all earthly pleasures. And how true it is: old age, sickness, and at last death comes to us all. Some console themselves with religion, others through denial, others through philosophy or mere stoicism.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“I’m afraid I don’t suffer petty bureaucrats gladly. A very bad habit, but one I find hard to break. Nevertheless, you will find, Dr. Kelly, that humiliation and blackmail, when used judiciously, can be marvelously effective.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“The wise and good are outnumbered a thousand to one by the brutal and stupid. When you give an Einstein two centuries to perfect his science, you give a thousand others two centuries to perfect their brutality.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“TriBeCa.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“the New York Public Library.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“the city.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“January 1881,”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“thirty-six dollars,”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“less”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“The whole city was on the verge of panic.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“high school,”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“P.S. 1984.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“P.S. 1984,”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“New York Public Library.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“It would have been better if they’d cashiered him.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“prolixity.”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“Dr. Kelly, are you familiar with the term, ‘cabinet of curiosities’?” Nora wondered at the man’s ability to pile on non sequiturs. “Wasn’t it a kind of natural history collection?” “Precisely. It was the precursor to the natural history museum. Many”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities

“There is an old French curse: may your fondest wish come true. If this treatment is cheap and available to everyone, it will destroy the earth through overpopulation. If it is dear and available only to the very rich, it will cause riots, wars, a breakdown of the social contract. Either way, it will lead directly to human misery. What is the value of a long life, when it is lived in squalor and unhappiness?”
― Douglas Preston, The Cabinet of Curiosities