Quotes from Arthur Hailey

The president of General Motors was in a foul humor.

I set myself 600 words a day as a minimum output, regardless of the weather, my state of mind or if I'm sick or well. There must be 600 finished words-not almost right words.

I loved education, and, yes, I did want to go on learning.

I don't think I really invented anybody. I have drawn on real life.

I loved education, and, yes, I did want to go on learning.

The president of General Motors was in a foul humor.

When I began writing that I was able and did travel and met some fascinating people and also uncovered some history, which has not been discovered before.

What did I ever do, Celia thought, to have such a wonderful, satisfying, happy life?

In most cold remedies," Andrew said, "there's a mishmash of ingredients. One's a chemical called phenylephrine; it's in what are advertised as decongestants to relieve a stuffy nose. Mostly, phenylephrine doesn't work—there isn't enough used to be effective—but it does raise blood pressure, which is harmful for anyone, and dangerous for those who have high blood pressure already.

irritation attracts antibody-producing cells.

What most viewers wanted, he believed, was the answers to three basic questions: Is the world safe? Are my home and family safe? Did anything happen today that was interesting?

I learned a long time ago … you can't live other people's lives. We have to make our own decisions, even if we're wrong.

as with any leader, it would be a mistake for him to show weakness or exhibit doubts …

the normal electrical demands of a pampered, spoiled, convenience-oriented, gadget-minded, power-guzzling populace continued unabated.

there's nothing wrong with being scared to death. It can happen to the best. What counts is hanging on, somehow staying in control and doing what you know you should.

headquarters-bureaucrat vice presidents who are nonproducing but positioned to take the blame for those above them if anything goes wrong;

destruction. Peru's President Castañeda

All right, I will. But I'll make you a little pledge." She asked, "What's that?" "If ever, someplace down the road, you and I differ on a matter of judgment that's important, you have my permission to remind me of this incident, and that your judgment was right and mine wrong.

We doctors are at fault in a lot of ways about drugs. For one thing, we prescribe too often—much of the time unnecessarily, and in part because it's well known among us that there are patients who feel cheated if they leave a doctor's office without a prescription. Another thing, writing a prescription is an easy way to end a patient interview, to get that patient out of the office and another one in.

He regarded meals as a waste of time and ate because his body required it; that was all.

Generally, pharmacists know a lot more about drugs than doctors do.

in tragic situations, children often coped better than adults. Possibly, she thought, it was because children's thinking was less complicated and more honest; or perhaps children became mentally adult when the need was thrust upon them.

Americans see democracy as a remedy for all ills-to be taken three times daily like prescription medicine. It works for them. Ergo - it should work for the world. What America naïvely forgets is that for democracy to function, most of a populace must have something personally that is worth preserving.

a private hell was something you lived with alone, even when someone else's casual questions nudged old, raw wounds within yourself.