I pulled myself from his mind, day by day, piece by piece, memory by memory, until there was nothing of Ruby left to weigh him down or keep him bound to my side.

He's so busy looking inside people to find the good that he misses the knife they're holding in their hand.

I bet it gets pretty lonely with only your ego for company.

The thing that scares me is that some part of me understands where they're coming from. They took everything from us, you know? Why shouldn’t we be able to take it back if we have the power to?

If you're going to knock down my suggestion, you'd better have one to replace it.

And people like you are the reason we have middle fingers.

I used to dream about turning back time, about reclaiming the things I'd lost and the person I used to be.

He's just like a stallion. Wild and kicking on the outside, but a heart soft as satin on the inside. Just waiting for the right girl to break him in.

You get a good review, and it’s like crack. You need another hit. And another. And another. I know authors are like Tinkerbell and generally need applause to survive, but it’s a slippery slope.

—I don't want to lose you —Then why are you the one that keeps letting go?

The darkest minds never fade in the afterlight.

I know that age, it's a particularly obstinate one, and a thousand bogies won't make you fear the future. A pity we can't change over.

Maliki saw Islamic State as a way to exert pressure. If I am not re-elected, terror will befall you - that was his message.

I do think it is important to look at the writing as a job though and to commit to it like you'd have to commit to a regular nine-to-five.

That's some f***ing doorman you've got there, Ms. Shugak.

I still think that, hopefully, you're not ahead of the jokes, and I think that has value. There is a punchline and it's pointed - and, again, whether you think it's funny or not, that's subjective.

I think Barack Obama is gonna go down as the worst president ever, frankly. I used to say that about Jimmy Carter but I think he's gonna be surpassed.

Critchley and Webster’s fierce, witty exploration of Hamlet makes most other writing about Shakespeare seem simpleminded.

When pride and presumption walk before, shame and loss follow very closely.

People and organizations don't grow much without delegation and completed staff work because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses

Early on I decided that fishing would be my way of looking at the world. First it taught me to look at rivers. Lately it has been teaching me how to look at people, myself included.