Best Crime Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

“I think I'm part of a generation of crime writers all of whom woke up independently and recoiled with horror at the fact that we'd chosen this very conservative genre.”

Thinking Facts Generations Crime Horror Conservative Chosen Genre

Author:Laura Lippman

“Until the year 1967, it was a crime, for which you could be put in prison, to make homosexual love to someone in your own house. If they came in and caught you at it, you could be put into prison. This has changed - I'm talking about England, incidentally.”

Ifs Years House Talking Crime Changed England Prison Caught Homosexual

Author:Patrick Macnee

“I was a crown attorney in my home town in Nova Scotia, and I learned that victims of crime needed better laws to better protect them. I saw politics as a means to improve this protection for them.”

Mean Home Law Saws Crime Needed Protect Towns Victim Protection Crowns Attorney Home Town Nova Scotia Novas

Author:Peter MacKay

“If there is something occurring that is so bad that it could be considered a crime against humanity, it has to be transmitted with anguish, with pain, and create an impact in people - upset them, shake them up, wake them out of their everyday routine.”

People Ifs Pain Humanity Crime Photography Impact Everyday Upset Shakes Routine Anguish Crimes Against Humanity Everyday Routine

Author:James Nachtwey

“I'm afraid I didn't really like Caracas in Venezuela. From what I saw it seemed so crime-ridden that you really have to be on your guard all the time.”

Saws Crime Venezuela

Author:Jo Nesbo

“I'm just an entertainer. In a way crime stories are boring. A crime's been committed and at the end you know it will be solved. So you've got to make the story interesting besides it just being a plot. And that's why character matters, why you've got to make the characters interesting.”

Knows Way Ends Matter Character Stories Interesting Crime Committed Boring Plot Just Being Entertainers

Author:Jo Nesbo

“I'm not a big crime reader, but I'm reading Michael Connelly's 'The Reversal.' I'm going back to his novels. I'm also reading Keith Richards' 'Life.' I'm always fascinated by the transition from the innocent late '60s and early '70s and the youth culture becoming an industry.”

Bigs Culture Reading Novel Crime Youth Industry Reader Becoming Late Innocent Transition Fascinated Keith Reversal Youth Culture

Author:Jo Nesbo

“Many Scandinavian writers who had made their name in literary fiction felt they wanted to have a go at the crime novel to show they could compete with the best. If Salman Rushdie had been Norwegian, he would definitely have written at least one thriller.”

Ifs Made Shows Wanted Names Felt Fiction Novel Written Crime Thrillers Norwegians Scandinavians Scandinavia Crime Novels Rushdie

Author:Jo Nesbo

“Stopping crime before it occurs is the most effective crime fighting tool of all.”

Fighting Crime Tools Stopping

Author:Blanche Lincoln

“The pace of Swedish crime fiction is slower - Stieg Larsson's the exception. And I think we use the environment more.”

Thinking Use Fiction Environment Crime Exception Pace Crime Fiction Swedish

Author:Camilla Lackberg

“Scandinavian crime fiction has become a great success all across the world and rightfully so. Sjowall and Wahloo ushered in a whole generation of Swedish crime writers, many of whom are now available in English.”

World Whole Fiction Generations Crime Available Crime Fiction Great Success Swedish Scandinavians Scandinavia

Author:Camilla Lackberg

“I am neither accusing President Obama of having committed high crimes and misdemeanors nor advocating his impeachment.”

President Crime Committed President Obama Advocating Accusing Impeachment Misdemeanors Crimes And Misdemeanors

Author:David Limbaugh

“I know you shouldn't spit in your own soup but I think most crime writing is like TV and doesn't make enormous demands on one's intellect.”

Thinking Knows Writing Crime Tvs Demand Intellect Enormous Soup Spit

Author:Donna Leon

“So much of contemporary crime fiction is painful to read and obsessed with violence, particularly against women, and I can't read that.”

I Can Fiction Violence Crime Painful Contemporary Obsessed Crime Fiction

Author:Donna Leon

“One hate crime is committed approximately every hour of every day in this country.”

Country Hate Hours Crime Committed Hate Crime

Author:Anna Paquin

“The centerpiece of 'Law and Order' is the crime, and it starts with the writing. There's a beginning, a middle and an end. It allows the audience to watch any given episode and can drop right in and not feel lost. I think the stark, raw structure has a lot to do with its longevity.”

Thinking Feels Writing Ends Law Order Lost Given Watches Audience Middle Crime Structure Episodes Longevity Starks Law And Order Centerpieces

Author:Danny Pino

“The main difference is, in 'Cold Case,' the victim sometimes had been dead for decades - you didn't have the advantage of being able to interview the victim. You had to piece together the circumstances surrounding the crime from witnesses and other evidence. 'SVU' is much more immediate in that you can talk to the victim.”

Sometimes Able Together Differences Cases Pieces Crime Cold Circumstances Evidence Advantage Victim Decades Witness Interviews Cold Case

Author:Danny Pino

“Illegal is not a race, it is a crime.”

Race Crime Illegal

Author:Russell Pearce

“Arizona did not make illegal, illegal. It is a crime to enter or remain in the U.S. in violation of federal law. States have had inherent authority to enforce immigration laws when the federal government has failed or refused to do so.”

States Government Law Crime Authority Immigration Illegal Inherent Federal Government Violation Arizona Immigration Laws

Author:Russell Pearce

“The crime novel has always been my favourite genre.”

Novel Crime Genre Favourite Crime Novels

Author:Sara Paretsky

“White-collar crime gets more outrageous by the second in America.”

America White Crime Outrageous Collars White Collar White Collar Crime

Author:Sara Paretsky

“Prison service vans that travel 90 miles to take a prisoner 90 yards; paedophiles free to leer at children in the very parks where they have committed horrific crimes.”

Children Crime Prison Committed Miles Parks Prisoner Yards Vans Horrific

Author:Trevor Phillips

“I took the first James Kelman novel, 'The Bus Conductor Hines', home to my dad. I thought, 'My dad will like this; it's written in Scots.' But my dad said: 'I can't read that.' He was reading James Bond and John le Carre. That was part of what attracted me to crime - the idea of getting a wide audience.”

Firsts Said I Can Ideas Home Reading Novel Audience Written Crime Dad My Dad Wide Bus Conductor Scots

Author:Ian Rankin

“A lot of writers, especially crime writers, have an image that we think we're trying to keep up with. You've got to be seen as dark and slightly dangerous. But I'm not like that and I've realised that I don't need to put that on. People will buy the books whether they see a photo of you dressed in black or not.”

People Thinking Needs Trying Book Black Dark Dangerous Crime Realised

Author:Ian Rankin

“The most difficult part of any crime novel is the plotting. It all begins simply enough, but soon you're dealing with a multitude of linked characters, strands, themes and red herrings - and you need to try to control these unruly elements and weave them into a pattern.”

Needs Trying Enough Character Difficult Novel Crime Elements Red Patterns Theme Multitudes Linked Strands Unruly Herring Crime Novels Red Herrings

Author:Ian Rankin

“One of the surprising things I hadn't expected when I decided to write crime fiction is how much you are expected to be out in front of the public. Some writers aren't comfortable with that. I don't have a problem with that.”

Writing Problem Fiction Fronts Crime Comfortable Decided Expected Surprising Crime Fiction Surprising Things

Author:Kathy Reichs

“I'm at the age where I just want to experiment. You know, play a crime investigator one week, a pregnant girl one week, an angel of darkness another week. I don't want to define myself by any category, or age, or role.”

Knows Want Play Age Girl Roles Darkness Week Crime Angel Experiments Categories Pregnant Investigators

Author:Leven Rambin

“I would feel horrible to think I had put my name on a pistol permit and allowed someone to carry around a gun and they committed another crime.”

Thinking Feels Names Crime Gun Committed Horrible Permit Pistols

Author:Mike Rutherford

“I think I had a particular moment when I was 15 years old. I read 'Crime and Punishment,' and that book just, I think, more than any other book made me want to be a writer, 'cause it was the first time that I hadn't just entered a book, but a book had entered me.”

Thinking Want Years Firsts Made Book Moments Causes Crime Particular First Time Punishment Crime And Punishment

Author:Ron Rash

“Moviegoers love the intricacies of a crime all the more when it's for a good cause.”

Causes Crime Good Causes Intricacy

Author:James Surowiecki

“Violent crime is a solved problem - all they have to do is repeal the laws that keep those intelligent, capable, and responsible men and women from arming themselves, and violent crime evaporates like dry ice on a hot summer day.”

Men Problem Law Crime Summer Capable Men And Women Intelligent Hot Responsible Violent Ice Dry Summer Days Violent Crimes Solved Problems Hot Summer Dry Ice

Author:L. Neil Smith

“With the frenzied pace in our own country, with the degenerating school system, with a crime rate that rises 30% a year, and with politicians that seem more interested in posturing than in governing, it has become more difficult, or should I say challenging, to achieve that inner symbiosis with life.”

Should Years Country Seems School Humanity Difficult Challenges Achieve Crime Buddhism Politician Rate Pace Should I Governing School System Crime Rates Symbiosis

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I like Jo Nesbo and Hakan Nesser. There are so many good books in the world. I don't want to spend time reading bad crime novels.”

World Want Book Reading Novel Crime End Times Spend Time Good Book Crime Novels

Author:Maj Sjowall

“We wanted to describe society from our left point of view. Per had written political books, but they'd only sold 300 copies. We realised that people read crime and through the stories we could show the reader that under the official image of welfare-state Sweden there was another layer of poverty, criminality and brutality.”

People Book States Stories Shows Wanted Political Left Views Poverty Written Crime Reader Point Of View Welfare Officials Copies Layers Realised Brutality Sweden Welfare State Criminality

Author:Maj Sjowall

“So many people that I've seen can't get clean water. It's a crime.”

People Water Crime Clean Clean Water

Author:Jay-Z

“Anya looked upon Nin admirably. Having him as a partner-in-crime-if only on this one occasion, which she hoped would only be the start of something more-was more revitalizing than the cheap thrills of a cookie-cutter shallow, superficial romance, where the top priority was how beautiful a person was on the outside.”

Ifs Persons Beautiful Romance Crime Reflection Partners Priorities Occasions Shallow Superficial Cookies Superficiality Top Priorities Cutters Cookie Cutters Superficial Things Partners In Crime

Book:The Other Side of Life (Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy, Book 1, Pre-Final Version)

Source: The Other Side of Life (Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy, Book 1, Pre-Final Version)

“Only the big souls can forgive the big crimes!”

Soul Bigs Crime Forgiving

Author:Mehmet Murat Ildan

“What I'm trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and frankly, I would never want to see that repeated.”

Want Trying Humanity Crime Holocaust Horrific Crimes Against Humanity

Author:Paul LePage

“Crime stories are, as you know, one of the most popular forms of entertainment that exist. If you then try to have something to say... that I have, of course.”

Ifs Knows Trying Stories Form Courses Crime Entertainment

Author:Steig Larsson

“Crime and legal stories, broadly speaking, are just where my interest happens to lie.”

Stories Happens Lying Interest Crime

Author:William Landay

“Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far.”

Important Action Simple Results Environment Influence Crime Murder Complexes Commit Genes Interaction Our Actions Triggers

Author:William Landay

“Technology has changed things, same as everywhere. But the economy has changed drastically. When Jamaica first won independence, our dollar was stronger than the U.S. dollar. Now ours is about 90 to one. That's had a big impact on crime and poverty.”

Firsts Bigs Poverty Technology Economy Crime Changed Stronger Independence Impact Dollars Jamaica Big Impact

Author:Damian Marley

“The United States and Mexico are trapped - economically, culturally, politically and because of drug crime - in the same continent.”

States United United States Crime Drug Mexico Trapped Continents

Author:Barry McCaffrey

“Crime fiction is the fiction of social history. Societies get the crimes they deserve.”

Social Fiction Crime Deserve Crime Fiction Social History

Author:Denise Mina

“I'd read so much right-wing crime fiction where they find the evidence and shoot the bad guy - I thought there must be another approach.”

Guy Fiction Crime Approach Evidence Wings Bad Guys Right Wing Crime Fiction

Author:Denise Mina

“People are interested in crime fiction when they're quite distanced from crime. People in Darfur are not reading murder mysteries.”

People Reading Fiction Mystery Crime Murder Crime Fiction Darfur Murder Mysteries

Author:Denise Mina

“There's a real emphasis on being witty in Scotland, even in crime novels.”

Real Novel Crime Witty Scotland Emphasis Crime Novels

Author:Denise Mina

“I grew up on the crime stuff. Spillane, Chandler, Jim Thompson, and noir movies like Fuller, Orson Welles, Fritz Lang. When I first showed up in New York to write comics back in the late 1970s, I came with a bunch of crime stories but everybody just wanted men in tights.”

Men Writing Firsts Stories Wanted Stuff Crime New York Grew Late Grew Up Bunch Noir Tights Fritz Lang

Author:Frank Miller

“There's an overlap between social-realist fiction and crime fiction - a sweet spot there.”

Social Fiction Crime Sweet Spots Realist Crime Fiction

Author:Daniel Woodrell

“Muslims consider the honor of the Prophet Muhammad to be dearer to them than that of their parents or even themselves. To defend it is considered to be an obligation upon them. The strict punishment if found guilty of this crime under sharia, the Islamic law, is capital punishment implementable by an Islamic State. This is because the Messenger Muhammad said, ‘Whoever insults a Prophet, kill him.’”

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Crime Quotes