The Woodcutter – Reginald Hill

My favourite quotes from the book The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill:

He was certainly very good to talk to, meaning of course he was a good listener.

The written word and gave them to see a physical existence.

The evidence was overwhelming. The jury took 20 minutes to find you guilty. 12 strangers, 12 citizens picked of the street. In this world we’re unfortunate to live in, and especially in this septic aisle we live on, where squalid politicians conspire with a squalid press to feed a half educated and wholly contemplated public on a diet of meritorious trivia. I’m sure it will be possible to concourt enough evidence to persuade 12 strangers that Nelson Mandela was a canibal.

Only a fool lives in a house another fool can throw him out of any time he likes.

Only climbers or real idiots climb up there without the rope.

Johnny could do just about anything until someone told him what to do.

Life was a struggle if you left yourself at the mercy of feelings.

Not exactly thinking but aware that there were thoughts in the room that might keep you awake were you foolish enough to think them.

Universities are full of books, but hard cash is always in short supply.

Grim necessity makes strange bed fellows.

Today’s lie will sell more than yesterday’s truth.

There is neither happiness nor misery in the world, only the comparison of one state with the other.
Only the man who has plumb the depths of misfortune is capable of scaling the heights of joy. To grasp how good it is to live, you must have been driven to long for death. Live then and be happy, dear children of my heart and never forget: until the day arrives when God in his mercy unveils the future to man, all of human wisdom lives in these two words: WAIT and HOPE.

Most relationships end with deceit, your’s began with it.