Quotes from James Patterson

there is nothing so consistently dangerous, not to mention more likely to mess with your head and leave you muttering into your beer, than playing it safe.

If!" Tox spat. "If, if, if. You know how many miserable fucking losers have driven themselves into the ground trying to chase down ifs?

Have you ever felt a beloved hand grow cold in yours? If not, then I don't expect you to understand.

short, seems to be wilting

All I'm saying is that laughing is healthy. A lot healthier than getting socked in the stomach.

Tell us a story, Daddy," Chrissy said as I collapsed again.

This taught me a lesson: there will always be someone smarter, younger, and tougher than you. People who seem to be rewarded more than you. It's important to accept that and focus on your own unique strengths. Otherwise , it will unravel you.

How about you, Rafe?" she asked when Georgia finally took a breath. "What do you think of middle school so far?" "Well," I said, "it's not as bad as I thought it was going to

Luna said, "Sometimes I

So, how do you make a tissue dance?" I cringe a bit. "Put a little boogey in it?

us. Given she was going to

I talked some more, let my tongue wag, let my mind run free, and it felt pretty good. It's a wonderful thing to have somebody in your life whom you can say absolutely anything to. Not to have that is almost unthinkable to me.

leg and a shoe as he passed the

ached, until his head throbbed, all of that preparation comes down to today. It's finally here! He quickly brushes his teeth and puts on his Halloween costume. He picks up the trombone case and his school backpack and heads downstairs quietly, not wanting to wake his mother. He rips open the cellophane and drops two Pop-Tarts into the toaster and pours himself a glass of milk. He drinks the milk but doesn't touch the pastries.

Her skin bore vicious weals and scars.

He hadn't even come to the Teddy Roosevelt School with Sampson.

Mom said. "I'm proud of you, honey. You must be doing something right. Whatever it is, just keep doing it." "Oh, I will," I told her, just before I shoved some more scrambled eggs into my big fat not-quite-lying mouth.

JAMIE TO THE RESCUE!

laughed as hard as I did—harder sometimes. I kept sneaking glances at her: shoulders shaking, handkerchief pressed to her mouth. I was happy she was having such a good time. I was no author, no satirist, no raconteur, but I did know that the humor of this man Clemens was different. Besides being funny, every word he spoke was the absolute truth.

Maybe I was being stubborn and stupid and making the wrong decisions. It wouldn't be the first time, and god knows it surely won't be the last. Because I was going to bust out of this joint if it was the last thing I did. One simply had to figure out how.

TWENTY-TWO HOURS AND FORTY-NINE MINUTES LATER (NOT THAT I WAS COUNTING OR ANYTHING)

and the gradual realization that he was

His ace in the hole was the pipe in the corner, the emergency shutoff valve.

I'll bet you think my favorite color is red, don't you? Well, close. It's purple. Purple is such a twisted, complex color--it conveys the passion of red, the sadness of blue, the depravity of black. Purple is neither happy nor sad. It is pain and despair but longing, too--fiery desire, beaten and bruised but struggling onward, determined to overcome, to move forward rather than retreat.