Quotes by Ken Follett

“In the dynamics of the main family of the story, a rising socialist in England's postwar government expects his grandparents to be pleased that the local aristocrat's garden is commandeered to allo...”

“It was the study hour. Most of the monks were reading. A few were meditating, an activity that was suspiciously similar to dozing.”

“Being a monk was the strangest and most perverted way of life imaginable. Monks spent half their lives putting themselves through pain and discomfort that they could easily avoid, and the other hal...”

“Two blades clashed, ringing like a bell. Like all small boys, Philip thought his father was invincible; and this was the moment when he learned the truth.”

“Why do you have to be the same as the others? ...Most of them are stupid.”

“The first casualty of a civil war was justice, Philip had realized.”

“Everything in Tom's cathedral looked as if it was meant to be. Perhaps her life was like that, everything foreordained in a grand design, and she was like a foolish builder who wanted a waterfall i...”

“When I'm brave and strong, and care for children and the sick and the poor, I become a better person. And when I'm cruel, cowardly, or tell lies, or get drunk, I turn into someone less worthy, and ...”

“Americans talked about voters the same way Russians talked about Stalin. They had to be obeyed.”

“When you're thinking, please remember this: excessive pride is a familiar sin, but a man may just as easily frustrate the will of God through excessive humility.”

“Fathers were supposed to be invulnerable - but that attitude was childish, he now saw. Irritatingly, he might have to change his outlook. He could no longer be merely indignant and resentful. He wa...”

“All his life he would cherish the memory of an endless caravan of camels alongside the railway line, the laden beasts plodding patiently through the snow, ignoring the twentieth century as it hurtl...”

“Most rich people have a gangster in their ancestry somewhere.”

“In the grounds of the chteau was a churchsaid to date from the year 1000, and he went to look at it, but he had never really understood what people saw in oldchurches.”

“In the grounds of the chteau was a church said to date from the year 1000, and he went to look at it, but he had never really understood what people saw in old churches.”

“He had forgotten that God saw through the silk robes to the sinful heart, that the only wealth worth having was treasure in heaven, and that even the king had to kneel down in church. Feeling that ...”

“And where are you going?" His voice was playfully challenging. "To get some breakfast," she said without stopping.He leered. "I've got something for you to eat," he called after her."I might bite i...”

“Monks committed all the same sins that ordinary people did. He had just been shocked by the woman's shamelessness. The sight of her nakedness remained with him, the way the hot heart of a candle fl...”

“Philip looked incredulously at the tiny bundle in Johnnys arms. He reached out a hand tentatively, and lifted a corner of the blanket. He saw a wrinkled pink face, an open toothless mouth and a lit...”

“When he thought about how he had been slighted, condescended to, manipulated and deceived, he became angry. Obedience was a monastic virtue, but outside the cloisters it had its drawbacks, he thoug...”