Quotes from David Baldacci

You fought for the flag and country you represented. But you really fought for the guy beside you.

Justice. It wasn't about the greater good. It was about what was right and wrong on an individual basis. Person by person. Because if you neglected the people, the idea of a greater good was a pipe dream created by those whose idea of the "greater good" almost always tended to favor themselves and people like them.

Life is what it is, Will. You take it as it comes.

You had to take life as it came. It gave no quarter, spared no feelings. Limited no pain. Put no ceiling on happiness.

In fact, something always leads to something else.

By not using it. By not believing in it anymore. Belief, having faith in something, is a very powerful thing

For me, the Canyon isn't just a tourist destination. It's a living, breathing place. It has a dozen plants that live nowhere else.

National security trumps a lot. It can trampke civil rights. It can denude personal liberties. But it cannot and never will triumph over political gamesmanship. - Kelly Paul

She works in the intelligence field. They're trained to lie and sell it like the truth. They obviously undergo the same indoctrination as politicians.

When in doubt, say nothing. When not in doubt, double down on that advice.

Find something to believe in, Carter, other than your work. Because when you leave this life, you leave work behind. If that's all you have, then you have nothing. And eternity is a long time for nothing.

there?" "Doubtful. While

There was a time when Stone would have rated a platoon of crackerjack killers coming for him by land, sea and air. Those days apparently were over. A quartet of suits in a Cadillac on steroids was enough.

No, a nightmare is what's coming for the rest of these assholes.

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.

It would cut into him at unpredictable moments, like a gutting knife made of colored light.

Smart, dedicated people lost their lives all the time as they trained to be the best they could be to serve their country. Celebrities broke a nail and they immediately took to Twitter, alerting their millions of followers to the "injury," which in turn elicited thousands of replies from people with apparently not enough going on in their lives. And all the while brave men and women died in silence, forgotten by all except their families.

The money folks will forgive a lot if the cash keeps rolling in. Same goes for the government.

Lying caused a physiological reaction that cut the flow of blood to the capillaries located at the end of the nose. It caused a tingling feeling that usually made the liar rub at the spot.

That was your past, Michelle. You can't live in the past. Sure you can, Sean. If you're not too thrilled with your future.

What happened to you as a child, particularly something bad, changed you, absolutely and completely. It was like part of your brain became closed off and refused to mature any further. As an adult you were powerless to fight against it. It was simply who you were until the day you died. There was no "therapy" that could cure it. That wall was built and nothing could tear it down.

for once in a long time, he felt good. No worries, just possibilities. Endless possibilities.

I'm not saying that riding the train will change your life, or that passenger rail will be a big moneymaker one day. But no matter how fast we feel we have to go, shouldn't there be room for a train, where you can just sit back, take a breath, and be human for a little while? Just for a little while? Is that so bad?

And he goes round with a fat roll of dollar bills, and got this nice farm, and all them fancy machines, and man let his family starve.' - Louisa Mae Cardinal