Dick Francis

“I stood on the outside of disaster, looking in.”

“Historically, more people have died of religion than cancer.”

“But people as a rule believe only what they want to believe, and if you tell them anything else they'll call you a trouble-maker and get rid of you and never give you your job back, even if what you said is proved spot on right by time.”

“People always kill Caesar. Don't trust anyone.”

“But what do you say if you're asked a direct question and you can't tell the truth and you can't tell a lie?' 'You say “how very interesting” and change the subject.”

“one should never assume anything”

“Some are born weird, some achieve it, others have weirdness thrust upon them.”

“But one discarded dreams and got dressed, and made what one could of the day.”

“I wondered to what extent people remained the same as they'd been when very young; if one peeled back the layers of living one would come to the know child.”

“Crime to many is not crime but simply a way of life. If laws are inconvenient, ignore them, they don't apply to you.”

“Life has a way of kicking one along like a football, or so I've found. Fate had never dealt me personally a particularly easy time, but that was OK, that was normal. Most people, it seemed to me, took their turn to be football. Most survived. Some didn't.”

“Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they've got, not envying the one they haven't.”