Quotes about murder
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“This was a nightmare scenario for any bodyguard: stuck in the middle of a transparent tube, several miles underwater, with a murdering band of fugitives at one end and an enthralled but still highly skilled police officer at the other.”

Eoin Colfer (1965) Irish author of children's books

Source: The Atlantis Complex

“How much can you change and get away with it, before you turn into someone else, before it's some kind of murder?”

Richard Siken (1967) American poet

Source: War of the Foxes

Change

“When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport: when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. The distinction between Crime and Justice is no greater.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

#62
1900s, Maxims for Revolutionists (1903)

Justice, Sport

“Naturally, one does not normally discuss plans to commit murder with the intended victim.”

Robert J. Sawyer book Flashforward

Source: Flashforward

Nature

“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.”

Paula Poundstone (1959) American comedian

Cats, Problem

“Still, it doesn't do to murder people, no matter how offensive they may be.”

Dorothy L. Sayers book Five Red Herrings

Source: Five Red Herrings

People

“A murderer is only an extroverted suicide.”

Graham Chapman (1941–1989) English comedian, writer and actor

Suicide

“Solitude is a way to defend the spirit against the murderous din of our materialism.”

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) Priest and author

Way, Solitude

“She walked about with the rather fated expression you see in photographs of girls who have subsequently been murdered, but nothing had so far happened to her.”

Elizabeth Bowen book The Death of the Heart

Source: The Death of the Heart

Fate, Girl

“We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra…”

Chuck Palahniuk (1962) American novelist, essayist

Guy

“Oh, dear me." Nathalie sank back down in the chair and examined her Uggs. "The sarcasm could've started dripping off her and stained the floor. "Is it conspiracy, treachery, murder, or open warfare? I'll have to choose my lipstick accordingly.”

Lilith Saintcrow (1976) American writer

Source: Defiance

“Always Wear Flats and Have Your Friends Sleep Over: A Step-by-Step How-To Guide for Avoiding Getting Murdered”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Sleep

“There was murder, there was rape, there were unspeakable practices, and all of them were for the good, the bloody good, the bloody myth, for the grail, for the Tower.”

Stephen King book The Gunslinger

Source: The Gunslinger

“That's how we stay young these days: murder and suicide.”

Eugéne Ionesco (1909–1994) Romanian playwright

Source: Man With Bags

Suicide

“Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time theto kill-though not theto kill.”

Agatha Christie Curtain

Source: Curtain

Time

“Ask anything of men. Ask them to achieve wealth, fame, love, brutality, murder, self-sacrifice. But don’t ask them to achieve self-respect. They will hate your soul.”

Ayn Rand book The Fountainhead

Source: The Fountainhead

Love, Men, Hate, Soul

“… and then a murder mystery will occur.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Source: Fruits Basket, Vol. 16

“It'd be great to be so famous that if I murder someone, I will never, ever, ever serve any jail time, even if it's totally obvious to everyone that I did it.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Time

“The plot is so tired that even this reviewer, who in infancy was let drop by a nurse with the result that she has ever since been mystified by amateur coin tricks, was able to guess the identity of the murderer from the middle of the book.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Books

“One cannot let the events of one's past murder one's future.”

Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist

Source: UnSouled

Past, Future

“Well, people got attatched. Once you cut the umbilical cord they attatched to the other things. Sight, sound, sex, money, mirages, mothers, masturbation, murder, and Monday morning hangovers.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Money, People, Sex

“Murder is such an elastic term, isn't it?”

Cornell Woolrich (1903–1968) American author and screenwriter

Angels of Darkness, Mind Over Murder

“Death row is a nightmare to serial killers and ax murderers. For an innocent man, it's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive.”

John Grisham book The Confession

Source: The Confession

Life, Death

“They've arrested Sebastian! For m-murder! You've g-got to stop them! He d-didn't do it! He can't have done it! He doesn't believe in murder! He's a v-vegetarian!”

Meg Cabot (1967) Novelist

Source: Big Boned

“He smiled at me… fondly. ʺAh, my daughter,ʺ
he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians
will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.ʺ”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Variant: Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.
Source: Last Sacrifice

Death, Smile, Daughters

“World War I was the most colossal, murderous, mismanaged butchery that has ever taken place on earth. Any writer who said otherwise lied, So the writers either wrote propaganda, shut up, or fought.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

War, World

“Equally disquieting are the times when we do make a choice, only to later feel as though we have murdered some other aspect of our being by settling on one single concrete decision.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Source: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Feeling, Decision, Time

“Just because I'm a murdering, thieving, cowardly, traitorous sort doesn't mean I can't do my job properly.”

James A. Owen The Search for the Red Dragon

Source: The Search for the Red Dragon

“Art's cruel. You can get away with murder with words. But a picture is like a window straight through to your inmost heart.”

John Fowles book The Collector

Source: The Collector

Art, Heart

“… Illegitimate children can be left money, but they can't inherit the peerage."
"You wouldn't want it," Cameron put in. "More trouble than it's worth. And for God's sake, don't murder Hart or I'm next.”

Jennifer Ashley (1974) American author

Source: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Money, God, Children

“Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled “enemy?”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Men, Heart

“A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.”

Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator

Death, People, Thinking, Betrayal

“Don't blame us," said my mother. "We didn't blow up half of Court, steal a dozen cars, call out a murderer in the middle of a crowd, or get our teenage friend crowned queen."

"Actually," said Abe, "Iblow up half of Court.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Cars

“But you want murderous feelings? Hang around librarians," confided Gamache. "All that silence. Gives them ideas.”

Louise Penny (1958) Canadian woman writer

Source: A Rule Against Murder

Feeling, Confidence, Idea, Silence

“Hey, for a scythe, cookies, and a chance to commit murder, Kronos could hide his true feelings.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Source: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Feeling, Chance

“Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish.”

Raymond Chandler book The Simple Art of Murder

Source: The Simple Art of Murder

People, Fish

“I'm placing you under arrest for murder, conspiracy to commit murder and, I don't know, possibly littering.”

Derek Landy Skulduggery Pleasant

Source: Skulduggery Pleasant

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never.”

Elie Wiesel book Night

Source: Night (1960)

Life, God, Children, Faith

“There's a small possibility that I might be a murder suspect"
Stephanie”

Janet Evanovich Three to Get Deadly

Source: Three to Get Deadly

“Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.”

Agatha Christie book The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Hercule Poirot
Source: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)

“I can't hate people that much. Don't get me wrong. I want to murder every last Keeper I can find. But that's not hate. That's vengeance.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Slays

Hate, People

“… will you be so kind as to provide me with a few places where I might look for a murderer?"
"The mirror's a great place to start”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Bite Club

“If it weren't for greed, intolerance, hate, passion and murder, you would have no works of art, no great buildings, no medical science, no Mozart, no Van Gough, no Muppets and no Louis Armstrong.”

Jasper Fforde book The Big Over Easy

Source: The Big Over Easy

Hate, Art, Passion, Science

“In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

Source: Humboldt From 'The Gods and Other Lectures'

People, Age, Sleep

“Scapegrace leaped up. “I am the Killer Supreme! I make
murder into an art form!”
Skulduggery hit him again and Scapegrace did a little twirl
before falling.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: Playing with Fire

Art

“Murder had a blood red door on the other side of which was everything unimaginable to everyone.”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

Source: The Lovely Bones

“Because Nicodemus is a murderous murdering murderer,” I said.”

Jim Butcher book Skin Game

Skin Game

“We had our breakfasts--whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn't matter, you must have your breakfast.”

Wilkie Collins book The Moonstone

Also in Recipes from an Edwardian Country House: A Stately English Home Shares Its Classic Tastes by Laura Schaefer [Simon & Schuster, 2013, ISBN 1-476-73033-4] ( p. 22 https://books.google.com/books?id=zZPzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA22) <br class="br">Source: The Moonstone [Street, 1868] ( p. 49 https://books.google.com/books?id=FmsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA49).

Housing

“He just didn't look like the kind of creep that would messily murder a woman in her hotel room; he looked like the kind of creep that could line her up in the sights of an assassins rifle without a shred of emotion.”

Karen Marie Moning book Darkfever

Source: Darkfever

“Lying on stained wretched sheets with the bleeding virgin,
we could plan a murder…or start a religion.”

Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors

Source: An American Prayer (1978)

Religion, Lying

“See, Jace never learned how to flirt properly, because he was raised by a murderous sociopath.”

Diana Peterfreund (1979) American writer

Source: Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader

Learning

“Just because one of Arlene's husbands was a murderer is no reason for me to be ugly”

Charlaine Harris book All Together Dead

Source: All Together Dead

“I hate rarely, though when I hate, I hate murderously.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Hate

“Murder? You mean he's dead?"
"No. He's resting comfortably," I said. "People always sleep best with their heads at a ninety-degree angle. He looks comfortable, doesn't he?"
(Paige & Elena)”

Kelley Armstrong book Stolen

Source: Stolen

People, Sleep, Dead

“God help me if I ever injure my back," Clayton quipped.
"God help you if you ever turn it," Whitney snapped, "for there'll surely be some heartbroken papa or cuckolded husband ready with a knife--if I don't murder you first.”

Judith McNaught book Whitney, My Love

Source: Whitney, My Love

God, Help

“Nobody got murdered before lunch. But nobody. People weren't up to it. You needed a good lunch to get both the blood-sugar and blood-lust levels up.”

Douglas Adams The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Source: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

People

“This city belongs to ghosts, to murderers, to sleepwalkers. Where are you, in what bed, in what dream?”

Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987) French writer

Dreams

“I'm fine!" Percy yelled out as he ran by, followed by a giant screaming bloody murder.”

Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune

Source: The Son of Neptune

“I would never understand photography, the sneaky, murderous taxidermy of it.”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Source: Anagrams

Understanding

“Truly, whoever we are, wherever we reside, we exist upon the whim of murderers.”

Alan Moore book Watchmen

Source: Watchmen

“This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as non-traditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank.”

Christopher Moore book Fool

Source: Fool

“Committing suicide so as not to be murdered is the worst reason I've ever heard of to die.”

Tiffanie DeBartolo (1970) American writer

Source: God-Shaped Hole

Suicide

“I'm into, oh murders and executions mostly. It depends.”

Bret Easton Ellis book American Psycho

Source: American Psycho

Dependency

“You cannot have power for good without having power for evil too. Even mother's milk nourishes murderers as well as heroes.”

George Bernard Shaw Major Barbara

Source: 1900s, Major Barbara (1905)

Evil

“Achamian tossed his hands skyward in dismay. “Foolish boy! How many faiths are there? How many competing beliefs? And you would murder another on the slender hope that yours is somehow the only one?”

R. Scott Bakker (1967) Canadian writer

Faith, Hope, Boy

“Oh my God," Maddie whispered, horrified. "I rented him that boat. Does that make me a murderer?"

Tara's heart clutched. "He's not dead yet."

"Hurry," Maddie called to Ford. "I can't be the one who killed Tara's ex!" I look terrible in orange!”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: The Sweetest Thing

God, Heart, Dead

“But 'Thou mayest!'! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

God, Fight

“I can’t believe this night. I was supposed to be applauded and instead, I’m ruined. I swear to God in heaven if I ever see that man again, I will commit murder. (Tory)
Well, if you need help moving the body, you know where Kim and I live. (Pam)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

God, Help, Night

“Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. Oh, praise the eternal justice of man!”

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Source: Frankenstein

Justice

“What obsession do men have for destruction and murder? Who do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled 'enemy?”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Men, Heart

“A crowded society is a restrictive society; an overcrowded society becomes an authoritarian, repressive and murderous society.”

Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist

Source: Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast

“Just each of us being me, me, me first. The murderer, the victim, the witness each of us thinks our role is the lead.
Probably that goes for anybody in the world.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Invisible Monsters

Source: Invisible Monsters

World, Thinking

“Some men got excited by white lace and a translucent negligee. My love muffin got excited by a woman dressed to murder. There was probably something deeply twisted about that. Lucky for me, negligees were never my thing.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Gifts

Love, Men

“Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

Lie, Fear

“It's not wrong to hustle hustlers. It's like killing murderers, a public service. -Damon Salvatore”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Moonsong

“I try to be a good cop. I try to be a good little soldier and follow orders up to a point. But in the end I’m not really a cop, or a soldier. I am a legally sanctioned murderer. I am the Executioner.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Skin Trade

Source: Skin Trade

“There was one thing my murderer didn't understand; he didn't understand how much a father could love his child.”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

Source: The Lovely Bones

Love, Understanding

“If you or one of the blind fools who follows you honestly believe you can… bring it on. I'm in the mood for Slaughter. Killing and Murder, too.

~ Jericho a. k. a. Cratus”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dream Warrior

Fools, Mood

“I don't care how much evidence the state presented. I've never for one moment believed he murdered that waitress.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1948) American writer

Source: Kiss an Angel

“People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder.”

Werner Herzog (1942) German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and opera director

Herzog on Herzog (2002), On Klaus Kinski

Love, Hate, People, Thinking

“T. V. has brought murder back into the home where it belongs.”

Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) British filmmaker

National Observer (15 August 1966).
Variant: One of television's great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs
Context: One of television's great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs.

Home

“With the tools of democracy, democracy was murdered and lawlessness made "legal." Raw power ruled, and its only real goal was to destroy all other powers besides itself.”

Eric Metaxas (1963) American journalist

Source: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Democracy

“I am only 8 years old, I told myself. No little boy of 8 has ever murdered anyone. It's not possible.”

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter

Boy

“That’s family for you. Can’t live with them, can’t murder them.”

Holly Black book Black Heart

Source: Black Heart

Family

“It is hard to forgive, and to look at those eyes, and feel those wasted hands,' he answered. 'Kiss me again; and don’t let me see your eyes! I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer—but yours! How can I?”

Emily Brontë book Wuthering Heights

Source: Wuthering Heights

Love, Feeling, Forgiveness, Kiss

“Killing one person makes you a murderer. Killing a million people makes you a king. Killing them all makes you God.”

Frank E. Peretti book House

Source: House

God, People, Personality

“The hero surviving his own murder, his own suicide, his own addiction, surviving his own disappearance from the scene”

Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997) American poet

Source: The Fall of America: Poems of These States 1965-1971

Suicide

“They say suicides and murderers go to Hell. If so, I will know my way around, because I've been there for the last eight years.”

Stephen King book Full Dark, No Stars

Source: Full Dark, No Stars

Way, Hell, Suicide

“Love is every bit as violent and dangerous as murder.”

Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) Norwegian novelist and Nobel Prize recipient

Love

“Seeing a murder on television can … help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.”

Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) British filmmaker

National Observer (15 August 1966).

Help

“My point is not that religion itself is the motivation for wars, murders and terrorist attacks, but that religion is the principal label, and the most dangerous one, by which a 'they' as opposed to a 'we' can be identified at all.”

Richard Dawkins book A Devil's Chaplain

"Time to Stand Up"
A Devil's Chaplain (2003)
Source: A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love

War, Religion, Motivation

“Our body remains alive, yet sooner or later our soul will receive a mortal blow. The perfect crime--for we don't know who murdered our joy, what their motives were, or where the guilty parties are to be found.”

Paulo Coelho book The Witch of Portobello

Source: The Witch of Portobello

Soul, Motivation, Joy, Perfection

“I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

2000s, 2009, Farewell speech to the nation (January 2009)
Context: As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.

People, Truth, World, Peace

“First you say I am a murderer - an agent in league against you - and now I am a deluded heartsick girl! Pray make up your mind so I can scoff at you with precision!”

Gordon Dahlquist (1961) American writer

Source: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume Two

Girl

“Kiss me again, but don't let me see your eyes! I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer--but yours! How can I?”

Emily Brontë book Wuthering Heights

Source: Wuthering Heights

Love, Forgiveness, Kiss