The best quotes by the author we have brought to you
“Around and around it went, and what was round had no point, any fool knew that.” (The Institute Quotes)
Stephen King
The Institute
“As his father liked to say, it was good to have goals. They could bring you through tough times.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Because there was an abyss. And books contained magical incantations to raise what was hidden there, all the great mysteries. For Luke, those mysteries mattered. Someday in the future, he might write books of his own. But here the only future was Back Half. Here, the future of existence was, ‘What good would it do?”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Because they were doing it for themselves. They didn’t have to be a bunch of dazed dummies sitting on the ventriloquist’s knee. It was so simple, but it was a revelation: what you did for yourself was what gave you the power.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Between midnight and four, everyone should have permission to speak freely.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“He peered into the pack and saw two or three more pieces. He could eat them now, but it might be better to wait.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“He read the way free-range cows graze, moving to wherever the grass is greenest. That was a thing her husband chose to ignore, because the strangeness of it frightened him. It frightened her as well, which was probably one reason why she knew nothing of Luke’s tutorial on Balkan history. He hadn’t told her because she hadn’t asked.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“He wanted to tell Luke that he loved him. But there were no words, and maybe no need of them. Or telepathy. Sometimes a hug was telepathy.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“He was only twelve, and understood that his experience of the world was limited, but one thing he was quite sure of: when someone said trust me, they were usually lying through their teeth.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“I think I might just go out back for awhile, and sit under that big tree. I feel empty inside. I never felt so empty.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“If I may borrow from George R. R. Martin, she is my sun and stars.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“It came to him, with the force of a revelation, that you had to have been imprisoned to fully understand what freedom was.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“It was good not to be alone in this anymore. He really hadn’t realized how heavy that burden was until now.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“It was so simple, but it was a revelation: what you did for yourself was what gave you the power.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Knowing a thing and having the truth of it redden your skin were two different things.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Losers so dumb that they mistook wrapping themselves in the chains of addiction as an act of rebellion.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Maureen was looking at him with amazement and dawning hope, but Luke hardly noticed. He was deep in the problem, tracing the lines back to the central point where those lines could be cut.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“On his days off, he sometimes slept for twelve hours at a stretch. He read legal thrillers by John Grisham and the entire Song of Ice and Fire series. He was a big fan of Tyrion Lannister. Tim knew there was a TV show based on the Martin books, but felt no need to watch it; his imagination provided all the dragons he needed.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Sane people don’t sacrifice children on the altar of probability. That’s not science, it’s superstition.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Seventy years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by atomic bombs, the world is still here even though many nations have atomic weapons, even though primitive human emotions still hold sway over rational thought and superstition masquerading as religion still guides the course of human politics.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“She also belonged to something called the Southeastern Library Association. Which, she said, had no money because “Trump and his cronies took it all back. They understand culture no more than a donkey understands algebra.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“The Roman satirist, Juvenal, who had said that if you gave the people bread and circuses, they’d be happy and not cause any trouble.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“There was an abyss. And books contained magical incantations to rise what was hidden there, all the great mysteries.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“There were other people here with at least some shreds of decency left, but working in a place like this destroyed your moral compass.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“There were three churches, one Methodist, two off-brand, all of the come-to-Jesus variety.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“This life we think we’re living isn’t real. It’s just a shadow play, and I for one will be glad when the lights go out on it. In the dark, all the shadows disappear.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Trump and his cronies took it all back. They understand culture no more than a donkey understands algebra.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“Try not to think of a polar bear, Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said, and you will see the cursed thing come to mind every minute.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“What good would that do had become another mantra, and he recognized it was a bad way to think, a step down the path to acceptance of this place. He didn’t want to go there, no way did he want to go there, but logic was logic.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“You know, Jamieson, this life we think we’re living isn’t real. It’s just a shadow play, and I for one will be glad when the lights go out on it. In the dark, all the shadows disappear.”
Stephen King
The Institute
“You’re in the south now, Annie had told these gunned-up interlopers. She had an idea they were about to find out just how true that was.”
Stephen King
The Institute
