Brad Meltzer Quotations

On the day my daughter was born, I started writing a book for her. The plan was that, over the course of her life, I'd fill it with advice on how to be a strong woman. But along the way, I got caught up in the stories of Amelia Earhart, Sally Ride, and so many others. So how do you pick the best heroes for your kids?

We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day.

I tend to do something for two years then move on to something new. Yoga, then biking, then weight lifting, then back to biking. The moment it feels like a rut, I switch and search for a new love. It's like having a midlife crisis, but without the new wife or cheesy BMW.

When you believe in something, fight for it. And when you see injustice, fight harder than you've ever fought before.

Remember that you are not a damsel in distress, waiting for some prince to rescue you. Forget that prince. With your brain and your resourcefulness, you can rescue yourself.

As I tell my daughter, when you want something in life - no matter how impossible it seems - you need to fight for it.

Women are not weaker. Read that again. Women are not weaker. They are just as strong, just as resolute, just as creative, and are filled with just as much potential as any man.

I love when I teach my son a good lesson. But I love it even more when he teaches me.

But to me, the most important page in my daughter's book is the last one - because it's blank. It says 'Your Hero's Photo Here,' and 'Your Hero's Story Here.'

Some people help thousands of people directly, like Marie Curie or Susan B. Anthony. Others help us by inspiring us, like Amelia Earhart. But you do have to help someone.

I played Little League for one year. That was it. Then my mother realized I liked books and threatened my father. I owe her forever for that.

My worst moments as a parent have been much like my greatest moments as a parent: the product of complete and perfect accident.

Stories aren't the beauty of what did happen. They're the beauty of what could happen.

There is no better place to plot the death of a character than when you're miserable and working out.

Tell your story. That's the secret of immortality. The one true way to live forever.

In this life, y'ever notice that you face the same challenges again and again? We all do. They're challenges to your soul. We repeat them until we face them and master them. Yes we all have free will, but there're divine patterns out there, and the battle is to see them.

There's nothing wrong with wanting someone to save us - or admitting we can't do it all ourselves.

Life delivers far less disappointment when your expectations are low.

Overwatch doesn't just bring together the legal and espionage genres. It merges family problems with professional ones, swirls in a major helping of murder and mayhem, and with a deft touch, reminds us why politics is-always-perso nal.

Sharing education, sharing a book…that’s what changes the world.

There are some people in your life who bring back old memories. And there are others - your first kiss, your first love, your first sex - who, the moment you see them, bring a spark...and something far more potent. They bring back your old life and with that, potential. And possibilities. And the feeling that if you were back in that time, life could be so very different from where you're stuck right now. That's the most tantalizing thing....I want my potential back.

The point is, as death gets closer - what's so wrong with wanting someone you love to live forever?

We make a great bad guy, and they all say they hate us. But at the end of every day, people want to trust us. Because we're their government. And people trust their government.

As I now often tell my daughter Lila, no matter what stage of life you're in, when you want something-no matter how impossible it seems-you need to fight for it. When you believe in something, fight for it. And when you see injustice, fight harder than you've ever fought before.

There's nothing in the world like buried treasure-and people hungry and obsessed enough to risk their lives for it. Pirate Hunters isn't just a good story-it's a true one. Searching for the souls of its explorers, it takes you to the far tip of the plank and plunges you deep to the bottom of the ocean.

Lust: Which senator once reached for a handkerchief in his pocket and proceeded to wipe his brow with a pair of women's panties?

Greatness isn't something you should always be chasing. There's greatness within all of us, and I think that's what we forget,

Not every President is a great speaker. Not every President is a great thinker. But in the modern era, every single President is a master of one thing: eye contact.

Today, I don't believe in destiny. But I do believe in history...There's nothing more powerful than history...

I need the kind of help that comes with a side order of help.

When I was in that danger...I felt like I was shaken awake...after everything she made me feel...I made a decision and went to sleep. Do you know what that's like - trying to go to sleep, and lose yourself in the hopes of burying the worst fears in your life?...I wasn't in love with the past. I was terrified of my own future.

A little threat of evil is always the far better way to fill the seats. But sometimes the monsters aren't who we think they are.

From ancient to modern times, the human animal knows how to find fighting.

Most archivists don't like surprises. That's why we work in the past.

And y'know what they decided the number one threat was? The destructive and disruptive capability of a small group. That's what they're worried about most... they're terrified of a small group with a committed goal.

When you go down a dark alley and you feel that tingling across the back of your neck, that's not just a bad feeling, that's a biological gift from God - the Gift of Fear...when you ignore that gift - when you go down the dark alley and say, Y'know, I'm sure it'll be okay - that's when you find real pain.

Haven't you ever played Uno?... Sometimes you have to lose all your cards to win.

For me, Superman's greatest contribution has never been the superhero part: it's the Clark Kent part - the idea that any of us, in all our ordinariness, can change the world.

History doesn't choose individual people. History chooses everyone. Every day. The only question is: How long will you ignore the call?

It's the worst part of seeing old friends: when your rose-colored memories become undone by reality.

The worst lies in life are the ones we tell ourselves.

We're all being tested...That's what life is.

Our fathers never leave us. Ever.

...can I tell you something...? I don't think you're in love with the past. I think you're scared of the future.

Nico was wrong. The Book of Fate isn't already written. It's written every day. Some scars never heal. Then again, some do.

There's the life you live and the life you leave behind. but what you share with someone else - especially someone you love - that's not just how you bury your past. It's how you write you future.

Life is filled with trapdoors.

Every life has forks in the road. And sometimes, the tines of that fork stab deep.

...as your father, my instinct is to protect you ... Other people will want to protect you too. But remember that you are not a damsel in distress, waiting for some prince to rescue you. Forget the prince. With your brain and your resourcefulness, you can rescue yourself.

All writers steal from their own lives.

People are more twisted than people think.

I understand pain. I've lived with pain my entire life. But pain is nothing compared to betrayal. And betrayal is nothing compared to knowing that the javelin in your back was rammed there by the one person in your life you actually trusted.

So much harm comes into this world when the wrong thing is said. But that's nothing compared to the pain from what goes unsaid.

In this world, there was nothing scarier than trusting someone. But there was also nothing more rewarding.

The past may not hurt you, but it won't challenge you, either.

Here's what I love: I love sitting at my desk, staring at the blank screen, and beginning that conversation with my imaginary friends.

Don't go to eighth grade...don't talk about something old...don't bring up old memories that have nothing to do with who we are now. THIS is all that matters! TODAY.

You tell them - you tell them there's a cost.....Every decision we make in life, there's always a cost.

We all live best in our imaginations.

She dumped me for the worst reason of all. For absolutely no reason at all...I mean, if she fell in love with someone else, or I did something wrong, or I let her down in some unforgivable way...That, I'd understand, right? But instead, she said...it wasn't anything. Not a single thing. It was just me. I was nice. I was kind. We just...she didn't see the connection anymore. I think she thought I was boring. And the cruelest part is, when someone says something mean about you, you know when they're right.

No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.

She wasn't tracking down her father to learn more about him. She was tracking him down to learn more about herself.

there's nothing more intimate in life than simply being understood. And understanding someone else.

From the time I could read, I've been devouring these things. I had a $5 allowance growing up in Brooklyn and I spent the whole thing every week at the Nostrand Avenue Comics shop.

Jack & Bobby ... Sometimes the greatest people can be seated right next to you.

Envy: Which senator once had a dimmer switch in their secret hideaway?

The thing we always loved the most when we pitched this,

That's what's so appealing here is getting to see that middle.

Sloth: Which current congressman uses the term 'Great Americans' as a codeword to ask his staff if the person he's speaking to is a big donor?

I'm excited just to start my new novel,

But I just love the written word. I love to paint with the written word.