Act of Oblivion Quotes

“It was only later that he recognised the folly he had fallen into, a human trait he had long observed: that merely because one wishes to believe in a thing, it does not follow that it is true.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“He had no idea where they would go, or what they would do, or what dangers lay ahead. But with their love, and their Bible, with their absolute certainty in the power of the Lord and the protection of their guns, and with the plentiful vastness of America spread out before them like God's table - (...) - he had faith that they would make a future (page 458).”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“One could never be sure with Oliver. Ambition and godliness, self-interest and the higher cause, the base metal entwined with the gold.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Looking out from his window, he felt he had been granted a glimpse of a great truth, one that had been whispering at his conscience for many years: that God was not to be pressed into service merely to suit the needs of men, however righteous they believed their cause to be; that such presumption was itself a sin. He felt both despair and a bitter vindication.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Learned minds can still believe wicked things, especially when their own interests are at stake.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“what he wanted most, was godly men, men of faith and discipline, who were prepared if needs be to die: ‘For the man who is willing to die will always be your master.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Looking out from his window, he felt he had been granted a glimpse of a great truth, one that had been whispering at his conscience for many years: that God was not to be pressed into service merely to suit the needs of men, however righteous they believed their cause to be; that such presumption was itself a sin.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“There is nothing more calculated to expose a person’s true character than enforced proximity,”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Cromwell had the power, but to what end? Each time he tried to restore Parliament, it antagonised him, and he dissolved it. The army was divided, the country sullen. He lived in a trap of his own making.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“How fortunate the man who never knew doubt.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“He felt a sudden exultation in his singularity. Well, damn the world for its superstition.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Man was born in sin. He struggled. He erred. He fell.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Go and do your business, Mr Nayler. There will soon be heads on spikes all over London. But bear in mind that one day one of them may be mine.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“Their”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“In the clear late-autumn light, the forests were a profusion of reds and golds, interrupted occasionally by large patches of black, like holes burnt in a Turkish carpet.”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion

“croak of bullfrogs. The twisting coastal trail was”
― Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion