Ben Aaronovitch Quotes

A romantic," said Nightingale. "The most dangerous people on earth.

I didn’t bother calling Nightingale on the mobile I’d got him for Christmas because he only turns it on when he wants to call someone—the new technology being strictly there for his convenience, not anybody else’s.

Despite being the oldest part of London, the Square Mile has a faster architectural churn than anywhere else in the city. Occasionally it throws up something exciting, innovative and modern…but mostly it doesn’t. Architects like a bit of volume, and financiers like floor space. The easiest way to maximize both is to build a cube—which is why ninety-nine per cent of all office buildings are boxes with lobbies.

Isn't the internet wonderful?" she said. "Better than dragons any day.

Have you ever been to London?" I asked.
"No," said Ash. "I've never even been in town before. Our dad doesn't hold with that sort of thing."
"Don't worry, it's basically just like the country," I said. "Only with more people.

I'm interested in history," I said. "Why don't you tell me what happened."
"Why would a young man like you be interested in history?"
"So I can avoid repeating it.

A lot of people have died in the Underground, through accidents, stupidity, or suicide. All the one-unders who'

I wondered, not for the first time, whether all farmers become obsessed or if only obsessive people become farmers.

Low sample size—one of the reasons why magic and science are hard to reconcile.

I've loaded this particular gun with scrap iron," she said. "Now, I don't know if a shot to the head will kill you or not. But just consider how much fun we can have finding out.

Keeping a secret always makes the police suspicious. And while we’re willing to believe in the possibility of a totally innocent explanation, we never think that’s the way to bet.

Are you a practitioner?" I ask. "A wizard?"
"Sorceress, my dear," she says. "Practitioner is how the gentlemen have styled themselves, as quacks now style themselves as physicians.

He believed in a mystical connection between the farmer and the soil."
"And you don't?" I asked.
"I believe there's a connection," she said. "I just happen to believe it's biochemical.

I could see the cartoon slot machine flicker behind his eyes. Nightingale was offering what the ridiculously rich always crave—a chance to be exclusive.

None of those choices seemed likely, but if I’ve learned one thing on the job, it is that a coincidence can kill someone just as easily as malice.