Caleb Carr Quotes (13 Quotes)

Absolutely nothing brings out the killer instinct in the upper crust of New York Society like a charity function.

I'd seen this happen several times before, in different institutions, but it was no less remarkable on each occasion: the words were like the flow of water over coals, taking away crackling heat and leaving only a steaming whisper, a perhaps momentary but nonetheless effective remission from deep-burning fire.

The defenders of decent society and the disciples of degeneracy are often the same people.

I was a pretty angry kid, and I got into military history largely as a way to vent my own anger. As I got older it narrowed down to a more specific focus on individual violence. I'm just trying to understand where it came from.

I'm still a firm believer that we were definitely put here to use our minds, and that is what makes us different. And that that's the key. If there is anything that is going to stop mankind from being such a beastly, destructive creature, it is reason.

In rooting around for something to grab onto, I latched onto the past and people in the past who I felt were strong, actively ethical characters.

People are disturbed enough by serial killers, but the whole notion of female violence, particularly maternal violence - the idea of mothers who kill - really unnerves people.

I feel horribly vindicated. Three thousand people died who didn't have to die.

Every human being must find his own way to cope with severe loss, and the only job of a true friend is to facilitate whatever method he chooses.

Warfare against civilians must never be answered in kind. Terror must never be answered with terror.

I wanted nothing less than to be a fiction writer when I was a kid. If you had told me I would be an artist or novelist when I grew up, I would have laughed in your face.

Some question the value of accounts that have been quickly turned around. Memoirs in general aren't of any quality or use until enough time has passed that somebody can put some perspective on what they went through, ... There's no way to give this war a chance to mean anything because we're judging it so quickly.

I haven't always done things this way. It's the nature of the two books. They have been so consuming that I end up living inside them.