Quotes from John Burdett

To be frank, nothing has changed since The Quiet American—when we finally destroy the whole world it will be with the very best of intentions.

Mitch Turner interested him a lot. Until he met Turner, I think he doubted that farang had souls. When he saw what a mess Turner was in, what he called the 'great howl of agony' at the center of this man, he felt he'd understood why the West is the way it is.

The loneliness of farangs can be a fatal disease which distorts their minds and tortures them until they snap.

One does not become an outcast by birth, one does not become a Brahmin by birth. It is by deed that one becomes an outcast, it is by deed that one becomes a Brahmin." The

But a craftsman is not necessarily an artist. He needs that something extra that only comes from the cold heart of the universe.

Ideas' is right. I hardly do any detailed design anymore, I have people who are better at it than I am. But a craftsman is not necessarily an artist. He needs that something extra that only comes from the cold heart of the universe.

Take your eyes away for a moment, then let them return to the object of contemplation, and it is as if you were experiencing the effect for the first time.

Beauty is a great mountain, Detective, and fashion only illuminates one face at a time.

Welcome to American capitalism. It's a great system, except that no one ever has enough.

To make a good death is to proceed gracefully into a better body and a better life. The consequences of a bad death are hard to look at. You will not make a good death is a power curse; it makes Fuck you sound like a benediction.

Farangs don't understand us Thais. They think if a girl sells her body, then she has no dignity, no limits. Actually, the opposite is often the truth. Women like your mother are very free spirits. Could you imagine Nong ever holding down a normal job? Or putting up with abuse from a man? A woman might sell her body because it's more dignified and safer than being married to a violent drunk who goes whoring without protection.

The function of the West is to turn bodies and minds into products. It cannot understand that the rest of the world holds this to be an obscenity, a corruption of our nirvanic nature.

The dharma teaches us the impermanence of all phenomena, but you cannot prepare yourself for the loss of the phenomenon you love more than yourself.

It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is made to understand that this life is not a rehearsal, there is no safety net and no assurance of any final closure. It is also quite appalling to realize how catatonic the imagination can become when we hedge our bets, opt for the safer direction at every fork in the path.

I discovered that Thailand was one of those countries, like Sri Lanka and India, where memory of past lives used to be commonplace. Go back a few generations, and you find people talking about earlier lives with total certainty.

Expecting to be wrong about most things most of the time brings, finally, the kind of humility that leads to peace. I think.

I don't want enlightenment, I want him. Sorry Buddha, I loved him more than you.

The world other than as advertised can be an amazing place.

There are plenty of brilliant people who are too stressed out to read challenging literary novels.

In Southeast Asia the world is understood to be a vast, complex network of interdependent relationships. So when global capitalism makes it impossible for small-time rice farmers to feed their families and make a living, it is a natural thing for anyone in the family who can find an alternative source of income to do so.

Las Vegas is the expression, in glitter and concrete, of America's brittle and mutating id.

'Shun security,' I advise aspiring novelists when they complain to me that they are stuck. 'Get disoriented. Maybe your agonizing writing block isn't agonizing enough. Your enemy is comfort.'

Your fear of letting go prevents you from letting go of your fear of letting go.