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The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17) QUOTES

The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17) QUOTES

1 " The question is not what you look at, but what you see. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

2 " She [Haniya Daoud] seemed tired, but also calm. 'It's good to be reminded now and then that such things exist.'

'What things?'

'Beauty. Peace.' She held his eyes. 'Goodness. But they're fragile and can so easily disappear, unless people are willing to do what's necessary to defend them.'

'I'm not sure that goodness is all that fragile,' said Gamache.

...'If not fragile, it's mercurial,' said Haniya. 'Good. Evil. Cruelty and kindness. Guilt and innocence. An act cam be all those things at once, depending on your perspective. It's so easy to delude ourselves, wouldn't you say, Chief Inspector?'

'Into believing killing one person to save millions is an act of moral courage?'

'I don't think that's a delusion.'

'And if you kill the wrong person? "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

3 " As they trudged through the snow toward Clara's pretty little cottage, Ruth lost her footing. Haniya grabbed her before she fell. She held Ruth's hand for the rest of the way, and wondered if maybe the key was not in being held, but in holding. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

4 " Jean-Guy Beauvoir hadn't much seen the use of libraries, though he'd never have said that to Annie or her parents, who saw les biblioteques as sacred places.

He hadn't grown up going to one, and now, with the internet and easy access to information, he couldn't imagine why libraries still existed. That is, until he'd gone with Annie and Honore to a children's hour at their local library. He'd seen the wonder in his son's eyes as the librarian read to them.

He'd seen Honore's excitement at getting to choose books himself to take out. How he clutched them to his chest, as though he could read with his heart.

Through his infant son, Jean-Guy discovered that libraries held treasures. Not just the written word, but things that couldn't be seen. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

5 " ...one day Jean-Guy Beauvoir understood that when people died, they didn't go away. They were very much alive in the minds, in the hearts, in the vivid memories of those left behind.

And they were not always easy to live with. Some ghosts had demands. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

6 " As a diversion, few things were as effective as chocolate cake. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

7 " Isabelle [Lacoste] sat quietly for a moment, looking into the naked woods. Only in the winter was it possible to see both the forest and the trees. Homicide, she thought, was a perpetual winter. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

8 " But correct and right were two different things. As were facts and truth. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

9 " Armand knew the terror of that first step. He also knew that the key to a full life was taking it. The trick wasn’t necessarily having less fear, it was finding more courage. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

10 " The trick wasn’t necessarily having less fear, it was finding more courage. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

11 " First you scare them, then you offer them your false hope. It’s disgusting. But it works. And now the politicians, familiar with the power of fear, have bought your potion wholesale. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

12 " They’re kind. Content. They don’t judge. They don’t hide their feelings. There’s no hidden agenda. Complete acceptance. If that isn’t grace, I don’t know what is. I’m not saying people with Down syndrome are perfect or always easy. That would be to trivialize them, make them sound like pets. What I am saying is that in my experience they make better humans than most.” He smiled again. “Than me. And I think that’s worth fighting for, don’t you? "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

13 " It’s about what happens when gullibility and fear meet greed and power. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

14 " when people died, they didn’t go away. They were very much alive in the minds, in the hearts, in the vivid memories of those left behind. And they were not always easy to live with. Some ghosts had demands. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

15 " I’m sorry.’ ‘I was wrong.’ ‘I don’t know.’” As he listed them, Chief Inspector Gamache raised a finger, until his palm was open. “‘I need help. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

16 " What is essential is invisible to the eye. Knowledge, ideas, thoughts. Imagination. All invisible. All lived in libraries. But "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

17 " What people do for power. How they’re willing to mutilate themselves, physically, intellectually, morally, for power and position. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

18 " Ruth lost her footing. Haniya grabbed her before she fell. She held Ruth’s hand for the rest of the way, and wondered if maybe the key was not in being held, but in holding. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

19 " Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)

20 " Long dead and buried in another town My mother isn’t finished with me yet. "

― Louise Penny , The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17)