James Brendan Patterson
James Patterson is an American author. Among his works are the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch & Wizard, Private and Middle School series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction, and romance novels. (James Patterson Quotes)
“A half-dozen or so FBI techies and LAPD homicide detectives were still on the scene. The latest Pearl Jam played from somebody’s radio. The lead singer seemed to be in terrible pain.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“A lot healthier than getting socked in the stomach. Especially if you had a big breakfast.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“A saying of Sun-tzu’s hammered through her head: “A victorious army wins its victories before seeking battle.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“All I know about organic is the disgusting plain yogurt Mom keeps in the fridge at home, but I’m pretty sure Donatello meant it was a good thing.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“An active imagination is a wonderful thing. But it can also be a burden, if you focus too much on the dark side of the street.”
James Patterson
Ali Cross
“And then, before I could talk myself out of it, I dropped my marshmallow on the table, leaned forward, and kissed Dylan.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“Anne Frank wrote, ‘How true Daddy’s words were when he said: all children must look after their own upbringing. Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“As Fang looked down at her, he wanted to tear his own heart out. Ari would die for this.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“As Frederick the Great said, diplomacy without arms is like music without instrument”
James Patterson
Zoo
“As I stare into the Border collie’s eyes, I think that maybe I should go inside and call the girls. Claire, Cindy, and Jill would be here almost before I hung up the phone. They would hold me, hug me, say all the right things. You’re special, Lindsay. Everybody loves you, Lindsay.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
1st to Die
“As soon as I left your place, I miss you.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Bad stuff happens.
James Patterson
Sometimes it makes no sense at all. Sometimes its unfair.
Sometimes, it just plain sucks.
Bad stuff happens sometimes.
Always remember that, but remember that you have to move on somehow. You just pick your head up and stare at something beautiful like the sky, or the ocean, and you move the hell on.”
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Basically, I have two speeds…. Hostile or smart-aleck. Your choice.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“Because what’s worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Besides my great fashion sense? I play a mean harmonica.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“But what is life if you don’t live it?”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Coco stared for a moment in frustration at the only thing that had blocked a dream life as a glamorous supermodel.”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“Congratulations. The fact that you’re reading this means you’ve taken one giant step closer to surviving until your next birthday.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Detective Lincoln knocked, said, “McGrath had serious encryption on his computer. We’re going to have to send it out.” “Send it to Quantico,” I said. “I’ll try to get it moved to the front of the line.” “Right away,” Lincoln said, and he left.”
James Patterson
Cross the Line
“Disappear where?” You know what they say: Curiosity killed the mutant bird kid. But I couldn’t help myself.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Disney World. You’ve probably been. I’m assuming that most of America has been there, because you all seemed to be there the day that we went. All of you at the same time.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Don’t you just hate it when you go to a friend’s funeral and you get kidnapped?”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“Dr. Cross, please come! Please! Dr. Cross” the loud shouts continued. I didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but privacy doesn’t seem to count when your first name is Doctor.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“E is definitely the biggest ERROR my mother has ever made—worse than the time she designed a litter-box-cleaning robot that flung clumps of kitty poop all over the house.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
House of Robots
“Each person here, except me, was living out his worst nightmare, facing his biggest fear—even the dog. It was under a counter, staring horror-stricken at a bowl of generic dog food.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Even needing to get to Angel, we couldn’t forget the basic necessity of eating.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Every masterpiece comes at the end of a long line of failures.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“Everything I loved was taken away from me, and I did not die.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“Fang and I searched in every way we could think of and found a million institutes of one kind or another, in Manhattan and throughout New York state, but none of them seemed promising. My favorite? The Institute for Realizing Your Pet’s Inner Potential. Anyone who can explain that to me, drop a line.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Fear is not the answer, not ever.”
James Patterson
The Lake House
“Good memories are like charms…Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Hands on her hips and sputtered, “This is what’s wrong these days. No one knows what’s true or not. Anything that gets thrown up there on the internet, people take as fact and gospel truth. No wonder the country’s in the state it’s in. Everyone’s hating on everyone, and nothing gets done”
James Patterson
Deadly Cross
“Have faith and pursue the unknown end.” Oliver Wendell Holmes said that. I have faith. I pursue the unknown. That’s my job description.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“Have you ever done something extremely stupid like, oh, I don’t know, try to make a room filled with total strangers laugh until their sides hurt? Totally”
James Patterson
I Funny
“He got sick with meningitis when the boys were just three, and we lost him.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“He grinned at me so unexpectedly I forgot to flap for a second and dropped several feet.”You looove me,” he crooned smugly holding his arms out wide, he added,”You love me this much.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“He was already a sociopath, and he was just out of kinder-garden. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was the family way.”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“He went ballistic and started chasing me all over the house until I locked myself in the bathroom and Mom told him to calm down or she was going to call the police back herself.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“He’s basically putting on a private doo-wop show for the seagulls. Then he stops, spreads out his arms, and adds in the harmony: “In the still of the ni-i-i-ight!”
James Patterson
I Funny
“He’s playing Linus. Lucy’s supposed to be his sister. How’s that going to look? I mean, in the comic strip, Lucy only has black hair.” Her whole table titter-giggles. “I guess this is why the show is called You’re a Good Man, Charlie… Brown!” Meredith”
James Patterson
Jacky Ha-Ha
“Hell is a city much like Los Angeles”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“Her English had an elegant European lilt, what I thought was a French accent—vowels in the front of her mouth, consonants brushed with feathers.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Zoo
“Hollis asked me, “How’d the meeting with the editor at the Daily News go?” “About like you’d expect. It’s very clear to me that they’re only interested in the number of papers they sell or clicks the story gets online, not in helping out our homicide investigation. I swear, sometimes it feels like there are some awfully bloodthirsty people in the media who want more murders so they can have juicier stories that sell more papers.”
James Patterson
The Russian
“Homework is a term that means grown up imposed yet self-afflicting torture.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Horses had been brought in from a farm in Rockville, Maryland, to pull U-Haul trailers.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“However, I had been hoping that Donald Trump would just drop me off in one of his helicopters.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“I am beautiful tonight, Coco thought. And it’s a spectacular evening in my paradise, Palm Beach. Romance and opportunity lie just ahead. I can feel them coming to me already. Like my mother always told me, if a girl has fashion, romance, and a little opportunity in her life, nothing else really matters.”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing,’” I quoted. “Socrates.” Mary Catherine said, “You were already proving your point. You didn’t have to back it up with a quote.”
James Patterson
The Russian
“I can see why you, sir, are the champ. You bully without regard to race, religion, creed, national origin, or physical abilities. You are an equal-opportunity tormentor.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“I can talk to fish!” Angel said happily, water dripping off her long, skinny body. “Ask one over for dinner,” Fang said, joining us.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“I feel like, like pudding,” Iggy groaned. “Pudding with nerve endings. Pudding in great pain.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“I followed the adage that if you really want to learn about someone, you should just shut up and listen.”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“I had made a friend. My second one in fourteen years. I was on a roll”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“I have an idea. It’s risky, and Max will kill us when she finds out.” Iggy raised his head. “Sounds like my kind of idea.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“I hope when you grow up everything you want comes your way, but especially love. When its true. when its right, love can give you the kind of joy that you can’t get from any other experience.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“I knew both of them were psychopaths. This country is turning out more of them than any other place on the planet. They come in all shapes and sizes, all races and creeds and genders. That’s the scariest thing of all.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“I knew my transformation was complete when Dr.Keyes asked, “How are you feeling today, Tandy?” and I responded “I’m not”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“I led the way toward the crowd, trying to look casual, like, Fly? Me? Nah.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“I may have been dressed as a falcon, but I’ll tell you what. I felt like the biggest”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“I muttered a swear word to myself. After I heard Angel cussing like a sailor when she stubbed her toe, my new resolution was to watch my language. All I needed was a six-year-old mutant with a potty mouth”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“I never miss a good chance to shut up”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“I promised I’d help Stefan. And in this life, a man is only as good as his word.”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“I really do hope myeline meant something in the end- that it meant all those things. I don’t know what’s next- what any of us can expect- but I do know I’m ready to see what’s out there for me.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“I remembered something my first partner had told me. Never wrestle with a pig, Lindsay. You both get dirty. The pig likes it.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“I want my room to smell just like this.” Iggy inhaled deeply as the scents flame-broiled burgers and hot french fries wafted around us. ‘it would be an improvement.’ I agreed.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“I was thirty-eight at the time. As the saying goes, if I’d known I was going to live that long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“I won’t lie to you. I can’t say why God would take her now. But if the fact that she was sent here among us doesn’t point toward a loving God, then I can’t help you.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“I won’t lie to you. I can’t say why God would take her now. But if the fact that she was sent here among us doesn’t point toward a loving God, then I can’t help you. If we bring away anything from today, it should be the lesson that Maeve herself showed with every full, spent day of her life. Hold back nothing. Leave nothing in the tank.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“If number two pencils are so popular, why are they still number two?”
James Patterson
I Funny
“I’m a freaking princess when it comes to other people’s feelings. Yo dogbreath, get your paws of the everglades. -Max”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“I’m Dr. Ethan Kane, director of the Hauer Institute. My senior medical staff joins me in welcoming all of you to Maryland and to Liberty General Hospital. Think of it! You’ve been chosen to make an extraordinary journey with us. You’ll be making medical history, making some very good money as well, and this will be the best experience you’ve ever had. I guarantee it!”
James Patterson
The Lake House
“I’m in shape…Round’s a shape.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“I’m pretty sure that if you looked up the word “nuts” in the dictionary, you’ll find my picture. Just another fun feature of my mutant-birdkid-freak package.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“In the dictionary, next to the word stress, there is a picture of a midsize mutant stuck inside a dog crate, wondering if her destiny is to be killed or to save the world. Okay, not really. But there should be.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Is it important to be right or is it important to do what’s right? That’s one of the hardest lessons to learn.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Isn’t it funny how just changing your location changes your perspective?”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“It is remarkable what people in deep turmoil will tell you if you truly listen to what they are saying. More often than not, they will spill some of the pattern of repeated dark words, thoughts, and fantasies that have been spiraling in their heads so relentlessly, so furiously, that they have entered a trance that has eliminated all other thoughts. If the spiral continues without break, they will essentially talk themselves to the point where the pain of dying seems less than the pain of living.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Deadly Cross
“It was a pretty complete list. The kind of list one makes when one cannot fall asleep because one’s thoughts keep swirling through one’s brain like a bunch of sparrows on crack.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“It wasn’t because the lions were particularly hungry. The humans had been nothing compared to the eighteen-hundred-pound Cape buffalo, the pride’s more typical prey. The cars had been like boxes full of snacks.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“It’s all right to put the weight of the world on your shoulders sometimes, if you know how to take it off.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“It’s better to care too much than too little. Every single time.”
James Patterson
Ali Cross
“It’s just you, your homework, and the homework room. All. Day. Long. I turned thirteen in that room. Winter ended, and then spring came and went. Wars happened. Trees grew. Babies were born and people died.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“It’s so strange. Everything can be going alone just great, and then one day, whack, you’re blindsided– a lousy, crammy blow you didn’t see coming.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“I’ve been looking for you a long time, I just didn’t know it. But now I do.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Knowledge is a terrible burden. It may help you, but it might also destroy you.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Life can be like walking on a high wire. Falling seems a tiny misstep away.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Life is such a miracle, a series of small miracles. It really is, if you learn how to look at it with the right perspective.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Little books can mean big things, baby books are things that you probably might not know.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“Long and short of it: Democracy gets a big thumbs-up from me.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“Love between two people can last a long time if the people love themselves some, and are ready to give love to another person.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Maybe you’ll learn something about life beyond Batman.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“My anxiety level was rising pretty fast now. Visits with the FBI can do that to you, I guess. I’d had bad experiences with them before. Ironically, so had Kit. They’re good people, mostly, but something got screwed up along the way. I guess that’s what happen when J. Edgar Hoover is your daddy. Talk about the road to perdition.”
James Patterson
The Lake House
“My choices were to either give in and let them kill all of us or fight back with everything I had. I chose the second one, ’cause I’m just funny that way.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“My eyes burned on the grainy screen. I was also sure we were looking at”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“My mom had a soft heart after all! Instead of being chained by both wrists, we were only chained by one ankle!”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“My parents were just carried out of the building in the service elevator,” he shouted at the cops. “They were vile, but they didn’t deserve to be taken out with the trash!”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“Never wrestle with a pig, Lindsay. You both get dirty. The pig likes it.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“Nothing really excessive aside from a significantly sized rusty-brown stain on the hardwood, about six feet from the door. Such death markers always saddened me—the loss they represented, the people who would miss out on the rest of their lives. If I ever stopped feeling that way, I’d retire. The desire to obtain justice for these victims is what gets homicide detectives like me out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately, it’s also what keeps homicide detectives like me awake at night.”
James Patterson
The Russian
“Now, like all the other schools I’ve ever attended, the hallways of Long Beach Middle School are plastered with all sorts of NO BULLYING posters. There’s only one problem: Bullies, it turns out, don’t read too much. I guess reading really isn’t a job requirement in the high-paying fields of name-calling, nose-punching, and atomic-wedgie-yanking.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“Oh, I guess I want to fall in love, to stay in love for a while. I want to feel real romance every day that I possibly can. I want to feel something special in my life. I want to experience intimacy with another person. I’m not that different from everyone else. Except that I act instead of daydream.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“On the other hand, sometimes a happy delusion is better than grim reality.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“One thing Eileen had taught me by her example was that you get up and put your clothes on and do what you can do until the day you don’t get up.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“Our Parents were gods and monsters at the same time. Maybe we’re all like that- gods and monsters”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“Oz thinks I’m beautiful,” she whispered to the stars.”
James Patterson
The Lake House
“Pain is a message, and you can choose to ignore that message.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“People always talk about how great it is to get older. All I saw were more rules and more adults telling me what I could and couldn’t do, in the name of what’s ” good for me.” Yeah, well, asparagus is good for me, but it still makes me want to throw up.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“Popcorn for breakfast! Why not? It’s a grain. It’s like, like, grits, but with high self-esteem.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“Ray Bradbury had once written that “living at risk is jumping off a cliff, and building your wings on the way down.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“Remember when you changed me forever,” I whispered in Maeve’s ear.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“Remembering pain is how you learn never to let the cause of it happen again”
James Patterson
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
“Save your world. Love it,protect it, respect it, and don’t let the haters represent it.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“Seize the moment, however worried you may be about what’s coming next. It’s your brain, it’s your life, it’s your attitude…. Go out there and fill up with sights, sounds, and ideas that are bigger than yourself.”
James Patterson
Witch and Wizard
“She had a crooked nose and a pointy chin with a huge mole that had wiry black hairs growing out of it. Heck, if the New Order was really looking to arrest witches…”
James Patterson
Witch and Wizard
“Sometimes all you have is instinct, a gut feeling. It’s important to pay attention to them.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“Sometimes being a leader isn’t about winning. Sometimes it’s about doing what’s right, instead of what’s powerful.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“Stop talking and let me just tell you how great it is to wake up staring at your face. Okay?”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“That’s right: Never underestimate the power of a good laugh. It can stop some of the fiercest middle-school monsters.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“That’s the problem with stun guns, even an expensive eighty-thousand-volt Tensor. They don’t always bring down a big man. Especially a crazed one with a sense of purpose.”
James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
“That’s when I realized she hadn’t really left for good. She’d just gone on ahead a little.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“The doors of every house have a unique sound when they open and close.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“The greatest known power in the universe is the resilience of man coupled with his intellect. He tinkers and tests and fights through to solutions.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“The next forty-five minutes in that office was about as much fun as a day at Disney World—when it’s pouring rain. And all there is to eat are hot-dog buns. And you get electrocuted on the rides.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“The world was becoming a zoo, without cages.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“Then trust goes two ways, doesn’t it, Inspector?” We sat there, baking in the hot Mazda littered with empty fast-food drink cups, sort of squaring”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“There comes a point in everybody’s life when you realize the stakes have suddenly changed. The carefree ride of your life slams into a stone wall; all those years of merely bouncing along, life taking you where you want to go, abruptly end.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“There is something so precious about watching your child day after day after day. I want to hold on to every moment, every smile, every single hug and kiss. I suppose it has to do with loving to be needed and needing to give love.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“There was something I needed to say. “Sorry. About before.”
James Patterson
Fang shot a sideways glance at me, his eyes dark and inscrutable, as always. He looked back out at the water. I didn’t expect any more acknowledgment than that. Fang never-
“You almost gave me a heart attack,” he said quietly. “When I saw you, and all that blood . . .” He threw a small rock as hard as he could down the beach.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do it again,” he said.
I swallowed hard. “I won’t.”
Something changed right then, but I didn’t know what.”
School’s Out Forever
“There you have it: our lives in a nutshell. Emphasis on nut. But if the above whipped your mind into a frenzy, here’s something even more interesting: Fang started a blog. Not that he’s self-absorbed or trendy or anything. Nope, not him.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“There’s a Navajo saying, “Even the still wind has a voice.” In the quiet, confessing hotel room, I listen.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“There’s a saying I remember from my grandmother: One today is worth two tomorrows.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“There’s no such thing as justice in America. It’s all a fairy tale.”
James Patterson
The Lake House
“There’s nothing more annoying than cold logic and reason when you’ve got a good fit going.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“They come in all shapes and sizes, all races and creeds and genders. That’s the scariest thing of all”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“They turned to Angel. “We will call you Little One,” the leader said, obviously deciding to dispense with the whole confusing name thing.
James Patterson
“Okay,” said Angel agreeably. “I’ll call you Guy in a White Lab Coat.” He frowned.
“That can be his Indian name,” I suggested.”
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“They’re afraid of change, and we must change. They’re afraid of the young, and we are the young. They’re afraid of music, and music is our life. They’re afraid of books, and knowledge, and ideas. They’re most afraid of our magic.”
James Patterson
Witch and Wizard
“Think about it. When the end comes, will you be buried in the arms of the one you love? Of the one who knew you your whole life, who loved you your whole life? The only person who could really and truly love you like you needed to be loved? I hope so.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Nevermore
“This case won’t affect our wedding, will it?” “No way.” She seemed dubious. I added, “I promise.” Mary Catherine knew I wouldn’t break a promise.”
James Patterson
The Russian
“This is what’s wrong these days. No one knows what’s true or not. Anything that gets thrown up there on the internet, people take as fact and gospel truth. No wonder the country’s in the state it’s in. Everyone’s hating on everyone, and nothing gets done because no one can agree on basic reality, even if you put the evidence right in front of their noses.”
James Patterson
Deadly Cross
“This was a perfect storm of crap, all flying through the same fan, right at him.”
James Patterson
Nevermore
“This was the weird part with me and Miller. We both hated each other, but even more than that, he wanted my money and I wanted my notebook back. Neither of us had said anything about it to Stricker, even when we both got suspended. It was like middle school Mafia or something.”
James Patterson
The Worst Years of My Life
“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it, but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper, fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“To be without love is to be without grace, what matters most in life. We is so much better than I.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“Toxic pheromone pollution. How can we combat that?” Charles Groh and I looked at each other. This was it. We’d finally arrived at the hard part. What had to be done. “The first step,” I said, “would be removing the factors that are causing the environmental disturbance.” “Remove petroleum products?” said the president. “And cell phones?” said the secretary of state. I nodded at both of them, then looked out at the faces around the table and on the screens.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“Turns out an apocalypse actually comes on pretty slowly. Not fire and brimstone but rust and dandelions. Not a bang but a whimper. Perhaps”
James Patterson
Zoo
“Until now, I never noticed how much fantasy had to do with reality.”
James Patterson
Witch and Wizard
“Walking up to the screened porch, however, I felt as strange and disconnected as I had ever been in my entire life. It was as if I were two people: a man who was a capable detective, a loving husband, and a devoted father who was heading toward a quiet little house in the South, and an unsure and fearful boy of eight trudging toward a home that might be filled with music, love, and joy or, just as easily, screaming, turmoil, and madness.”
James Patterson
Cross Justice
“Wanted that to be my bedroom,” he says. “It’d be so easy to sneak out at night to TP yards, egg cars, and punch people.” Yes, Stevie has an active social life.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“We Irish don’t always succeed, but we’re pretty decent at grinding it out.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“We probably looked like starving orphan children. Hey! We were starving orphan children.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“We will destroy you,” the Flyboys droned. “You have no escape.” That was the most imaginative, threatening thing the whitecoats had programmed these ’droids to say? “Talk about lame,” Fang muttered.”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
“What do you talk about to a murderer, and someone you loved, over a perfect dinner and cocktails? I wanted to know so many things, but I couldn’t ask any of the real-questions pounding in my head. Instead, we talked of the coming vacation days, a “plan” for here and now in the islands.” (James Patterson Quotes)
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“When a high government official lies, he commits a horrible crime. We’ve put our trust in that person, based on his solemn word, his integrity.”
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
“When I realized she hadn’t really left for good. She’d just gone on ahead a little.”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“When it’s true, when it’s right, love can give you the kind of joy that you can’t get from any other experience.”
James Patterson
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life doing something, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
James Patterson
I Funny
“Whenever Maeve would mention another foster case or needy child she’d heard about and say, “What’s another pound on an elephant?”
James Patterson
Step on a Crack
“Why are you here, young man? Shouldn’t you be home watching Thomas the Tank Engine with the rest of the kids in your kindergarten class?”
James Patterson
Jacky Ha-Ha
“Why did she do this to me?” I mumble. “Actually, Samuel, from my preliminary scans of your internal organs, it does not appear that our mother has done anything to you. Were you in need of repair as well? If so, I am certain she will”
James Patterson
House of Robots
“Why is this happening? Who knows, really? Life and existence can never be fully understood. Stars are born only to explode. Creatures hunt other creatures, and then they die. The universe is a chaos of irrational forces wrestling with one another in a war without end. The human race is on the receiving end now.”
James Patterson
Zoo
“Yesterday I asked my teacher, ‘How come I have to study English? I’m never going to England!’ ”
James Patterson
I Funny
“You can’t go up and down emotionally along with their roller-coaster whims.”
James Patterson
Cross the Line
“You can’t tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“You have a memory chip that small implanted in you,” he verified. I nodded, guessing this was somewhat worse than having cooties.”
James Patterson
The Angel Experiment
“You have to respect your enemy. Never, ever underestimate them. The second you do, they’ll squash you. Be smart about them. Respect their abilities, even if they don’t respect yours.”
James Patterson
School’s Out Forever
“You know things have gone bad when military marches pass for pop music.”
James Patterson
Witch and Wizard
“You only have a few times in your life to really cut loose, so you might as well take them when they come.”
James Patterson
1st to Die
“You’re children. Don’t you want a home, a family?” “With, like, vitamin-fortified cereal and educational television?”
James Patterson
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
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