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Barry Eisler

Barry Eisler Quotes

Novelist

Barry Eisler is an American novelist known for his political thrillers and spy novels. Born in 1964, he has served as a former soldier and worked for an American intelligence agency. Eisler's works often involve complex political conspiracies and moral dilemmas, which have won him a wide readership.

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All Thinking Book Want Cia Publishers Self Argument Art Bigs Cities

Famous Barry Eisler Quotes

“Most people are like sheep. Nice, harmless creatures who want nothing more than to be left alone so they can graze. But then of course there are wolves. Who want nothing more than to eat the sheep. But there’s a third kind of person. The sheepdog. Sheepdogs have fangs like wolves. But their instinct isn’t predation. It’s protection. All they want, what they live for, is to protect the flock.”

Philosophy Protect Police Sheep Wolves Cops Predation Sheepdog

Book:Livia Lone

Source: Livia Lone

“Is there any teacher better, more patient, more determined than fate?”

Book:Zero Sum

Source: Zero Sum

“What makes humans special is our need to rationalize our actions.”

Human Nature Rationalization

Book:Zero Sum

Source: Zero Sum

“If you live only for yourself, dying is an especially scary proposition.”

Death Life Lessons Fear Lonely

Book:Winner Take All

Source: Winner Take All

“Caligula ne demişti? Oderint dum meduant. Bizden korktukları sürece, bırakın bizden nefret etsinler.”

Book:Fault Line

Source: Fault Line

“In my unfortunately infrequent encounters with real passion, I'm rarely as careful as I ought to be. The rationalization goes something like: With all the bullets and mortar rounds I've survived, I must be immune to sexually transmitted diseases. Stupid, I know. More likely, fate will indulge its taste for irony by killing me with AIDS os some other unpleasant alternative.”

Humor Assassin Personal Beliefs Die By The Sword

Book:Winner Take All

Source: Winner Take All

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.”

Vigilante Justice

Book:The Night Trade

Source: The Night Trade

“Some people just need killing.”

Vigilante Justice Doxism

Book:The Night Trade

Source: The Night Trade

“When I wrote my eighth thriller, Inside Out, in 2009, the villains were a group of CIA and other government officials who colluded to destroy a series of tapes depicting Americans torturing war-on-terror prisoners.”

War Government Groups Series Terror Officials Prisoner Villain Tape Cia Thrillers War On Terror Government Officials

Author:Barry Eisler

“The strangest thing about the low quality of Internet argument is that effective argument isnt really so difficult. Sure, not everyone can be Clarence Darrow, but anyone who wants to be at least competent at argument can do it.”

Want Difficult Can Do Quality Internet Lows Argument Competent

Author:Barry Eisler

“Paper publishers are doing everything they can to slow the transition to eBooks because, in a digital world, paper publishers' high hardback margins essentially disappear.”

World Paper Disappear Digital Transition Publishers Margins Digital World

Author:Barry Eisler

“Overall, one of the things that excites me most about self-publishing is that the highest-value use of my time in promoting the books will be found in writing more of them.”

Writing Book Self Use Values Found Highest My Time Publishing Promoting

Author:Barry Eisler

“The job of the screenplay is to identify and extract the essence of the story from the novel and reconfigure it for the screen, maintaining its essence in a different vehicle.”

Different Stories Jobs Novel Essence Screens Vehicle Maintaining Screenplays

Author:Barry Eisler

“It would be awesome to be so impressive that we could sway people to our way of thinking just by declaiming our thoughts, but probably most of us lack such gravitas. Luckily, there's something even better: evidence, logic, and argument.”

People Thinking Way Would Be Evidence Argument Logic Our Thoughts Impressive Way Of Thinking Gravitas

Author:Barry Eisler

“I have a long-standing interest in what I like to think of as "forbidden knowledge": methods of unarmed killing, lock picking, breaking and entry, spy stuff, and other things that the government wants only a few select individuals to know.”

Thinking Knows Want Long Government Individual Stuff Interest Standing Method Killing Locks Forbidden Spy Select Entry Unarmed

Author:Barry Eisler

“I make a good living selling hardback books through paper publishers and I have many friends in the industry who will suffer as it changes, so on a personal level the transition to digital isn't something I welcome wholeheartedly.”

Book Suffering Levels Industry Paper Selling Welcome Digital Transition Publishers Many Friends Wholeheartedly Good Living

Author:Barry Eisler

“If the reader cares, I dont think it matters so much whether your hero is in fact an anti-hero.”

Ifs Thinking Matter Facts Care Reader Hero Anti Hero

Author:Barry Eisler

“Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility.”

Self Causes Responsibility Easier Consequence Righteousness Personal Responsibility Self Righteousness

Author:Barry Eisler

“I love Japan, and Tokyo is my favorite city.”

Cities My Favorite Japan Tokyo Favorite City

Author:Barry Eisler

“I can understand the allure of a venerable Big Six imprint, of a shot at the New York Times list, of a publisher-sponsored book tour, of seeing your hardbacks in bookstores and your paperbacks in supermarkets.”

I Can Book Bigs Seeing New York Six Shots Lists Publishers New York Times Bookstores Supermarkets Allure

Author:Barry Eisler

“The post office actually achieves its mission. I wish we could say the same of the CIA.”

Wish Achieve Office Missions Posts Cia Post Office

Author:Barry Eisler

“The National Surveillance State doesn't want anyone to be able to communicate without the authorities being able to monitor that communication.”

Want States Able Communication Authority Communicate Surveillance Surveillance State

Author:Barry Eisler

“If you focus on the risks, they'll multiply in your mind and eventually paralyze you. You want to focus on the task, instead, on doing what needs to be done.”

Ifs Want Needs Mind Done Focus Risk Tasks

Author:Barry Eisler

“I wandered the earth a mercenary, daring the gods to kill me but surviving because part of me was already dead.”

Earth Daring Kill Me Surviving Mercenary

Author:Barry Eisler

“The movie is someone else's art. But it's great marketing for books.”

Art Book Marketing Great Marketing

Author:Barry Eisler

“After I sold my screenplay adaptation of 'Rain Fall' to Sony Pictures, I had no more creative involvement.”

Fall Creative Rain Adaptation Involvement Screenplays Sony

Author:Barry Eisler

“From the outside, the CIA seems pretty exotic, but from the inside, it's a big bureaucratic place. Think 'post office with spies.'”

Thinking Bigs Seems Office Posts Spy Cia Exotic Post Office

Author:Barry Eisler

“The two most important things to do for self-defense are not to take a martial arts class or get a gun, but to think like the opposition and know where you're most at risk.”

Thinking Knows Art Two Important Self Class Risk Gun Important Things Defense Things To Do Opposition Martial Arts Self Defense Art Class

Author:Barry Eisler

“The City. Can't you hear it? People. Machines. Even thoughts so thick your bones feel it and your ear almost catches it.”

People Feels Cities Machines Ears Bones Clarity Thick

Author:Barry Eisler

“Publishing for me is a business, not an ideology.”

Ideology Publishing

Author:Barry Eisler

About the Author

Born: 1964
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 30

Related Topics

Thinking Book Want Cia Publishers Self Argument Art Bigs Cities

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

The Night TradeRelated source material

Winner Take AllRelated source material

Zero SumRelated source material

Fault LineRelated source material

Livia LoneRelated source material

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