Quotes from work

Dead Beat

“Heroism doesn't pay very well. I try to be cold-blooded and money-oriented, but I keep screwing it up.”

“Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether.”

“Polka will never die.”

“If you go to your death rather than do everything you might to prevent what is happening, you are merely committing suicide and trying to make yourself feel better about it. That is the act of a coward. It is beneath contempt.”

“I know how you feel," I said. "You run into something you totally don't get, and it's scary as hell. But once you learn something about it, it gets easier to handle. Knowledge counters fear. It always has.”

“My brief flash of relief and confidence melted away. Good thing it did, too. I'm sure the world would come to an end if I were allowed to feel a sense of relief and well-being for any length of time.”

“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but Chinese throwing stars get you a dozen stitches.”

“Malcolm Dresden: Son. Everyone dies alone. That's what it is. It's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone." His fingers squeezed me tight. "But it doesn't mean you've got to be alone before you go through the door. And believe me, you aren't alone on the other side."”

“I'm sure that you psychotic necro-wannabes with delusions of godhood are all about sharing with your fellow maniacs.”

“I believe that there's a cloud for every silver lining,' I said.”

“I'm brilliant as well as skilled," he said modestly. "It's a great burden, all of that on top of my angelic good looks. But I try to soldier on as best I can.”

“Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar”

“I parked in front of the Field Museum under a NO PARKING sign. There were a couple of actual spots I could have used, but the drive was even closer. Besides, I found it aesthetically satisfying to defy municipal code.”

“Now I feel like James Bond. Suave and intelligent, breaking all the codes while looking fabulous.”

“Fear is a part of life. It's a warning mechanism. That's all. It tells you when there's danger around. Its job is to help you survive. Not cripple you into being unable to do it.”

“It was one of those moments that would have had dramatic music if my life were a movie, but instead I got a radio jingle for some kind of submarine sandwich place blaring over the store's ambient stereo. The movie ofmy life must be really low-budget.”

“I just stood there staring, because while I've seen a lot of weird things, I hadn't ever seen that.”

“I mean, we're all going to die. We know that on an intellectual level. We figure it out when we're still fairly young, and it scares us so badly that we convince ourselves we're immortal for more than a decade afterwards.”

“When you do something stupid and die, it's pathetic,” I said. “When you do something stupid and survive it, then you get to call it impressive or heroic.”