Ben Aaronovitch Quotes

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

He did some drugs at university," I said. "Isn't that what it's for?

Is that your professional opinion?"
"Yes."
"Which as usual," said Seawoll, "is as about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

The scope of your ignorance, Peter," said Seawoll, "is truly frightening.

So just chalk it up to pixie dust or quantum entanglement, which was the same thing as pixie dust except with the word “quantum” in it.

Like young men from the dawn of time, I decided to choose the risk of death over certain humiliation.

Back in the summer I’d made the mistake of telling my mum what I did for a living. Not the police bit, which of course she already knew about, having been at my graduation from Hendon, but the stuff about me working for the branch of the Met that dealt with the supernatural. My mum translated this in her head to “witchfinder,” which was good because like most West Africans, she considered witchfinding a more respectable profession than policeman.

If they were ugly, Peter, would you care half so much?" asked Nightingale. "There are some hideous things out there that can talk and reason, and I wonder if you would be quite so quick to rush to their defense."
"Maybe not," I said. "But that just makes me shallow, it doesn't make me wrong.

It’s always better to tell a half-truth than a half-lie.

There were screams and yells from the street below as people saw what was happening. There would be lots of phone-camera footage on the news that night from people with more media-savvy than brains.

It’s no fun looking down on people if you can’t let them know you’re above them.

Have you noticed that about journalists—all they really want to talk about is themselves.

Anything that can go wrong with armed men in the light can go twice as wrong in the dark.

First law of gossip—there’s no point knowing something if somebody else doesn’t know you know it.

“Shouldn’t I know about these things?” I said.
“The list of things you need to know about, Peter, is extraordinarily long,” said Nightingale.