Monsters are born of pain, and grief, and loss, and anger. Your heart is full of them.–“And?”And it makes you vulnerable.

It was one of those moments that would have had dramatic music if my life were a movie, but instead I got a radio jingle for some kind of submarine sandwich place blaring over the...

Most of the bad guys in the real world don’t know that they are bad guys. You don’t get a flashing warning sign that you’re about to damn yourself. It sneaks up on you when...

Just remember that you’re on my list, Marcone. Soon as I get done with all the other evils in this town, you won’t be the lesser of them anymore.”Marcone stared at me with half-lidded eyes...

I’d gone with my usual option. I was running through long tunnels filled with demons and monsters and nightmares, because it was easier than going to the gym.

If I lived through the next day or so, I needed to start keeping track of where these jokers liked to get their bloodthirsty freak on. It might give me an edge someday. Or at...

In the action business, when you don’t want to say you ran like a mouse, you call it ‘taking cover.’ It’s more heroic.

Life can be confusing. Good God, and how. Sometimes it seems like the older I get, the more confused I become. That seems ass-backwards. I thought I was supposed to be getting wiser. Instead, I...

Murphy watched me thoughtfully for several empty seconds. Then she said, very gently, “You’re a good man, Harry.”I swallowed and bowed my head, made humble by the tone of her voice and the expression on...

… They paid some madman who thought he was a decorator a lot of money to make the place look hip and unique. May be it’s my lack of fashion sense talking, but I thought...

Being here? With you? I’ve met my subconscious, and he’s not that sick.

Isana felt her throat tighten. “We failed.” Serai lifted her chin and patted Isana’s arm firmly.”We have not yet succeeded. There is a difference.

Nay, but prithee, with sprinkles ‘pon it instead,” I said solemnly, “and frosting of white.

No one is an unjust villain in his own mind. Even – perhaps even especially – those who are the worst of us. Some of the cruelest tyrants in history were motivated by noble ideals,...

You,” Madeline said, her voice hollow and wheezing, “are like a bad case of herpes, wizard. You’re inconvenient, embarassing, no real threat, and you simply will not go away.

You backbiting, poisonous, treacherous, deceitful, wicked, clever girl. If this works I’ll buy you a pony.

Laughter is good for you. Nine out of ten stand-up comedians recommend laughter in the face of intense stupidity.

God isn’t about making good things happen to you, or bad things happen to you. He’s all about you making choices–exercising the gift of free will. God wants you to have good things and a...

Life is not notable for its overabundance of certainty.

But… all I said was that I was scared.” After what you got to experience? That’s smart, kid,” I said. “I’m scared, too. Every time something like this happens, it scares me. But being strong...

I’m going to use them to track him down and thwart him.” “Thwart?” Sarissa asked.”Thwart.” I said. “To prevent someone from accomplishing something by means of visiting gratuitous violence upon his smarmy person.””I’m pretty sure...

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 technicality I’m prepared to hide wildly behind.

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 wasn’t very melodic. The...

I’ve had a tense couple of days. And I’ve got to tell you, burning someone’s face off sounds like a great way to relax.

But the only way never to do the wrong thing is never to do anything.

I know how you feel,” I said. “You run into something you totally don’t get, and it’s scary as hell. But once you learn something about it, it gets easier to handle. Knowledge counters fear....

So I added in all the pains I’d learned. Cooking blunders I’d had to eat anyways. Equipment and property constantly breaking down, needing repairs and attention. Tax insanity, and rushing around trying to hack a...

Magic comes from what is inside you. It is a part of you. You can’t weave together a spell that you don’t beleive in.

You couldn’t spot a pop culture reference if it skittered up and implanted an embryo down your esophagus.

if you’re going to be in an orgy, the middle is the best spot, isn’t it.

It took a freaking genius to put this together, Michael.”I hefted my staff.”Fortunately,” I said, and took a two-handed swing at the nearest stand of slender, delicate crystal. It shattered with gratifying ease, and the...

She might be the Archive, but she’s still a kid, Kincaid.”He frowned and looked at me. “So?””So? Kids like cute.”He blinked at me. “Cute?””Come on.”I led him downstairs.On the lower level of the Oceanarium there’s...

Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don’t-even-blink wench.

Life is too short, Harry. And there’s nowhere near enough joy in it. If you find it, grab it. Before it’s gone.

Maybe you know the monsters, Martin,” Murphy said quietly. “But I know the guy who stops them. And if they don’t return the girl, we’ll make them regret it.” She nodded at me and said,...

You don’t go walking into the proverbial lion’s den lightly. You start with a good breakfast.

Billy squinted at me. “Why are you letting them go?””Because they’re real.””How do you know?””The one I was holding crapped on my hand.

How do i do this?

Isana laughed. “And you, lady? Are you a woman of conscience or of ambition?”The lady smiled. “That’s a question rarely asked here at court.””And why is that?””Because a woman of conscience would tell you that...

After a few minutes, Molly came partway up the short ladder to the bridge and stopped. “Do I need to ask permission to come up there or something?””Why would you?” I asked.She considered. “It’s what...

I still can’t believe,” Michael said, sotto voce, “that you came to the Vampires’ Masquerade Ball dressed as a vampire.

See? This is why I’m not religious. I couldn’t possibly keep my mouth shut long enough to get along with everyone else.

I wouldn’t burden any decent system of faith by participating in it… I’m not agnostic. Just nonpartisan. Theological Switzerland, that’s me.

Doesn’t matter how pretty you are. What’s important is how pretty you feel. No one feels pretty when they hear “no” often enough.

I hate what you represent.”… “Power without conviction.” Isana replied, her tone lifeless, matter of fact. “Ambition without conscience. Decent folk suffer at the hands of those like you.

You have a visitor, my lord.” I frowned, “What?” “That is why I came in here. You have a visitor waiting for you.” I stood up, exasperated. “Why didn’t you say so?” Lacuna looked confused....

There’s always, always a choice. My options might really, truly suck, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a choice.

Mister Dresden,” he said. “And Miss Rodriguez, I believe. I didn’t realize you were an art collector.” “I am the foremost collector of velvet Elvii in the city of Chicago,” I said at once. “Elvii?”...

There are a lot of things I can’t control. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days.I don’t want what I am going to face, what kind of choices I am...