Quotes from Lee Child

I'd never believed in luck. Never had any cause to. Never relied on it, because I never could.

I worked thirteen years, got me nowhere. I feel like I tried it their way, and to hell with them. Now I'm going to try it my way.

Lone women shouldn't stop in the middle of nowhere for giant unkempt strangers with duct tape on their faces.

A handgun at two hundred feet is the same thing as crossing your fingers and making a wish.

You think you've been in deep shit before, and then you realise you have absolutely no conception of how deep shit can really be.

War isn't about dying for your country. It's about making the enemy die for his." Gen. George S. Patton

The Reacher brothers' need for caffeine makes heroin addiction look like an amusing little take-it-or-leave-it sideline.

They taught me that inhibitions would kill me. Hit early, hit hard. Kill with the first blow. Get your retaliation in first. Cheat. The gentlemen who behaved decently weren't there to train anybody. They were already dead.

I went to college. West Point is technically a college.

Try to look unimportant. They may be low on ammo.

The first day of the rest of my life.

They found out about him in July and stayed angry all through August. They tried to kill him in September. It was way too soon. They weren't ready. The attempt was a failure. It could have been a disaster, but it was actually a miracle. Because nobody noticed.

Everybody has a choice in life.

Do it once and do it right and do it quickly

Do you see anything Wrong with my teeth? Plenty, I'm surprised you can eat. Maybe that's why your're so little

I had to decide how to use that pressure. I had to decide whether it was going to crush me or turn me into a diamond.

No one talked, but they all said plenty.

It gives me some kind of chance to survive the night. How are those better odds? If you come back with me, you're guaranteed to survive the night. No, Reacher said. If I come back with you, I'm guaranteed to die of shame.

Anecdotally his fitness reports rated him well above average in the classroom, excellent in the field, fluently bilingual in English and French, passable in Spanish, outstanding on all man-portable weaponry, and beyond outstanding at hand-to-hand combat. Susan knew what that last rating meant. Like having a running chainsaw thrown at you

How much do you work out? I don't, he said. It's genetic. Which it was. Puberty had brought him many things unbidden, including height and weight and an extreme mesomorph physique, with a six-pack like a cobbled city street, and a chest like a suit of NFL armor, and biceps like basketballs, and subcutaneous fat like a Kleenex tissue. He had never messed with any of it. No diets. No weights. No gym time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, was his attitude.

A good coat is like a good lawyer. it covers your ass.

When you've knocked someone unconscious, put him into the recovery position. If you want him to recover.

The basis of any scam is telling people what they want to hear. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If in doubt, say nothing.