Burden of the Assassin Quotes

“He once told Peter that it was no good trying to tame a thing completely. You had to let it have a little of its wild side. Otherwise you kill what it is.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“has a square head. It reminds Peter of the square watermelons they grow in North Africa. They grow them in wooden crates so that as the fruit stretches out during growth it forms the shape of its container. He wonders whether Mathers was grown in a wooden crate.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“It’s crazy,” Kate said as Peter held a pair of field glasses to his eyes, watching investigators skulk around the deck of the Mermaid. ​“What’s crazy?” ​“That you have some people who can’t even afford to house themselves, and then others like him living on that monstrosity.” ​“It’s because men like Giovanni Destro are willing to fight. They may not deserve it, or even be worth it, but they fight. First to get it. Then to keep it.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“​A crash helmet slams down on the BMW’s hood, bouncing off and falling into the road. Peter isn’t sure if there was a head in it.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“​Again, this exists in people to differing degrees, and it is possible to have someone who is neutral—right in the middle of the spectrum. But Jimmy Palmer isn’t neutral. He is about as far down in the dark depths as you can go. He is a sociopath. A psychopath. A man who has no feeling for those of his fellow creatures. He sees his family as his own to do whatever he wants with.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“​The takers are the opposite. They are vampires who bring with them shadow. They suck from people. Drain energy from them. They seek sympathy, but are incapable of giving it. They wish to blame all their self-created ills on anyone they can pin them on, any excuse, any reason why they’re not where they supposedly deserve to be. They bring the people around them down. Their wives, their children, their work colleagues, their communities. All they want is to take and never give.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“there are people in this world who either give or take. The givers walk into a room and they, believe it or not, give. They make that room brighter by offering it any type of succor that it requires. They help people when they need it. They are an ear that listens. A voice that gives advice. Or they are just simply able to share the weight of burden. They offer compassion, sympathy, a rosey smile that lifts you up. They inspire.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“Joy began to feel the weight press down on her. That terrible weight that saps the muscles and grays the day. The one that starts in your head and presses every thought down. Joy got low, and when people are low, they turn to anything for help.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“he was inadequately trained for the cut and thrust savagery of the average American teen.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“Apparently when Australian Aboriginal males reach adolescence, they are left in the outback for up to six months to fend for themselves. Forced to survive on their own wits. It is a rite of passage. The same was true for Peter. He needed to survive two months in the outback of the United States. Prove that he could survive cut off in the field.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“​Peter imagines James Wilson spending a childhood waiting up for his father to return home from work. Only to go to bed each night without so much as a goodnight kiss. Maybe that was why his brothers joined the firm. It was the only way they could get some daddy time.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“He appears to hit the office when he feels inspired. Spending a few hours working heatedly before the creative impulse evaporates and he leaves the study.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“The interiors are enhanced with custom millwork, Cotswold stone and state-of-the-art technology. Whatever any of that means.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“This guy could sell off half his classic car collection and secure the mortgages for at least a hundred families facing eviction because they can no longer afford the bills. ​But such is life, and who can blame James Wilson for playing by its rules? Even if they’ve always been stacked in his favor.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“​“I told you. Government.” ​“But what part of it—CIA, military, who?” ​“Government within government within government. Like Matrioshka.” ​“What’s that?” ​“Dolls within dolls.” ​“You mean Russian dolls?” ​“I mean, Matrioshka,” the old woman snapped.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“Before fighting,” she said, “we learn pain. Only once we learn how to control pain, can we overcome our fear of it. Once we overcome fear, we can learn to fight freely without the crippling weight of apprehension. That is when we will move on to fighting.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“realizes it’s her own loneliness that she sees in him.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin

“There, in the dirty sludge of a winter highway, he learned for the first time that a lot of life is all in the mind.”
― David Archer, Burden of the Assassin