Lee Child citations

“Hope for the best, plan for the worst.”

“I said nothing. I’m good at saying nothing. I don’t like talking. I could go the rest of my life without saying another word, if I had to.”

“Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived at his table he saw a man's life change forever. Not that the waiter was slow. Just that the move was slick. So slick, Reacher had no idea what he was watching. It was just an urban scene, repeated everywhere in the world a billion times a day: A guy unlocked a car and got in and drove away. That was all. But that was enough.”

“Don't get it right - get it WRITTEN!”

“Reacher said, "So here's the thing Brett. Either you take your hand off my chest, or I'll take it off your wrist.”

“Never forgive, never forget. Do it once and do it right. You reap what you sow. Plans go to hell as soon as the first shot is fired. Protect and serve. Never off duty.”

“No, I'm a man with a rule. People leave me alone, I leave them alone. If they don't, I don't.”

“I'm a rich man. To have everything you need is the definition of affluence.”

“I'm not afraid of death. Death's afraid of me.”

“I'm not a vagrant. I'm a hobo. Big difference.”

“I have to warn you. I promised my mother, a long time ago. She said I had to give folks a chance to walk away.”

“Now they broke my toothbrush, I don't own anything.”

“I don't care about the little guy. I just hate the big guy. I hate big smug people who think they can get away with things.”

“hit them fast, hit them hard, and hit them a lot”

“The best fights are the ones you don't have", a wise man once said to me.”

“I know I'm smarter than an armadillo”

“To fill a small bag means selecting, and choosing, and evaluating. There's no logicial end to that process. Pretty soon I would have a big bag, and then two or three. A month later I'd be like the rest of you.”

“You do not mess with the special investigators.”

“Slippery slope. I carry a spare shirt, pretty soon I'm carrying spare pants. Then I'd need a suitcase. Next thing I know, I've got a house and a car and a savings plan and I'm filling out all kinds of forms.”

“Some old guy once said that the meaning of life is that it ends.”

“He had fallen out of the ugly tree, and hit every branch.”

“Spread love and understanding,” Reacher said. “Use force if necessary.”

“Never forget a Favor, Never forgive a Slight!”

“I was in the machine. My whole life. Then the machine coughed and spat me out. So I thought, OK, if I'm out, I'm out. All the way out. I was a little angry and it was probably an immature reaction. But I got used to it.”

“Imagine the uproar if the Federal government tried to make everyone wear a radio transmitter around their neck so we can keep track of their movements. But people happily carry their cell phones in their purses and pockets.”

“An unprovoked head butt is like bringing a sawed-off shotgun to a knife fight.”

“Reacher said Nothing”

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

“Why not go live on the beach?"
"These things are a way of keeping score. I'm sure you have your own way of keeping score."
I nodded. "I compare the numbers of answers I get to the number of questions I ask."
"And how are you doing with that?”