Quotes from Matthew Reilly

Why buy books when you can read them online

The man who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself. —Friedrich Nietzsche

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. —J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1937)

German-made Heckler & Koch MP-7 submachine guns with special compact M40 grenade launchers under the barrels.

In fairytales, knights are chivalrous, clean-shaven and wear shining armour—when in truth they were swarthy, filthy rapists and thugs. Castles are bright and gay when in truth they were grim fortresses.

Sometimes you had to make the animals perform.

In so many ways, Ascham thought, she was beyond her years—but in the presence of her father she became a little girl again. So confident and assured in private, now she moved with the stilted awkwardness of every twelve-year-old girl. Ascham's heart went out to her.

When the President asks you to do something, you'd be surprised how keen you are to oblige," Syme said.

location of the royal prison have existed for centuries:

Lily just stared down in horror at Jack and Alby as they took off for the maze, fleeing from the advancing snake-headed warrior. THE

The dragons are throwing cars at me!

A limitless supply of cheap labor might build you a new city every year, but it ultimately just makes you the factory floor for other countries' companies.

What people do in the name of religion is not necessarily religious. It often has baser reasons behind it.

Dragons in History by Eleanor Lock (Border Press, London, 1999)

Feels like we're driving into Mordor," Hamish muttered. "What's Mordor?" Syme asked. "Never mind.

This is how great knowledge dies, on bookshelves in plain sight.

In fact, the name 'rook' derives from ruhk, the Persian word for chariot. Pawns were footsoldiers, bishops were elephants, knights were mounted cavalry, and speeding along at the edges of the board were the swift and deadly chariots.

In the 19th century, Europe invaded and colonised Africa. In the 21st century, Africa invades and colonises Europe.

The acquisition of knowledge, the sheer pleasure of finding things out, is the greatest gift in life.

The zoo's "image consultants" from New York had been very clear about this: establish your believability first, then go tabloid.

A civilization is judged by how it treats the vulnerable.

when are going

Over twenty men died during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, Dr Lynch. Does anyone regret that? No, all anyone sees is a marvel of its time, a great achievement in human ingenuity. So it will be here. This place will be beyond great. It will be the envy of the entire world.

Race readied himself to jump down onto the submerged roof of the Humvee. He couldn't imagine how it must have looked—him, in his jeans, T-shirt and baseball cap standing atop a submerged Army helicopter in the middle of a caiman-infested Amazonian river.