Detective Work Quotes

Anything is easy to the man who sees ... The open eye of the open mind
that has more to do with real detective work than all the deduction and induction and analysis ever devised. ~ Samuel Hopkins Adams

...you cannot enter into an investigation with a philosophy that dictates the outcome. Objectivity is paramount; this is the first principle of detective work that each of us must learn. It sounds simple, but our presuppositions are sometimes hidden in a way that makes them hard to uncover and recognize. ~ J Warner Wallace

It often seems to me that's all detective work is, wiping out your false starts and beginning again.
Yes, it is very true, that. And it is just what some people will not do. They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant. ~ Agatha Christie

You just work really hard and scrutinize. What is it called in politics? "Opposition research"? You want to do the detective work on your client so to speak before your opponent can dig it up. We're vetting everything thoroughly. ~ James Ponsoldt

As a biographer, I try to uncover the adventures and personalities behind each character I research. Once my character and I have reached an understanding, then I begin the detective work reading old books, old letters, old newspapers, and visiting the places where my subject lived. Often I turn up surprises, and of course, I pass them on. ~ Jean Fritz

Chuckling to herself, Nancy said aloud, Romance and detective work won't mix tonight! ~ Carolyn Keene

Research. Government archives. Detective work. Few lucky guesses. Easy. ~ Douglas Adams

Sure there are times when one cries with acidity,
'Where are the limits of human stupidity?'
Here is a critic who says as a platitude
That I am guilty because 'in gratitude
Sherlock, the sleuth-hound, with motives ulterior,
Sneers at Poe's Dupin as "very inferior".'
Have you not learned, my esteemed communicator,
That the created is not the creator?
As the creator I've praised to satiety
Poe's Monsieur Dupin, his skill and variety,
And have admitted that in my detective work
I owe to my model a deal of selective work.
But is it not on the verge of inanity
To put down to me my creation's crude vanity?
He, the created, would scoff and would sneer,
Where I, the creator, would bow and revere.
So please grip this fact with your cerebral tentacle:
The doll and its maker are never identical. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Your novels show only the tiniest fraction of detective work, the brilliant crime, the tantalizing clues, the dramatic chase, the final battle atop a lofty peak with ocean waves crashing down below, and then ... justice served! If they wrote about the real world, four-fifths of the story would consist of the hero sitting in a library for months and following false leads. ~ Stefan Petrucha

Detective work is neither a happy nor a satisfying business, Miss Rook," said Jackaby, settling in as the amber buildings sailed past our window. "Marlowe will understand." "I don't understand at all." Commissioner Marlowe kept his voice low and even as we sat across from him the following morning. ~ William Ritter

Without really trying, I have become a collector of other families' secrets. Whenever I tell someone about my detective work, the first question is invariably something like this: 'Can you tell me the secret?' Sure, I say. The next question often is: 'Want to hear my family's secret? ~ Steve Luxenberg

The best crime novels are not about how a detective works on a case; they are about how a case works on a detective. ~ Michael Connelly

An alibi is only as good as its details. ~ Kenneth Eade

Detective work is ninety-nine percent boring and one percent the kind of excitement no one should ever experience. ~ Marshall Thornton

Whenever I write lyrics, in the back of my mind I always see a guy driving to work, driving to a really bad job, one of those horrible institutions, or one of those low squat buildings in Los Angeles. I write with that person in my mind. ~ Henry Rollins

Be an experimental person. Break up fixed routines. Expose yourself to new restaurants, new books, new theaters, new friends; take a different route to work someday, take a different vacation this year, do something new and different this weekend. ~ David J. Schwartz

What the great mentor is always looking for is a person who is willing to tap his genius, to put it through the refiner's fire, to do the hard work to develop it. Indeed, mentoring is the medieval art of alchemy-turning plain old human steel into hearts and minds of gold. ~ Oliver DeMille

Pursue joy, not happiness. This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be happy. Oh, you maybe have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness should be predictable. ~ Guy Kawasaki

There is a growing recognition that the death penalty simply can't work. It's a complex system that arbitrarily selects defendants for death and creates more stress and appeals, even as it is plagued by serious error. Each new exoneration reminds us of the unacceptable possibility of wrongful execution. ~ Robert Cecil Martin

I didn't do anything," Scott protested. "Breaking and entering is nothing?" Detective Basso echoed. "Funny, the law disagrees. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick

People who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want. ~ Stephen Chbosky

In real life I'm the type of girl who doesn't take herself too seriously. I'm very serious when it comes to work, but I like to make jokes and have a good laugh and make fun of myself. ~ Gal Gadot

Religion may be purified. This great work was begun two hundred years ago: but men can only bear light to come in upon them by degrees. ~ Voltaire

I worry about what I can control, and that's come out and improve every day, enjoy the process, count your blessings, and work extremely hard. ~ Tim Tebow

It's so easy for propaganda to work, and dissent to be mocked. ~ Harold Pinter

As the Pentagon makes plans for the largest troop rotation since World War II, I will work with the Armed Services Committee to help make this proposal a reality. ~ Mike Rogers

In many ways Churchill remained a nineteenth-century man, and by no means a common man. He fit the mold of what Henry James called in English Hours persons for whom the private machinery of ease has been made to work with extraordinary smoothness. ~ William Manchester

I think creative people need to do a bit of, you know, tuning into every radio station - you just do, otherwise you don't know much about other people. You kind of have to learn a bit about yourself so you can work out how we all behave and why we do the things we do. ~ Anne-Marie Duff

It was tough going to boarding school. It was very hard work. ~ Jasmine Guinness

Career mothers are not kidding anybody. Being a mom is the hardest job of all. You got to work to rest. ~ Sandy Duncan

Let me tell you a joke, Rora said.
Mujo wakes up one day, after a long night of drinking, and asks himself what the meaning of life is. He goes to work, but realizes that is not what life is or should be. He decides to read some philosophy and for years studies everything from the old Greeks onward, but can't find the meaning of life. Maybe it's the family, he thinks, so he spends time with his wife, Fata, and the kids, but finds no meaning in that and so he leaves them. He thinks, Maybe helping others is the meaning of life, so he goes to medical school, graduates with flying colors, goes to Africa to cure malaria and transplants hearts, but cannot discover the meaning of life. He thinks, maybe it's the wealth, so he becomes a businessman, starts making money hand over fist, millions of dollars, buys everything there is to buy, but that is not what life is about. Then he turns to poverty and humility and such, so he gives everything away and begs on the streets, but still he cannot see what life is. He thinks maybe it is literature: he writes novel upon novel, but the more he writes the more obscure the meaning of life becomes. He turns to God, lives the life of a dervish, reads and contemplates the Holy Book of Islam - still, nothing. He studies Christianity, then Judaism, then Buddhism, then everything else - no meaning of life there. Finally, he hears about a guru living high up in the mountains somewhere in the East. The guru, they say, knows what the meaning of lif ~ Aleksandar Hemon

I only want to work with interesting filmmakers. ~ Douglas Booth

Dad steps away from the window, and I'm alarmed to discover his eyes are wet. Something about the idea of my father-even if it is my father-on the brink of tears raises a lump in my throat.
"Well,kiddo.Guess you're all grown up now."
My body is frozen. He pulls my stiff limbs into a bear hug.His grip is frightening. "Take care of yourself. Study hard and make some friends. And watch out for pickpockets," he adds. "Sometimes they work in pairs. ~ Stephanie Perkins

Talk about a struggling artist having to work against enormous odds ... But I love movies so much, so I'm going to do it. ~ Ariel Pink

For me drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat. At ~ Alex Ferguson

I know this will sound glib, but don't pretend you aren't feeling what you feel. That's how things slide into hell. Feelings are facts," she said, her voice a little hard, as she began to walk again. "Look straight at 'em and deal with 'em. Work it through, as honestly as you can. If ~ Mary Doria Russell

The issue of gender was never my biggest concern; my biggest concern was doing good work. When the feminist movement really got going, I wasn't an active part of it because I was more concerned with my own mental pursuits. ~ Patti Smith

Is that all I am to have?" She followed him. "I suppose you consider an apology beneath you."
Rather, he was considering her beneath him, how good she'd felt there, and how he would like that again. He halted. "Madam, I offer my profoundest apology. It shan't happen again." As though his feet moved of their own will, he found himself stepping toward her. "Unless you wish it to."
She backed up. "Not in this life." But her eyes were wary.
Good. He did not wish to frighten her. But keeping her wary could work. And yet the most powerful need to be near her would not leave him. Of course it wouldn't. After two long years he wanted a woman. Among his brother's potential brides was not, however, the place to go searching for one. "That must be to my advantage, then," he said.
She screwed up her brow. "Must it?"
"You wield an impressive pitchfork."

-Ravenna & Vitor ~ Katharine Ashe

a history teacher. I work, ~ Danielle Monsch

A work of art is great to the extent that to encounter it is to be changed. ~ Wendy Beckett

Men work harder and more readily when they labor on that which is their own. ~ Fulton J. Sheen

If busyness can become a kind of violence, we do not have to stretch our perception very far to see that Sabbath time – effortless, nourishing rest – can invite a healing of this violence. When we consecrate a time to listen to the still, small voices, we remember the root of inner wisdom that makes work fruitful. We remember from where we are most deeply nourished, and see more clearly the shape and texture of the people and things before us. ~ Wayne Muller

Life is a race against disappearing time ~ Sunday Adelaja

Korie's parents came to the house to see me, and I sat on the couch with Johnny and Chrys. It was not pretty. The argument was so loud that Alan came out of his room. He looked at us and asked, "What in the world is going on?" Johnny was making all of his arguments, and I was acting like a little punk, twisting his words to put them in my favor, which only made him madder and madder.
Johnny told me that according to studies he'd read, 50 percent of all marriages between young people ended in divorce. He had the articles with him to support his arguments.
"So you're calling that right now?" I asked him. "In all your wisdom, you know we're going to get divorced?"
"I'm not saying that," Johnny told me.
"You just said it," I responded. "You just said half end in divorce. Well, what if we're the good half?"
Then Johnny went on to say that if we got married, he didn't want me coming to him for advice. But then later on in the conversation, he told me I could ask him about anything. He was completely irrational, and I, of course, had to point that out to him.
"You just said I couldn't ask you for advice," I told him.
He was so mad, I thought he was going to leap off the couch and hit me. Before they left, Johnny looked at me and asked me one last question.
"What's your plan?" he asked.
"What's my plan?" I said to him.
"What exactly is your plan?" he said. "Where are you going to work? Where are you going to live?"
"Well, I recko ~ Willie Robertson

I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drum all day. ~ Todd Rundgren

It's bad policy to speculate on what you'll do if a plan fails when you're trying to make a plan work. ~ Condoleezza Rice

I would love to work with Johnny Depp. I really admire him as an actor, and personally, in my opinion, his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow is one of greatest performances given by an actor. I love his creative sense and the way he creates a character, so it would be a dream come true to work with him. ~ Caroline Sunshine

Your ability to work with others on a complex task is a critical skill for advancement at work. ~ Brian Tracy

My view is that you have to take risks. Not everything is going to work out, but it's sort of the fun of fashion, right? ~ Julie Macklowe

Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction can be difficult, lonely job; it's like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There's plenty of opportunity for self-doubt. ~ Stephen King

I've taken singing lessons since I was young, just to work on technique. ~ Skylar Laine

The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance. ~ Richard Price

Messi is a natural born talent, that is not to say he doesn't work hard, but you can't teach what he can do. ~ Deco

But elimination will only happen if all countries - nuclear and non-nuclear states - genuinely work towards this result. Nuclear states must abolish their arsenals, as was indicated by the unanimous opinion of the international Court of Justice, the highest international tribunal. The five nuclear states seem to expect others to refrain from obtaining bombs while at the same time maintaining their own caches of deadly weapons. ~ C. G. Weeramantry

For me, at the end of the day, I want to be judged for my work, not for what I've been through and past experiences, necessarily. ~ Jamie Clayton

Being in war together may be what keeps us from being at war with each other. Rather than neglecting the battle to work on your marriage, maybe the best thing for your marriage is to enter the battlefield together. ~ Francis Chan

The work of rehearsal is looking for meaning and then making it meaningful. ~ Peter Brook

Success or failure in your work and relationships is dependent on how you manage your feelings. ~ Deborah Sandella

The crew were all of them inclined to cough and sneeze, the boys particularly, and Keynes said, "We ought put them all in the water: to keep the chest warm must be the foremost concern."
Laurence agreed without thinking and was shortly appalled by the sight of Emily bathing with the rest of the young officers, innocent of both clothing and modesty.
"You must not bathe with the others," Laurence said to her urgently, having bundled her out and into a blanket.
"Mustn't I?" she said, gazing up at him damp and bewildered.
"Oh, Christ," Laurence said, under his breath. "No," he told her firmly, "it is not suitable; you are beginning to be a young lady."
"Oh," she said dismissively, "Mother has told me all about that, but I have not started bleeding yet, and anyway I would not like to go to bed with any of them," and a thoroughly routed Laurence feebly fell back on giving her some make-work, and fled to Temeraire's side. ~ Naomi Novik

The fiction I tend to like is nothing like my own work. I like the kind of writing that shows me things I don't know about, and what I don't know about is the everyday, normal world. ~ Jim Woodring

I was living in a terrible time when people were being accused of being communists, and they attacked the movie industry, especially the writers. People couldn't work if they were on the blacklist. The studios banned them. It was the most onerous period in movie history. I don't think we have ever had a period so dark as that. ~ Kirk Douglas

What's going on?" he asked, trying to go for casual, but he was an asshole so casual really didn't work for him. ~ R.L. Mathewson