Quotes from Lee Child

Never hit a woman unless she's trying to kill you.

He had learned a long time ago that some things were worth being afraid of. And some things were not. Things that he had done before and survived did not justify fear. To be afraid of a survivable thing was irrational.

He looked at the pain and he set himself apart from it. He saw it, examined it, identified it, corralled it. He isolated it. He challenged it. You against me? Dream on, pal. He built borders for it. Then walls. He built walls and forced the pain behind them and then he moved the walls inward, compressing the pain, crushing it, boxing it in, limiting it, beating it.

Nothing ever works like you predict it. All plans fall apart as soon as the first shot is fired.

Waiting is a skill like anything else.

Ninety percent of asking questions is about listening to answers.

We both sat there mute, as if we were in a no-talking competition and serious about winning.

You see four guys bunched on a corner waiting for you, you either run like hell in the opposite direction without hesitation, or you keep on walking without slowing down or speeding up or breaking stride...Truth is, it's smarter to run. The best fight is the one you don't have. But I have never claimed to be smart. Just obstinate, and occasionally bad-tempered. Some guys kick cats. I keep walking. - Jack Reacher

Don't worry about why it went wrong. Just damn well put it right.

Attacking me was like pushing open a forbidden door. What waited on the other side was his problem.

That should be your town motto. It's all I ever hear. Like: New Hampshire, Live Free or Die. It should be: Despair, You Need To Leave Now.

People who wear glasses, without them they always look unfocused, vulnerable. Out in the open. A layer removed.

In order to win, you must be prepared to lose.

Time to shit or get off the pot.

Nothing of value was ever achieved in the morning.

I'm twenty-nine, yes really, I'm from Aspen, Colorado, I'm six feet one, yes really, I've been at Quantico two years, yes I date guys, no I dress like this just because I like it, no I'm not married, no I don't currently have a boyfriend, and no I don't want to have dinner with you tonight.

The guy who was standing said, "We don't want you here." Reacher said, "You're confusing me with someone who gives a shit what you want.

People live, and then they die. And as long as they do both things properly, there's nothing much to regret.

Dealing with morons Ã¢â'¬Â¦ is like teaching Hindu to a beagle.

This was like July 13th, 1943, the pivotal day of the Battle of the Kursk. We were like Alexander Vasilevsky, the Soviet general. If we attacked now, this minute, we had to keep on and on attacking until the enemy was run off his feet and the war was won. If we bogged down or paused for breath even for a second, we would be overrun again.

The most unbearable type of anger is a woman's—do anything to avoid it.

Aim for the side of the skull, which is softer and displaces the brain more.

One day it seemed like a good idea, the next day it didn't. That kind of thing happened all the time, way back when, because strategy was fluid. Or because nobody had the faintest idea what they were doing.

Older women Ã¢â'¬Â¦ are worth it.