In his mind progress was always to be measured in inches, especially when you didn’t have yards or even feet of success to show off.

— David Baldacci

In some ways, it was far easier to be bad than good. When you're bad, you don't care what happens to anyone other than yourself. When you're trying to do god, you have to worry about everyone.

— David Baldacci

-“I remember my father telling me about England’s redrawing of India’s boundaries when it became independent. They wanted to separate the Hindu from the Muslim, but they used outdated maps. Twelve million people had to relocate because the Brits screwed it up so badly. And a half million people died during the resulting chaos. And before that, Iraq was unilaterally cobbled together, causing many of the conflicts we see today. There are dozens of such examples. The strong countries smashing the weaker ones and then avoiding responsibility later for the very problems they caused.”-“You keep proving my point, Tom, that we’re rotten to the core.”-“My point is we never learn!

— David Baldacci

I remember my father telling me about England’s redrawing of India’s boundaries when it became independent. They wanted to separate the Hindu from the Muslim, but they used outdated maps. Twelve million people had to relocate because the Brits screwed it up so badly. And a half million people died during the resulting chaos. And before that, Iraq was unilaterally cobbled together, causing many of the conflicts we see today. There are dozens of such examples. The strong countries smashing the weaker ones and then avoiding responsibility later for the very problems they caused.”“You keep proving my point, Tom, that we’re rotten to the core.”“My point is we never learn!

— David Baldacci

It’s been my experience that most folk who ride trains couldn't care less where they’re going. For them, it’s the journey itself and the people they meet along the way. You see, at every stop this train makes, a little bit of America, a little bit of your country, gets on and says hello. That’s why trains are so popular at Christmas. People get on to meet their country over the holidays. They’re looking for some friendship, a warm body to talk to. People don’t rush on a train, because that’s not what trains are for. How do you put a dollar value on that? What accounting line does that go on?

— David Baldacci

It's my experience that most folk who ride trains couldn't care less where they're going. For them, it's the journey itself and the people they meet along the way. You see, at every stop this train makes, a little bit of America, a little bit of your country, gets on and says hello.

— David Baldacci

It's not getting from A to B. It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between... This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It's a living, breathing something -- you just have to want to learn its rhythm.

— David Baldacci

It's the hardest thing in the world to put yourself in someone else's place, try to really feel what they feel, figure out why they do the things they do. Especially when it's easier to stick a label on something. Or someone.

— David Baldacci

It would actually constitute more than a miracle, he realized. It would take divine intervention plus luck, plus some unknown element of cosmic wizardry.

— David Baldacci

It would cut into him at unpredictable moments, like a gutting knife made of colored light.

— David Baldacci