Quotes from Christopher Fowler

Yes, he wanted to do the right thing, but perhaps this time the right thing was something different.

When sleep eludes you, embrace wakefulness, he told himself, and read until dawn.

It's what we find with most conspiracies—they only exist because somebody wants them to.

The one benefit of maturity is discovering just how crafty you can be.

This might have something to do with the fact that every half-decent flat in the area has been snapped up by war criminals shovelling their loose change into safe havens.

Like all dancers, so much of her body fat had been converted to muscle that she needed to eat regularly.

It's hardly a wonder that they call London the most elusive city in the world. Its character changes from one street to the next. There's no rhyme or reason, no pattern to the place. You could take six people at random from the centre of town, ask them to write down all the places they visit regularly and find that their circles of movement don't overlap at more than one or two points. Each of them would see a different city.

WE ARE BORN IN THE WILDS OF DARKNESS AND DIE ON THE PATHWAY TO ENLIGHTENMENT.

I know how the world works. Business decisions are not made for the good of the people, but for the sake of profit, loyalty and expedience.

Plastic carrier bags floated around the traffic lights at the end of the Strand like predatory jellyfish.

Remembering was pointless; but forgetting somehow seemed immoral.

but you've been duped by a fake-news site.' The look of surprise on Maggie's face touched him. 'But how are people supposed to know that?' she asked, bewildered. That, thought Bryant, is what we're all wondering.

Do you want me to come to the hospital? she offered. Bryant's blue eyes widened. Good Lord, no, why would you want to do that? I'll take a paperback. Reading a book is the finest way of attaining inner peace.

Throughout history, human nature remains unchanged. The world's oldest questions are still being asked. Medea, Oedipus, we're not adding anything that the Greeks didn't already know.

Phobias are powerful vehicles for aggressive feelings. They condense anxiety. Intrusive phobias aren't part of general personalities, they just kick in at key moments. They're a defence against intense trauma, fear of intimacy, stuff like that.

We're the police, we don't thump people.

I wouldn't like to find out my GP was messing about with black magic. It would be like discovering that your bank manager was also a stand-up comic.

In 1939, London was the largest city in the world.

The closer you are to death, the more attached you become to life

Look at the state of you. Get some of those wet clothes off and chuck them on the radiator.' 'Do you always boil a saucepan of sprouts for at least two hours?' Bryant asked. 'What?' said May, thrown. 'No.' 'Good, then you're not my mother.' He struggled out of his overcoat and found that his damp brown sweater had lengthened dramatically.

Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder. It makes people think you're dead.

The city becomes a financial battery farm and the suburbs do the same for families.

It is said that the hallmark of a gentleman is that he is only ever rude intentionally. Arthur Bryant was no gentleman. His rudeness came from an inability to cloak his opinions in even the most cursory civility. He believed in good manners at the meal table and bad manners almost everywhere else.

That, I know now, is why social media remains so popular; it is the home of the powerless.