The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

A tall rangy man in his late twenties. He had a powerful intellect and a scornful manner and he lived in a permanent state of righteous indignation.

They are simple people, you have to do something to keep their attention.

When you are about to be turned down, go for a postponement.

Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It meant believing that you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically.

I never taught him to keep regular hours.

Building Kingsbridge was the most profoundly satisfying work he had ever done.

Perhaps greed will always outweigh wisdom in the councils of the mighty. Perhaps fear will always overcome compassion in the mind of a man with a sword in his hand.

With my body, I worship you.

Could the King do as he pleased or was he constrained? The power of the King was no absolute after all; he could be constrained by the will of the people.

The small boys came early to the hanging.

Philip stepped forward to whip the King. He was glad he had lived to see this. After today, he thought, the world will never be quite the same.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Sammy found that, for the first time in years, he was able to avail himself of the help of a confederate.

Forget about what you are escaping from. Reserve your anxiety for what you are escaping to.

New York never seems more beautiful than to a young man who has just pulled off something he knows is gonna knock 'em dead.

He felt contented and hopeful and, in spite of having slept no more than four hours at a stretch in the last week, not in the least tired.

And since Cimmeria [maternal rule] fell into eternal darkness, men have been making a hash of things. War, famine, slavery.

There is only one sure means in life of ensuring that you are not ground into paste by disappointment, futility, and disillusion. And that is always to ensure to the utmost of your ability, that you are doing it solely for the money.

But lately she had been starting to experience strong, inarticulate feelings of longing, of a desire to be with Joe all the time, to inhabit his life and allow him to inhabit hers. To engage with him in some kind of joint enterprise, in a collaboration that would be their lives.

He was able to get anywhere from 18 to 36 news broadcasts every day, from all over the world, through naturally, like most of the world, he favored the BBC.

Tried to lull himself to sleep...by imagining he lay floating on a black raft, on a warm black lagoon, in the blackness of a moonless tropical night.

It seemed her destiny to live among men whose solutions were invariably more complicated or extreme than the problems they were intended to solve.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

It presupposes that magicians have some sort of duty to do magic, which is clearly nonsense.

I assure you, the British are a peculiarly unmilitary race.

Mr. Lascelles was one of that uncomfortable breed of men who despise steady employment of any sort.

Feats of magic will make your name known everywhere, sir, but they will never make your opinions understood. For that you must publish.

So may the love of money make an intelligent man small minded and ridiculous.

Everybody knows no one with red hair can ever truly be said to be handsome.

He drank very little now. Scarcely more than a bottle a day.

The Scottish captain...entertaining the [Native] Americans and teaching them to drink tea (presumably with the idea that once a man had learnt to drink tea, the other habits and qualities that make up a Briton would follow).

"Plans for Future Usefulness and Happiness"

He understood for the first time the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands.

It is the right of a traveler to vent their frustration at every minor inconvenience by writing of it to their friends.

His attention was given to the argument he was conducting with his neighbor as to whether the English magician had gone mad because he was a magician or because he was English.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz

It all comes down to the shame associated with being unmarried and pregnant. Amanda comes home to hide her pregnancy, the night of the birth she tires to leave to escape a plan to give the baby to her sister. This results in a tragic accident when her toddler niece chases after her on the ice and her sister chases after her daughter. Sister, Mathilda, drowns. Amanda spins more lies all to hide the fact that the baby is hers. Things become more complicated as the children grow. The two girls meet at school and of course they become best friends. The baby's father moves to the neighborhood as a summer residence and his son eventually becomes friends with both girls. In order to prevent a potential marriage between half-siblings, Amanda finally tells all to her niece Ruth, that she raised as a daughter. Everything works out, although the family never escapes their oddness.

No News At Throat Lake by Lawrence Donegan

It would be easier for everyone if today's opponents came dressed up in the all too familar clothes of the conqueror.

There are four types of clients; those who know who you are but don't know why they need you; those who don't know who you are but know why they need you; those who know who you are and know why they need you; those who don't know who you are and don't know why they need you.

Seventy-five percent of Irelands road signs have been stolen and now adorn the walls of Irish themed pubs in California.

For a while life was seamless conversation with gray haired men in black suits and clerical collars telling dull stories about how they spent their lives doing starving Africans a favor by introducing them to the word of the Lord. As if that would fill their bellies.

Can't stand around here all day admiring the view. There's work to do.

The Brief Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Telling Bell not to flaunt those curves would have been like asking the persecuted fat kid not to use his recently discovered mutant abilities.

They can't do what they want to do or be who they should be. I might have no one in the world but at least I'm free.

Success, after all, loves a witness; but failure can't exist withoutone.

Nothing more exhilarating than saving yourself by the simple act of waking.

Niggers who messed with Him had a habit of ending up with a bad case of the deads.

Travel light. She extended her arms to embrace her house, maybe the whole world.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Bean

This is a memoir about a Sierra Leone boy who, at the age of 13, joined the army to fight against the RUF. Unfortunately, the army turned out to be as crazy and horrific as the RUF squads. He was removed by Unicef and rehabilitated. He made it to the US by representing his country in the Children UN. He was adopted by an American woman he met through that organization. An amazing chronicle of the inhuman events he lived. Similar to the genocidal accounts told in "Last King Of Scotland" and "Hotel Rwanda." I still find it inconceivable that the world lets this happen.