Anthony Horowitz Quotations

Once you get into the world of dystopia, it's hard to avoid plagiarism, because other people have had such powerful visions.

I love the idea that magic and witchcraft and battles between supernatural creatures could be raging all around us but just out of our sight.

I believe that, by and large, people are good and everybody you meet is more likely to surprise you in a positive way than in a negative way.

Writing about magic is harder than writing about spies because you're dealing with something that doesn't really exist.

I'm not very good at creating worlds. I prefer to write about the world as it is.

My perfect reader doesn't just read - he or she devours books.

I'm not happy unless I have a pen in my hand, it's really that simple.

My greatest fear is disappointing the reader, so each book has to be better than the one before.

I feel very privileged to have reached so many kids because a life without stories, without the power of books, would be a very grey world, it's good to add colour.

I have a great belief in not doing anything unless I'm passionate about it.

Until he lost all his money, my father was a successful north London Jewish businessman. He was unusual among his immediate family in that he was enormously cultured and had an incredible library.

I don't think my father was a bad man, all in all.

With every year that passes, I get further away from my target audience, and while I've been happy to think of myself as a father figure to these kids, I'd be a little distressed to be thought of as a grandfather figure.

I'm a private victim of a peculiar household.

Throughout history, story telling was at the very beginning of life.

My wife, Jill, and I have an incredibly close working relationship, and an incredibly happy married one. We met through work. I was the world's worst advertising copywriter. She had the misfortune to be my account director, so from the very start she was my boss, and she still is.

If you are going to be a writer, you have to have self-belief, every writer gets rejections, they say the difference between a successful and unsuccessful writer is an unsuccessful writer gives up, if you keep going you will succeed.

There's something very strange about Sherlock Holmes, especially if you're an English schoolboy. When you read the stories, they stay with you forever.

Do I believe in the devil? I don't believe in a figure with horns and a tail.

It is, of course, traditional in children's literature to get rid of the parents.

I didn't really have a favourite subject at school as I was useless at everything.

If my children were as unhappy as I was at school, I'd send them somewhere else, but it never occurred to my parents.

My favourite part of writing a book is thinking up the ideas, and that can start a long time before I actually sit down at my desk.

My generation has left the globe in a mess.

No writer can really sustain two huge - I hate the word 'franchises.'

You like to think with young adults that with your books, a little part of it has reached them and will stay with them. It is great to be part of an eight-year-old's world.

I had three brilliant English teachers at secondary school. They found the writer in me.

As a children's author, reviewers are generally very nice to you. I only ever wrote one adult book and received such a kicking for it that I was in trauma for the next six months.

Authors have odd relationships with their creations They owe their fame and fortune to their characters but feel enslaved by them.

It's hard to write when you think every sentence is going to be read by a million kids.

My father was aloof, very strange and very distant.

Relationships between writers and publishers are of course very strange and change all the time, rather like a see-saw.

I vividly remember being 14. That was the age when I started to get happy: I started being a writer and stopped being a loser.

I'm not a huge fan of prequels and sequels and the cynical rush to make money on the back of books by other writers who are now dead.

My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end.

Sometimes I think the family I was brought up in was 100 years out of date.

A children's author on a soapbox is not a pleasant sight but I have become drawn into issues, slightly unwillingly, relating to young people, literacy and youth justice: just look at the number of young people we have locked up in prison, and the uselessness of it.

If you look at Charles Dickens's time, there were so many different levels of society and everybody understood their place in it, it was that complex and simple. I'm not sure we have that now.

You don't need to be able to string a sentence together in a way that is elegant or even vaguely meaningful to produce a bestseller - as Dan Brown has demonstrated time and again.

What happened?" he demanded. "I heard an explosion!" "Yeah.That was me. I set the boat alight." "What?" "I set fire to the boat." "But we're on the boat!" "I know.

He looked from the phone to the unconscious figure of the Salesman. "What did you do to him?" he asked. "He got the wrong number," Alex said.

He didn't want to remember anymore. remembering only hurt him... everytime.

We have an hour before we have to leave," Cray said. "So I thought I might tell you a little about myself. I thought it might pass the time." "I'm not really all that interested," Alex said.

I have a couple of questions," he said. "Do, please, go ahead." "My first one is for Yassen Gregorovich." He turned to the Russian. "Why are you working for this lunatic?" "I sometimes think that I was richer when I was eight years old than most people will be in their lifetime!" "Do we have to listen to this?" Alex asked.

You're trying to tell me that everything you've done is for a good cause. You think that all this killing is worth it because of the results. I'm not sure I agree. Lots of people work for charity; lots of people want to change the world. But they don't have to behave like you.

Oh-do be careful with that! That's my Buddha hand grenade. Twist the head twice and throw it and anyone within ten yards can say their prayers.

Alternatively you can twist the cylinder round twice clockwise; that turns it into a hand grenade. Five-second fuse. I tested it on one of my assistants. Poor old Bennett... he should be out of hospital in a couple of months.

There are many things in life that cannot be explained.

Some things can't be changed. They'll always happen the way they were supposed to.

He hadn't done anything. He hadn't needed to. Just being there was enough.

Death is the same for the one who dies.

We live in an age when there is no room for the impossible.

You couldn't trust anyone or anything that belonged to the world of espionage.

We have no money. We have no possessions. Maybe that is why we value the things we do have ... loyalty and friendship.

There are few things in the world that we don't know. Science has explained everything away.

You're my closest friend and you're thousands of miles away.

You cannot defeat your enemies until you know who they are.

Sometimes it's the tiniest things that can mean the difference between life and death.

Believe me, It would be better if we didn't meet again. Go back to school. Go back to your life. And next time they ask you, say no. Killing is for grown-ups and you're still a child.

It's funny how things work out sometimes.

Inside every fat man, there's a thin man trying to get out.

I don't know anything!' Tim(Caleb) wailed. He'd never spoken a truer word in his life.

I don't know what I'd do without you. There's no one else to look after me. And it's not just that. I sometimes think you're the only person who really knows me. I only feel normal when I'm with you.

Your temperature's normal, though I'd say it's the only thing about you that is.

We're meant to be friends but you never tell me anything.

It has been the dream of very few men to rule the entire world. - Dr. Grief

Alex decided he’d had enough. He put down his knife. “All right,” he said. “You’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t want to work with me. Well, that’s fine. Because I don’t want to work with you either. And for what it’s worth, nobody would ever believe you were my mom because no mom would ever behave like you.” “Alex…,” Carver began. “Forget it! I’m going back to London. And if you’re Mr. Byrne asks why, you can tell him I didn’t like the jelly, so I went home to get some jam.

When are you at your most defenseless?

Nice day for a funeral.

You're never too young to die.

If this is what you do to the winner, I'd hate to see how you treat the runner up.

What is this place? Hogwarts? -- Alex Rider

No offense, but I'd rather kiss the horse.

Go to Venice. Find Scorpia. And you will find your destiny.

Smiling back at her, it occurs to me that I've never met a mean librarian.

He had followed the trail left by a dead man. It was only now that he realized it might lead only to a grave.

But then, he thought, most politicians are small and shabby, the sort of people who have been bullied at school. That's why they become politicians.

Strange though it is,Sarov still cares about you. He told me to leave you alone. But I think, this time, I must disobey the general. You are mine! And I intend to make you suffer..." "Just talking to you makes me suffer," Alex said.

So it's a coincidence. Just like you said. Two rich parents with two rich kids at the same school. They're both killed in accidents. Why are you so interested?" "Because I don't like coincidence," Blunt replied. "In fact, I don't believe in coincidence. Where some people see coincidence, I see conspiracy. That's my job.

Do you realise how much trouble you're in?" "Perhaps I'll have some Weetabix after all.

Let me tell you, Alex. He's a crook. He's based here in Miami. He's a nasty piece of work." "He's mexican" Troy added.

A German philosopher once wrote that he who fights monsters must take care that he doesn't become one himself.

When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it's never good news.

You'd better get onto MI6. They'll be in charge of security at the airport." "Of course." Sir Graham moved toward the door. He stopped and turned around. "And what happens if you're wrong?" he inquired. "What happens if these soccer players do somehow get killed?" Kellner shrugged. "At least we'll know what we're dealing with," he said. "And they lost every single one of their games while they were in Nigeria. I'm sure we can put together another team.

If you think it's hard getting in, you should try getting out.

We live in a world with so many dangers that we have to be careful whom we trust.

I love writing different things.

I hear it still. As I lay down my pen and take to my bed, I am aware of the bow being drawn across the bridge and the music rises into the night sky. It is far away and barely audible - but there it is! A pizzicato. Then a tremelo. The style is unmistakable. It is Sherlock Holmes who is playing. It must be. I hope with all my heart that he is playing for me . . .

The birds fly in the wrong places and there are too many stars in the sky.

Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right.

I think my reputation will look after itself," Holmes said. "If they hang me, Watson, I shall leave it to you to persuade your readers that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

…my life has been a remarkable one. Maybe one day someone will write a book about me . . .” "I’ve never much cared for horror stories.

Look at self-satisfied pop singers or greasy, semi-literate athletes. People worship them. Why?” "Because they’re talented.

You are meant to be here. There are no coincidences. It's all happening the way it was meant to be.

You must do what you want.

When you are rich, people treat you with respect.

McCain might have suffered hardships in his life, but what had happened to him had nothing to do with his background or his color; they were convenient excuses now. He had been a psychopath from the start.

What were you going to do with it?” McCain asked. "I just thought it might come in useful.” "Were you planning to attack me?” "No. But that’s a good idea.

The school even had a Latin motto: Pergo et Perago, which sounded like the story of two Italian cannibals but which actually meant “I try and I achieve.

To enjoy something fully, you had to own it.