David Baldacci Quotes

In every thriller written about Washington, particularly after 9/11, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and there's no gray area at all.

Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?

I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between.

Libraries rock! Not a sermon, just a fact. As a kid I was a library rat and books changed my life. They can change yours.

Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.

Fiction is sort of a way to set the record straight, and let people at least believe that justice can be achieved and the right outcomes can occur.

You haven't yet seen me be rude. When I am it's unmistakable. - Michelle Maxwell.

When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.

Two people can care for each other but not want the same things.

People have given me classified information, but always with the disclaimer 'This can never end up in a book.' And it never does.

Time doesn't really heal, it just makes you not to give a crap

Passion is a rare commodity. When you find it, treasure it and never give it up!

The human spirit was the strongest medicine on earth. And sometimes all it needed was a little encouragement to pull off a miracle.

Why waste time trying to discover the truth, when you can so easily create it?

But protagonists are protagonists and heroes are heroes.

A young man's ambition, can there be a more fleeting prospect?

I look for material that both interest me and challenges me. If I am drawn to the material and I have to work hard at it, the characters and the plots reflect the hours and hours of research.

I'd read a lot of thrillers about politicians and presidents, but never one where you flip the stereotypes and make good people bad and bad people good.

Assumptions are dangerous things. I like facts a lot better.

The real worth of a person came from how he acted during the bad times. (John Fiske)

As a lawyer, as a private citizen, you see a lot of injustice.

Small mistakes tend to lead to large ones. Ours is a lifetime appoinment, and all you have is your reputation. Once it's gone, it doesn't comeback.

Trapped in a trap of your own making.

That's what civilization sometimes did to threats, real or perceived. They walled them off. Us against them. Survival of the fittest. You die so I can live.

Pender laughed. "Verify? In this day and age? Who cares about verifying anything? It's all about the speed. Who gets there first defines the truth. You know that as well as any man living.

Depending on the situation, sometimes you can know a person better in ten minutes than someone you have crossed paths with all your life.

Half truths were a wonderful way to inspire credibility.

It's hard, Cotton. To let yourself love something you know you may never have.

Shaw, we're going to die, aren't we?" Probably. Why?" Just wanted confirmation.

I'm a wicked ping-pong player.

I'm ever curious about the world.

Most people associate reading with laying on the beach. They don't see that it's crucial for a democracy!

Some people take 10 years to write a book and some can do one in under a year.

You learn a lot about a person when she saves your life, - Mecho

Only I could drink a thousand drinks and never forget a damn thing. I would just remember every detail of the thousand drinks down to the shapes of the ice cubes.

I can write with a crying child on my lap. I have. Often.

See, that why I ain’t go to church. Figger I got me a church wherever I be. Want’a talk to God, well I say, ‘howdy-howdy, God,’ and we jaw fer a bit.’ - Jimmy ‘Diamond’ Skinner

People who have expertise just love to share it. That's human nature.

Confidence is inspiring. Yet so often misplaced. (Robert Thornhill)

Nothing, absolutely nothing, was above corruption so long as human beings were involved.

Confidence is one thing, disrespect is quite another. (Justice Elizabeth Knight)

I'm ever curious about the world. I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about. Having a vivid imagination is also a plus.

Anyone who's lived has lost somebody.

I'm tired of people screaming about price and forgetting about the content.

It would actually constitute more than a miracle, he realised. It would take divine intervention plus luck, plus some unknown element of cosmic wizardry.

But then he put aside the awkward encounter, which his mind allowed him to do quite easily. He could compartmentalize at an astonishing level. It came from not giving a shit.

Politics is a dirty, ruthless business, Agent Robie. It makes the intelligence sector look relatively honorable by comparison.

Can't say a body ever gets used to hard work