He had a charm about him sometimes, a warmth that was irresistible, like sunshine. He planted Saffy triumphantly on the pavement, opened the taxi door, slung in his bag, gave a huge film-star wave, called, "All right, Peter? Good weekend?" to the tax...
In the pragmatist, streetwise climate of advanced postmodern capitalism, with its scepticism of big pictures and grand narratives, its hard-nosed disenchantment with the metaphysical, 'life' is one among a whole series of discredited totalities. We a...
Boys will always be boys,’ he said. ‘The relationship obviously wasn’t meant to be.’ He told me I should trust that the break-up was for the best, even if I couldn’t see that yet. As with every form of suffering, heartache brings with it ca...
Do you see this lantern? cried Syme in a terrible voice.'Do you see the cross carved on it, and the flame inside? You did not make it. You did not light it. Better men than you, men who could believe and obey, twisted the entrails of iron and preserv...
Marxist Man could not have come upon the earth at a more illogical time. In an age when technological advances have finally made it feasible to adequately feed, clothe and house the entire human race, Marxist Man stands as a military threat to this p...
Stephenson had large wrought-iron boiler plates available and he also had the courage of his calculations... The idea found its best-known expression in the Menai railway bridge opened in 1850. Stephenson's beams, which weighed 1,500 tons each, were ...
Under torture you are as if under the dominion of those grasses that produce visions. Everything you have heard told, everything you have read returns to your mind, as if you were being transported, not toward heaven, but toward hell. Under torture y...
There is a larger lesson here, because the book encompasses not just the lives of prisoners in a Soviet prison camp, but every one of us. Shukhov squeezes everything he can out of a mouthful of soup or a bite of bread…So frozen that he can’t even...
Where would the shout of love begin, if not from the summit of sacrifice? Oh my brothers, this is the junction between those who think and those who suffer; this barricade is made neither of paving stones, nor of timbers, nor of iron; it is made of t...
Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which of course he did. Through the face guard of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?" "Son of Hades." Kronos spit o...
It’s sarcasm, Josh.” “Sarcasm?” “It’s from the Greek, sarkasmos. To bite the lips. It means that you aren’t really saying what you mean, but people will get your point. I invented it, Bartholomew named it.” “Well, if the village idi...
Heights plummeted because of a little disaster called civilization. "Heights go way down when we go into state society," says Bogin. "When Egypt conquered the Nile area, the height of peasants fell dramatically. They moved from having access to a wid...
In a little while they were kissing. In a little while longer, they made their slow sweet love. The iron bed sounded like a pine forest in an ice storm, like a switch track in a Memphis trainyard, like the sweet electrical thunder of habitual love an...
A brief hush fell over the table when the guy from the bar approached. After he finished depositing their drinks in the center of the table, Lynn jumped on the opportunity to flirt, winking and smiling prettily at him. “Thanks, cowboy.” “Cowboy...
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: [after taking credit for Kimble's saving of his partner and declaring all prisoners dead] Oh. Wow. Gee Whiz. Looky here. You know we're always fascinated when we find leg irons with no legs in them. Who held the keys sir...
[last lines] Mickey: You know, I was talking to your father before, and I was telling him that it's ironic I, I - used to always have Thanksgiving with Hannah, and I never thought that I could love anybody else. And here it is years later and I'm mar...
Jarvis: Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications? Tony Stark: Thrill me. [as Jarvis works on the render, Tony watches benefit at the Disney Concert Hall on TV] Jarvis: The render is complete. Tony Stark: A little ostentatious, don't you thin...
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: You are supposed to be halfway around the world by now. Tony Stark: How'd she take it? Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: Like a champ. Tony Stark: Why are you trying to hustle me out of here? Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: Your flight was s...
[lying in bed, Lynn touches a scar on Bud's shoulder] Lynn Bracken: Where'd this come from? Bud White: When I was twelve, my old man went after my mother with a bottle. I got in the way. Lynn Bracken: You saved her. Bud White: ...Not for long. Lynn B...
Dick Liddil: Can you hand me that six-gun there, Bob? [Bob hands Dick his "grandaddy" paterson colt] Dick Liddil: [holding the gun to Bob's head, whispering] If you so much as mention my name to Jesse... Boy, I'd find out about it. You had better bel...
[Nick Fury goes over to the fatally-wounded Coulson] Agent Phil Coulson: I'm sorry, boss. The god rabbited. Nick Fury: Just stay awake. Eyes on me. Agent Phil Coulson: No. I'm clocked out here. Nick Fury: Not an option. Agent Phil Coulson: It's okay,...
