“The hands of the guilty don't necessarily tremble; only in stories does a dropped glass betray agitation. Tension is more often shown in the studied action.”

—  Graham Greene, book The Third Man

The Third Man (1949)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The hands of the guilty don't necessarily tremble; only in stories does a dropped glass betray agitation. Tension is mo…" by Graham Greene?
Graham Greene photo
Graham Greene164
English writer, playwright and literary critic 1904–1991

Related quotes

Joni Madraiwiwi photo

“There will necessarily be a tension between the church and tradition on one hand and human rights on the other.”

Joni Madraiwiwi (1957–2016) Fijian politician

Address to the Pacific Regional Workshop on Leadership Development, Lami, Fiji, 9 July 2005.

Ron English photo

“Don't let your actions betray your intentions.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

Dante Alighieri photo

“Less than a drop of blood remains in me that does not tremble; I recognize the signals of the ancient flame.”

Dante Alighieri book Purgatorio

Canto XXX, lines 46–48.
Compare: Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae ("I feel once more the scars of the old flame", tr. C. Day Lewis), Virgil, Aeneid, Book IV, line 23.
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Purgatorio

“The police take action against the criminal himself; not against his family and friends. War does not deal merely with the guilty men but destroys multitudes of innocent people; indeed, it does far more damage to the innocent than to the guilty.”

Kirby Page (1890–1957) American clergyman

"What is War?" (1924)

Bernhard Schlink photo

“So I was still guilty. And if I was not guilty because one cannot be guilty of betraying a criminal, then I was guilty of having loved a criminal.”

Bernhard Schlink book The Reader

Source: The Reader

Ursula K. Le Guin photo

“Unless physical action reflects psychic action, unless the deeds express the person, I get very bored with adventure stories; often it seems that the more action there is, the less happens.”

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer

Introduction to the story “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow” p. 166
Short fiction, The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975)

Jimmy Kimmel photo

“I don't believe that lack of intelligence and appreciation for lowbrow comedy go hand-in-hand necessarily.”

Jimmy Kimmel (1967) American talk show host and comedian

Associated Press (January 28, 2003) "Jimmy Kimmel is living it up", The Grand Rapids Press, p. B5.

Daniel Levitin photo

“Studies of violin players by Thomas Elbert have shown that the region of the brain responsible for moving the left hand… increases in size as a result of practice.”

Daniel Levitin (1957) American psychologist

This is Your Brain on Music (2006)

Boris Johnson photo

“Nor do I propose to defend the right to talk on a mobile while driving a car, though I don't believe that is necessarily any more dangerous than the many other risky things that people do with their free hands while driving - nose-picking, reading the paper, studying the A-Z, beating the children, and so on.”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

"To the lady who berated me, I say: on your bike", Daily Telegraph, 1 August 2002, p. 21.
2000s, 2002

Related topics