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The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5) QUOTES

The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5) QUOTES

1 " People wandered in for books and conversation. They brought their stories to her, some bound, and some known by heart. She recognized some of the stories as real, and some as fiction. But she honored them all, though she didn't buy every one. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

2 " Where there is love there is courage,
where there is courage there is peace,
where there is peace there is God.
And when you have God, you have everything. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

3 " I just sit where I'm put, composed
of stone and wishful thinking:
that the deity who kills for pleasure
will also heal,
that in the midst of your nightmare,
the final one, a kind lion
will come with bandages in her mouth
and the soft body of a woman,
and lick you clean of fever,
and pick your soul up gently by the nape of the neck
and caress you into darkness and paradise. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

4 " They stared ahead. Silent. Morin had never realized murderers were caught in silence. But they were. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

5 " When Olivier had been taken away Gamache had sat back down and stared at the sack. what could be worse than Chaos, Despair, War?

What would even the Mountain flee from? Gamache had given it a lot of thought.

What haunted people even, perhaps especially, on their deathbed? What chased them, tortured them and brought some of them to their knees? And Gamache thought he had the answer.

Regret.

Regret for things said, for things done, and not done. Regret for the people they might have been. And failed to be.

Finally, when he was alone, the Chief Inspector had opened the sack and looking inside had realize he'd been wrong. The worst thing of all wasn't regret. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

6 " Gamache watched the old poet. He knew what was looming behind the Mountain. What crushed all before it. The thing the Hermit most feared. The Mountain most feared.

Conscience.

...

Which is why, Gamache knew, it was vital to be aware of actions in the present. Because the present became the past, and the past grew. And got up, and followed you.

And found you ...

Who wouldn't be afraid of this? "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

7 " It was said with humor, but the criticism wasn't lost on Gamache. He was fishing, and he knew it. So did Sommes. So did Esther. We're all fishermen, she'd said. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

8 " Her voice was slightly accented but her French was perfect. Someone who'd not just learned the language but loved it. And it showed with every syllable. Gamache knew it was impossible to split language from culture. That without one the other withered. To love the language was to respect the culture. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

9 " The leaves had fallen from the trees and lay crisp and crackling beneath his feet. Picking one up he marveled, not for the first time, at the perfection of nature where leaves were most beautiful at the very end of their lives. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

10 " What are you afraid of?
I'm afraid of not recognizing Paradise. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

11 " What haunted people even, perhaps especially, on their deathbed? What chased them, tortured them and brought some of them to their knees? And [he] thought he had the answer. Regret. Regret for things said, things done, and things not done. Regret for the people they might have been. And failed to be. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

12 " But there was no hiding from Conscience. Not in new homes and new cars. In travel. In meditation or frantic activity. In children, in good works. On tiptoes or bended knee. In a big career. Or a small cabin. It would find you. The past always did. Which was why... it was vital to be aware of actions in the present. Because the present became the past, and the past grew. And got up, and followed you. And found you... Who wouldn't be afraid of this? "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

13 " Better to accept the wretched truth than struggle, twisting to make a wish a reality. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

14 " Most unhappiness comes from not being able to sit quietly in a room. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

15 " ...it was vital to be aware of actions in the present. Because the present became the past, and the past grew. And got up, and followed you. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

16 " Like a first love, the place where peace is first found is never, ever forgotten. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

17 " Not a spoon clinked against a mug, not a creamer was popped, peeled and opened, not a breath. It was as though something else had joined them then. As though silence had taken a seat. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

18 " The reason “belonging” was so potent, so attractive, so much a part of the human yearning, was that it also meant safety, and loyalty. If you were “one of us” you were protected. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

19 " Funny how imperfections on the outside mean something splendid beneath. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

20 " He was an emotional communist. Everyone counted equally, but none too much. "

― Louise Penny , The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)