Quotes by Clive Cussler

“When I first started writing, I was in advertising at the time, I was doing most of my writing on weekends. I had studied most of the other series heroes and I figured it would be fun for mine to be different and put him in and around water. So I dreamed up Dirk Pitt.”

“I applied for the job. They had three stores and they were shocked! They said that I was a little over qualified, but they hired me anyway.”

“She had the kids during the day and I would have them at night. That way they were never alone. I would put the kids to bed, and then I had nothing to do and nobody to talk to, so I would write.”

“Its always the thrill of the unknown. Everybody dives in the Grand Cayman or Bermuda. I dont dive in those places anymore, after 50 years the thrill just isnt there. I always tell everybody, go where nobody goes! Go up into Canada or Alaska, sure its cold water, but youll be seeing things nobody has seen before!”

“Sometimes my plot lines are so convoluted, I get calls from friends at 3 am saying; you SOB, youll never pull this one off.”

“I guess the books are kind of like the old Saturday afternoon matinee serials. Most of them were westerns in those days. Where the hero is going off the cliff in a car filled with dynamite and thats were it would end, until you came back the following Saturday to find out what happened.”

“Im numb, ... Its a great feeling.”

“It will be a thrilling moment, ... Its going to be a wonder.”

“As for the DOXA watch, when I was beginning my second book, I was the creative director for a big ad agency in L.A. My wife said jokingly, why don t you apply for this job? It was a $400/month job as a clerk in a Dive shop, perfect for writing underwater books.”

“I feel pretty good. Nobody expected it to do that well right out of the gate.”

While like most men, Sam prided himself on being equipped with a supernatural internal compass that kept him from ever being lost, hed also learned to concede those rare times when that compass seemed to be temporary disrepair.

In this century wars will not be fought over oil, as in the past, but over water. The situation is becoming desperate. The worlds water is strained by population growth. There is no more fresh water on earth than two thousand years ago when the population was three percent of its current size. Even without the inevitable droughts, like the current one, it will get worse as demand and pollution increase. Some countries will simply run out of water, sparking a global refugee crisis. Tens of millions of people will flood across international borders. It means the collapse of fisheries, environmental destruction, conflict, lower living standards. She paused for a moment. As people who deal with the ocean you must see the irony. We are facing a shortage on a planet whose surface is covered two-thirds with water.

I know youre the only pistol champion we have, but Id rather they no see enough of you to hit. Youre also the only wife I have...Youre so sweet....at the moment.

If ever a car was created by designers with dreams of grandeur, it had to be the 1958 Buick Limited: the heftiest, highest-priced and most opulent monster ever to hit the street in the 50s.

Its a job. I entertain my readers. I get up in the morning, and I start typing.

I collect vintage cars, so you always find them in my books.