Quotessence
Home / Authors / John Connolly
John Connolly

John Connolly Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllEvilPeopleMenGoodIfsJohn ConnollyPainChildrenLifeSaid

Famous John Connolly Quotes

“It was my first glimpse of the honeycomb world, my first inkling that the past never truly dies but is strangely, beautifully alive in the present. There is an interconnectedness to all things, a link between what lies buried and what lives above, a capacity for mutability that allows a good act committed in the present to rectify an imbalance in times gone by. That, in the end, is the nature of justice: not to undo the past but, by acting further down the line of time, to restore some measure of harmony, some possibility of equilibrium, so that lives may continue with their burden eased and the dead may find peace in a world beyond this one.”

John ConnollyHoneycomb WorldCharlie ParkerThe Killing Kind
Book:The Killing Kind
Create image

“You have to understand that only the very worst end up here: the ones whose anger made them kill, and who felt no sorrow or guilt after the act; those so obsessed with themselves that they turned their backs on the sufferings of others, and left them in pain; those whose greed meant that others starved and died. Such souls belong here, because they would find no peace elsewhere. In this place, they are understood. In this place, their faults have meaning. In this place, they belong.”

SufferingPeaceSinHellWorstSorrowAngerMurderGreedVanityMeaningBelongingRemorseWrathKillAvariceFinding PeaceSinsSufferBelong
Author:John Connolly
Create image

“I believe in those whom I love and trust. All else is foolishness. This god is as empty as his church. His followers choose to attribute all of their good fortune to him, but when he ignores their pleas or leaves them to suffer, they say only that he ignores their pleas or leaves them to suffer, they say only that he is beyond their understanding and abandon themselves to his will. What kind of god is that?”

BelieveKindSufferingI BelieveUnderstandingChurchEmptyFortuneI Believe InAbandonFollowersAttributesFoolishnessGood FortuneLove And Trust
Author:John Connolly
Create image

“You mean they killed her?" asked David. They ate her," said Brother Number One. "With porridge. That's what 'ran away and was never seen again' means in these parts. It means 'eaten.'" Um and what about 'happily ever after'?" asked David, a little uncertainly. "What does that mean?" Eaten quickly," said Brother Number One.”

MeanLittlesDoeSaidNumbersBrotherRanHappily Ever AfterEver AfterPorridge
Book:The Book of Lost Things: A Novel
Create image

“He would talk to them of stories and books, and explain to them how stories wanted to be told and books wanted to be read, and how everything that they ever needed to know about life and the land of which he wrote, or about any land or realm that they could imagine, was contained in books. And some of the children understood, and some did not.”

KnowsChildrenBookStoriesWantedImagineLandNeededUnderstoodRealms
Book:The Book of Lost Things: A Novel
Create image

“He had never really speculated about this before, since demons came in all shapes and sizes. Indeed, some of them came in more than one shape or size all by themselves, such as O'Dear, the Demon of People Who Look in Mirrors and Think They're Overweight, and his twin, O'Really, the Demon of People Who Look in Mirrors and Think They're Slim When They're Not.”

PeopleThinkingLooksShapesMirrorsDearSizeDemonTwinsOverweightSlim
Book:The Gates: A Samuel Johnson Tale
Create image

“I think the act of reading imbues the reader with a sensitivity toward the outside world that people who don't read can sometimes lack. I know it seems like a contradiction in terms; after all reading is such a solitary, internalizing act that it appears to represent a disengagement from day-to-day life. But reading, and particularly the reading of fiction, encourages us to view the world in new and challenging ways...It allows us to inhabit the consciousness of another which is a precursor to empathy, and empathy is, for me, one of the marks of a decent human being.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWorldWayHumansSometimesSeemsReadingTermChallengesHuman BeingsViewsConsciousnessFictionReaderEmpathyMarkDecentContradictionSolitaryDay To DaySensitivityOutside WorldDay LifeDay To Day LifePrecursorDisengagementInternalizing
Book:The Book of Lost Things: A Novel
Create image

“Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath a blanket, they had no real existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth, or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being.”

WorldWantGivingHumansBookRealEyeEarthLyingSongFallWaitingVoiceChanceExistenceBirdInstrumentsNotesFollowingWideSeedsPairsOur WorldYearningSheetsBlanketDormantHuman VoiceFlashlightsBeaksWide Eyes
Author:John Connolly
Create image

“The Detective was different. Not that he wasn't a good man; Willie had heard enough about him to understand that he was the kind who didn't like to turn away from another's pain, the kind who couldn't put a pillow over his ears to drown out the cries of strangers. Those scars he had were badges of courage, and Willie knew that there were others hidden beneath his clothes, and still more deep inside, right beneath the skin and down to the soul. No, it was just that whatever goodness was there coexisted with rage and grief and loss.”

MenKindStillsDifferentSoulEnoughPainTurnsLossGriefHeardCryGoodnessClothesSkinsEarsStrangerRageGood ManGrief And LossScarPillowDetectivesDeep InsideBadges
Author:John Connolly
Create image

“This life is filled with threats and danger, David. We face those that we have to face, and there will be times when we must make the choice to act for the greater good, even at risk to ourselves, but we do not lay down our lives needlessly. Each of us has only one life to live, and one life to give. There is no glory in throwing it away where there is no hope.”

GivingFacesLife IsChoicesGreaterOur LivesRiskDangerGloryFilledLaysThreatThis LifeThrowingNo HopeGreater GoodOne Life To Live
Book:The Book of Lost Things: A Novel
Create image

“I am sorry," I whispered. "I am sorry for all of the ways that I failed you. I am sorry that I was not there to save you, or to die alongside you. I am sorry that I have kept you with me for so long, trapped in my heart, bound in sorrow and remorse. I forgive you too. I forgive you for leaving me, and I forgive you for returning. I forgive you your anger, and your grief. Let this be an end to it.”

WayHeartLongEndsDiesGriefMy HeartSorrowForgivingSorryBoundsLeavingTrappedRemorseLeaving MeI Am SorryAm SorryI Forgive You
Book:The John Connolly Collection #2: The White Road, The Black Angel, and The Unquiet
Create image

“David's mother would often tell him stories were alive. They weren't alive in the way people were alive,or even dogs or cats. People were alive whether you chose to notice them or not, while dogs tended to make you notice them if they decided that you weren't paying enough attention. Cats, meanwhile, were very good at pretending people didn't exist at all when it suited them.”

PeopleIfsWayEnoughStoriesMotherAttentionAliveDogCatDecidedVery GoodPretending
Author:John Connolly
Create image

“I dream dark dreams. I dream of a figure moving through the forest, of children flying from his path, of young women crying at his coming. I dream of snow and ice, of bare branches and moon-cast shadows. I dream of dancers floating in the air, stepping lightly even in death, and my own pain is but a faint echo of their suffering as I run. My blood is black on the snow, and the edges of the world are silvered with moonlight. I run into the darkness, and he is waiting. I dream in black and white, and I dream of him. I dream of Caleb, who does not exist, and I am afraid.”

WorldChildrenDoeDreamRunningPainMovingYoungSufferingWaitingBlackDarkMy OwnWhiteDarknessPathAirBloodCryFiguresMoonShadowCastsEdgesFlyingSnowForestsIceBranchesDancerBlack And WhiteEchoesYoung WomenFloatingMoonlightCalebEdge Of The WorldDark DreamsBare Branches
Book:Dark Hollow: A Charlie Parker Thriller
Create image

“There are people whose eyes you must avoid, whose attention you must not draw to yourself. They are strange, parasitic creatures, lost souls seeking to stretch across the abyss and make fatal contact with the warm, constant flow of humanity. They live in pain, and exist only to visit that pain on others. A random glance, the momentary lingering of a look, is enough to give them the excuse that they seek. Sometimes, it is better to keep your eyes on the gutter for the fear that, by looking up, you might catch a glimpse of them, black shapes against the sun, and be blinded forever.”

PeopleGivingLooksSoulSometimesEnoughMightEyePainHumanityLostBlackAttentionSunForeverStrangeShapesCreaturesDrawsFlowConstantSeekingExcuseWarmContactGlancesGlimpseAbyssBlindedMomentaryLingeringGuttersLost Souls
Book:The Killing Kind: A Charlie Parker Thriller
Create image