01c. 1945 ADTerror and pleasure are linked in us. We are a baldly miswired species, Martie. Terror delights us, both the experience of terror and the dealing out of it to others. We are healthier if we admit to this miswiring and do not struggle to be better than our natures allow.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
02c. 1945 ADMaybe the devil in human beings isn't the reflection of the devil, perhaps the devil is only a reflection of the savagery and brutality of our kind. Maybe what we've done is create the devil in our own imageDean Koontz / quote ↗
03c. 1945 ADIf emotions were universal, then in one sense he was not alone, never had been alone, and never could be alone....No pain or happiness was unique. All humanity drank from the same river of emotion; and by drinking, every race, religion, and nationality became one indivisible species.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
05c. 1945 ADI suspect she must speak without emotion or otherwise entirely lose the self-control that is required to speak to me at all.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
06c. 1945 ADIn self-defense and in defense of the innocent, cowardice is the only sin.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
07c. 1945 ADAs we passed his table, I saw that the device that imprisoned the book was clever but wicked-looking, as though the critic were holding the work - and it's author - in bondage.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
08c. 1945 ADThe greatest danger, of course, was to believe that I was equal to them, because assurance can morph into arrogance that Death loves to prove unfounded.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
09c. 1945 ADYet the human heart is disheartened by the most unreasonable self-judgments, because even when we take on giants, we too often confuse failure with fault, which I know too well. The only way back from such a bleak despondency is to shape humiliation into humility, to strive always to triumph over the darkness while never forgetting that the honor and the beauty are more in striving than in winning. When triumph at last comes, our efforts alone could not have won the day without that grace which surpasses all understanding and which will, if we allow it, imbue our lives with meaning.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
10c. 1945 ADYears later, after other experiences with dogs, I wondered if their species were shaped and charmed to serve as four-legged guides able to assist in leading humanity back to our first—and lost—home. By the example of their joy and humility, by wanting nothing more than food and play and love, by the deep satisfaction that they take from those humble things, they belie all creeds of power and fame. Although they have the teeth to tear, it is by swish of tail and yearning eyes that they most easily get what they want.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
11c. 1945 ADAlthough much that was precious has been taken from me in this life, I have reason to remain an optimist. After the numerous tight scrapes I've been through, by now I should have lost one leg, three fingers, one buttock, most of my teeth, an ear, my spleen, and my sense of fun. But here I am.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
12c. 1945 ADStay low, stay quiet, keep it simple, don't expect too much, enjoy what you have.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
13c. 1945 ADThere's no tragedy in nature, only process -- and therefore no triumph, either.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
14c. 1945 ADAnyway, in those years, I was happy, as to one extent or another I have always been happy. The forest was not a wilderness to me, but served instead as my private garden, comforting in spite of its vastness, and endlessly mysterious.The more familiar a place becomes, the more mysterious it becomes, as well, if you are alert to the truth of things. I have found this to be the case all of my life.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
15c. 1945 ADI don't desire a change of scenery or exotic experiences. My heart yearns for familiarity, stability, the comfort of home — and my sanity depends on it.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
16c. 1945 ADShe blinked, sat up, and saw Chris in the bathroom doorway. He'd just gotten out the shower. His hair was damp, and he was dressed only in his briefs. The sight of his thin, boyish body - all ribs and elbows and knees - pulled at her heart, for he looked so innocent and vulnerable. He was so small adn fragile that she wondered how she could ever protect him, and renewed fear rose in her.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
17c. 1945 ADAll she wanted was love with respect, respect was so important to her, and I could give her that.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
18c. 1945 ADTo get through life successfully, body and soul must translate each other correctly more often than not.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
19c. 1945 ADI've been badly scared myself, badly, for quite a few years now. You learn to live with it.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
21c. 1945 ADI survive by finding the sweet spot between reason and unreason, between the rational and irrational.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
23c. 1945 AD...on a subconscious level we're aware that time isn't enduring, that it is not a required condition of our existence, that there comes a point when we will have no need of it.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
24c. 1945 ADSo," said the Russian, after regaining is composure, "the lesson of the model is that the universe——all its matter and forms of energy——arise out of thought.Dean Koontz / quote ↗
