Ben Aaronovitch Quotes

As property prices started rising, developers snatched up bomb sites and derelict buildings and erected the shapeless concrete lumps that have made the ’70s the shining beacon of architectural splendor that it is.

The old days," said Smith. "Isn't that what you're asking about? Because I was a respectable businessman."
"But Smithy," said Stephanopoulis. "I don't believe in respectable businessmen. I've been a copper for more than five minutes. And the constable here doesn't think you're respectable either, because it happens he is a card-carrying member of the Workers' Revolutionary Party and so regards all forms of property as a crime against the proletariat."
That one caught me by surprise and the best I could manage was "Power to the people.

“The chicken in that is embalmed, dried and pressed very flat, and then sprinkled with extra chemicals,” she said.
“Too hungry to care,” I said.

Do you feel guilty?"
"No," I said. "I didn't do it to them and I did my best to stop it. But I feel guilty that I don't feel guilty, if that helps.

Blackstone’s Police Operational Handbook recommends the ABC of serious investigation: Assume nothing, Believe nothing, and Check everything.

I’m an old-fashioned copper–I don’t believe in breaking the laws of thermodynamics.

The difference between stripping and burlesque, as far as I could tell, was class.

Ghosts, I was thinking, memories—I wasn’t sure there was a difference.

The world was different before the war," he said. "We didn't have this instantaneous access to information that your generation has. The world was a bigger, more mysterious place—we still dreamed of secret caves in the Mountains of the Moon, and tiger hunting in the Punjab.

There's more to life than just London," said Nightingale.
"People keep saying that," I said. "But I've never actually seen any proof.

Five hundred years ago the notoriously savvy Henry VIII discovered an elegant way to solve both his theological problems and his personal liquidity crisis—he dissolved the monasteries and nicked all their land. Since the principle of any rich person who wants to stay rich is, never give anything away unless you absolutely have to, the land has stayed with Crown ever since.

I rang her and left a message identifying myself and giving an impression of urgency without actually saying anything concrete. Never record anything you wouldn’t want turning up on YouTube is my motto.

The police can live with looking corrupt, bullying, or tyrannical, but looking stupid is intolerable. It has a tendency to undermine public faith in the forces of Law and is deleterious to public order.

When you’re a musician free is a magic number.

You shouldn't make jokes about these things," she said. "Science doesn't have all the answers, you know."
"It's got all the best questions, though.