Quotes by Jim Butcher

On the whole, were a murderous race. According to Genesis, it took as few as four people to make the planet too crowded to stand, and the first murder was a fratricide. Genesis says that in a fit of jealous rage, the very first child born to mortal parents, Cain, snapped and popped the first metaphorical cap in another human being. The attack was a bloody, brutal, violent, reprehensible killing. Cains brother Abel probably never saw it coming. As I opened the door to my apartment, I was filled with a sense of empathic sympathy and intuitive understanding. For freaking Cain.

Harry, life isnt simple. There is such a thing as black and white. Right and wrong. But when youre in the thick of things, sometimes its hard for us to tell. You didnt do what you did for your own benefit. You did it so that you could protect others. That doesnt make it right - but it doesnt make you a monster, either. You still have free will. You still get to choose what you will do and what you will be and what you will become.

Its one of the things that makes us different than they are, Harry. The blood on their hands does not make it right to bloody my own. My choices are measured against my own soul. Not against the stains on theirs.

Sometimes the most remarkable things seem commonplace. I mean when you think about it jet travel is pretty freaking remarkable. You get in a plane it defies the gravity of a entire planet by exploiting a loophole with air pressure and it flies across distances that would take months or years to cross by any means of travel that has been significant for more than a century or three. You hurtle above the earth at enough speed to kill you instantly should you bump into something and you can only breathe because someone built you a really good tin can that seems tight enough to hold in a decent amount of air. Hundreds of millions of man-hours of work and struggle and research blood sweat tears and lives have gone into the history of air travel and it has totally revolutionized the face of our planet and societies.But get on any flight in the country and I absolutely promise you that you will find someone who in the face of all that incredible achievement will be willing to complain about the drinks.

He had traded the lives of people he did not know for those of men he did.That was, he supposed, human nature.

Im not a philosopher, Harry, [Michael] said. But heres something for you to think about, at least. What goes around comes around. And sometimes you get whats coming around. He paused for a moment, frowning faintly, pursing his lips. And sometimes you are whats coming around.

You predicted quick victory. Now it’s going to get hopelessly complicated. Jesus, don’t you know any better than that by now?

Things are not always as bad as they seem. Sometimes, the darkness only makes it easier to see the light.

Theres always, always a choice. My options might really, truly suck, but that doesnt mean there isnt a choice.

A pair of dolphins swept by us in the water, flicking their heads out to get a look at us as they went. One of them made a chittering sound that wasnt very melodic. The other twitched its tail and splashed a little water our way, all in good fun. They werent the attractive Flipper kind of dolphins. They were regular dolphins that arent as pretty and dont get cast on television. Maybe they just refused to sell out and see a plastic surgeon. I held up a fist to them. Represent.

I grunted. Its something I picked up over a fifteen-year career in law enforcement. Men have managed to create a complex and utterly impenetrable secret language consisting of monosyllabic sounds and partial words—and they are apparently too thick to realize it exists. Maybe they really are from Mars. Id been able to learn a few Martian phrases over time, and one of the useful ones was the grunt that meant I acknowledge that Ive heard what you said; please continue.

Raw power doesnt determine all that you can do with magic. Focus matters, too. The better your focus is, the better you are at putting your power in one place at the same time, the more you can get done.

Industry and determination, Mister Kettle, can transform the difficult into the routine, Grimm said.

Vanity, thy name is vampire.

So we get a plan, I said. Any suggestions?Blow up the building, Kincaid said without looking up. That works good for vampires. Then soak whats left in gasoline. Set it on fire. Then blow it all up again.For future reference, I was sort of hoping for a suggestion that didnt sound like it came from that Bolshevik Muppet with all the dynamite.

I sidestepped the vampires rush, and drove my half of the former blasting rod down at its back, Buffy-like.Maybe it works better on television.

Youre in America now, I said. Our idea of diplomacy is showing up with a gun in one hand and a sandwich in the other and asking which youd prefer.

Rowl reminded himself that cats were eternally patient, and that he would not simply explode if he did not fling himself from Littlemouses arms and go exploring. Which was not to say that he could not do so if he wished, because cats were also their own masters. He decided that his patience was practically legendary- which was fortunate...

I swear to you, by my own stunning good looks and towering ego, that I am not lying to you.

We are as the dead, Sha said. Our purpose is to dedicate our lives to the service of our lord. And, when it is necessary, to surrender those lives. When we become what we are, we lose our lives - our names, our family, our homes, and our honour. All that remains is our lord.