Book Quotes

Artemis Fowl Sr. - Aurum Est Potestas

Artemis Fowl Sr. - ."Gold isn't all-important, Arty," he continued. "Neither is power. We have everything we need right here. The three of us."

Artemis Fowl Sr. - I have another chance, and I will not waste it on greed. We are a family now. A proper one. From now on the Fowl name will be associated with honour and honesty.

Artemis Fowl Sr. - While I was a prisoner, I thought about my life, how I had wasted it gathering riches whatever the cost to my family and others around me. In a man's life, he gets a few chances to make a difference. To do the right thing. To be a hero, if you will. I intend to become involved in that struggle. I never got involved before. I always thought the world could not be changed. But things are different now. My priorities are different. I intend to seize the day. Be the hero that every father should be. And what about you, Arty? Will you make the journey with me? When the moment comes, will you take your chance to be a hero? (Eternity Code, P.156)

Foaly - Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.

Foaly - ."I can't be sure," the centaur replied. "But I'm guessing that Holly's magic wasn't enough. Some of Butler's own life force was needed for the healing. About fifteen years' worth by the looks of it."

Foaly - Koboi? Koboi? Those wings of hers are ridiculous. If you ask me, we're using far too much Koboi technology these days. It's not good to let one company have all LEP's business.

Foaly - Those on the fringes of the law move faster than those bound by it, which is where I come in.

Commander Root - For a job like this, we need our very best. And that's me. I'm reactivating myself.

Commander Root - That would spell the end of everything, unless the Mud People had learned to coexist with other species. And if history had taught any lessons it was that humans couldn't get along with anyone, even themselves.

Commander Root - Well, there's a big difference between stunning a cardboard cutout and a real person.

Artemis - How far was he prepared to go for this gold? He didn't know, and wouldn't until the time came.

Artemis - Ah yes, the trusty time paradox. If I go back in time and kill my grandfather, then shall I cease to exist? I believe, as Gorben and Berndt did, that any repercussions are already being felt. We can only change the future, not the past or present. If I go back, then I have already been back.

Artemis (Opal Deception, P.164) - Your name, my old friend, is Domovoi

Holly - A casualty of war? How can you say that? A life is a life.

Holly (Eternity Code, P.302) - We could never have been friends. It was circumstance that pushed us together, nothing more.

Holly (Opal Deception, P.227) - Friendship is not a science, Mud Boy. Forget about your massive brain for one minute. Just do what you feel is right.

Holly (The Lost Colony, P. 131) - I know, big man. That's why I do it. Think if me as on-the-job training."

Dr. Po - The problem is that you don't respect anyone enough to treat them as an equal.

Narrator - Two hundred goblins versus our virtually unarmed three heroes. It was going to be close.

Narrator - But Mulch quickly discovered that Mud People could find a reason to distrust almost anyone. Height, weight, skin colour, religion. It was almost safer to be different in some way

Narrator (Eternity Code, P.255) - It was an electric moment. Not only because Pex had actually had an idea, but because it was actually a good one.

Narrator Cudgeon - Ambition had a price, and that price was friendship.

Angeline Fowl (Opal Deception, P.95) - I'm worried about you, Arty. Someone your age shouldn't be quite so...responsible. Don't worry about us; worry about school and friends. Think about what you really want to do. Use that big brain of yours to make yourself and other people happy. Forget the family business. Living is the family business now.

Butler - ."No, you don't," he grunted, tightening his inhidden grip. "I've put up with too much hardship over the years for you to disappear on me now." And so Butler reached down through the decades and yanked his young charge back from the past.

Katniss Everdeen - It must be very fragile, if a handful of berries can bring it down.

Chiron - Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality.

Poseidon - I am sorry you were born, child. I have brought you a hero's fate, and a hero's fate is never happy. It is never anything but tragic.

Hermes - Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment.

Hermes - If there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet.

Mr. Dionysus - My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade.

Dionysus - But, remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as an award.

Athena - Do not judge me too harshly, half blood. Wise counsel is not always popular, but inspire the truth. You are dangerous.

Hera - Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things. I'm sure your mother Athena would agree.

Hephaestus - Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong.

Achilles - Let the gods witness I tried. Hero, if you must do this, concentrate on your mortal point. Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body to the world. It will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope. No man may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps you mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist.

Sadie - Why did adults have to be so thick? They always say "tell the truth," and when you do, they don't believe you. What's the point?

Bes - Don't get starry-eyed about a somebody you can't have, especially if it blinds you to somebody who's really important.

Julius Kane - Remind my brother that Egyptians believe in the power of the sunrise. They believe each morning begins not just a new day, but a new world.

Ptah - You're beginning to understand. Words are the source of all power. And names are now than just a collection of letters.

- Usually people stress situational factors to explain their own failures and dispositional factors to explain their own successes (for example, "I failed he exam because the teacher can't explain the subject" versus "I passed the exam because I studied hard"). With regard to other people's failures or shortcomings, people tend to stress dispositional factors ("She doesn't car about school"; "He didn't try"). With regard to others' successes, people tend to emphasize situational factors ("She passed the test because it was easy").

- The idea that "no two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached."

- The barrier between Mexico and the United States serves "as a potent political symbol used to convey the illusion that [the] United States is in control of its borders during a time of almost intolerable economic uncertainty."

- (p. 216) When we reify categories, we act as if people are those categories. When people do things or appear in ways that don't fit their assigned racial category, we act as if something is wrong with them or that they are the exceptions to the rule rather than questioning the category scheme...

- (p. 217) As for those of Arab ancestry, the U.S. government labels them white

Max Weber (1922) (p. 222) - The whole conception of ethnic groups is so complex and so vague that it might be good to abandon it altogether.

- (p. 370) ...key leaders of every major terrorist attack, from New York to France to Saudi Arabia, inevitably turned out to be veterans of the Afghan War

George W. Bush upon launching attack on Afghanistan, 2001 - We did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it. The name of today's military operation is Enduring Freedom. We defend not only our precious freedoms, but also the freedom of people everywhere to live and raise their children free from fear

George W. Bush upon sending troops to Iraq in 2003 - Those we lost were last seen on duty. Their final act on this Earth was to fight a great evil and bring liberty to others. All of you - all in this generation of our military - have taken up the highest calling of history. You're defending your country, and protecting the innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope - a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "To the captives, 'come out,' - and to those in darkness, 'be free.'

Barack Obama on the death of Osama Bin Laden - The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Narrator (P. 34, The Bad Beginning) - ...but it is a sad truth in life that when someone has lost a love one, friends sometimes avoid the person, just when the presence of friends is most needed.

Narrator - Unless you have been very, very lucky, you have undoubtedly experienced events in your life that have made you cry. So unless you have been very, very lucky, you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.

Narrator - It is very useful, when one is young, to learn the difference between "literally" and "figuratively." If something happens literally, it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it is happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, for instance, it means you are leaping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but are saving your energy for other matters.

Narrator - There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.

Riley - We will. You saved me in your world. Now I will save you in mine.

Riley - You taught me well, Albert Garrick. Now we must see if your own lessons can be turned against you.

Garrick - Life and death are two ends of the same ride. Nothing to celebrate or mourne.

Riley - You saved me in your world. Now I will save you in mine.

Riley - You had the bad intention, and that's what goes down in your ledger.

Riley - I was wrong. Garrick cannot be killed. He is the Forever Man.

Riley - Fairbrother Isles. Fair Brother Isles. FBI? Could he be a member of Chevie's Pinkerton-style organization?

Kaladin and Hoid - This wasn't real. It couldn't be happening to her. Fourteen-year-olds didn't die; they went through a troublesome phase and grew out of it.

Lowrie (p. 58) - Regret is a powerful incentive.

Lowrie (p. 91) - We all think we're going to live forever. Then bang! Our time is up and we haven't done any of the things we thought we'd do. Well, not me. I've got a chance to redeem myself. And a partner to help me do it.

Narrator (p. 127) - From above, Lowrie looked even more pathetic. Even a new suit couldn't disguise the droop in his shoulders or the shake in his hand. It was obvious, even to a teenager, that he couldn't go on like this. His six months could become weeks, even days, if he kept going at this rate.