Douglas Preston

Quotes

1. The chief of the Great Kiva Society didn't own the masks to begin with. They weren't his. They belonged to the entire tribe.

2. 

   Exactly. The letter from the tribe, asking for the return of the Great Kiva masks, arrived only last week. The board of trustees has not yet discussed it. The museum hasn't even had time to consult it's lawyers. Isn't it a bit premature to be editorializing on something that hasn't even begun to be evaluated? Especially when you're so new to the position?

3. 

   Oh, shit. This was no limerick. The son of a bitch went on for page after page.

4. 

   Normally I despise luck, but at the moment I find myself in singular need of it.

5. 

   It's more than a question of mere ownership. I mean, who owns Michelangelo's David? If the Italians wanted to break it up to make marble bathroom tiles, would that be acceptable? If the Egyptians decided to level the Great Pyramid for a parking lot, would that be okay? Do they own it? If the Greeks wanted to sell the Parthenon to a Vegas casino, would that be their right?

6. 

   "I was chained in the tomb for almost forty-eight hours."

   "In the dark?"

   Pendergast nodded. "Slowly suffocating, I might add. I found a certain specialized form of meditation to be most useful."

   "And then?"

   "I was rescued."

   "By who?"

   "My brother."

7. 

   Dear brother. So good of you to come all this way to visit me. You've kept away so very long, you bad creature. Not that I blame you, of course, it's almost more than I can bear, living in the north with all these barbarous Yankees.

8. 

   Graduate students were so low on the museum's totem pole that they were simply invisible.

9. 

   But no, it wasn't possible. He knew in his heart that Pendergast was dead.

10. 

    January 28th? My God, that's just one week away.

11. 

    What else goes into the ragu, Nonna? If there was any response from the choir invisible, D'Agosta couldn't hear it.

12. 

    When I look at you, I see a bag filled with blood, bones, viscera, and meat, held in by the most fragile and vulnerable covering, so easily punctured, so facilely ripped or torn. I have to admit, I was looking forward to it.