Top 107 quotes by Harlan Coben

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You bring your own weather to the picnic.
Harlan Coben

Weather , Marriage , Picnics

The ugliest truth, in the end, was still better than the prettiest of lies.
Harlan Coben

Lying , Ends , Prettiest

Only bad writers think they're good.
Harlan Coben

Twitter post from Jan 27, 2017 Source

Thinking

Hope can be the most wonderful thing in the world or it can crush your heart like an eggshell.
Harlan Coben

World , Heart , Crush

There are three things that make a person a writer: inspiration, perspiration and desperation.
Harlan Coben

Three , Inspiration , Desperation

..."better to have loved and lost" bullshit. Don't show me paradise and then burn it down.
Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (2009). “Tell No One”, p.29, Dell

Lost , Paradise , Bullshit

Part of the human condition is that we all think that we are uniquely complex while everyone else is somewhat simpler to read. That is not true, of course. We all have our own dreams and hopes and wants and lust and heartaches. We all have our own brand of crazy
Harlan Coben

"Six Years". Book by Harlan Coben, 2013.

Thinking , Dream , Crazy

Trust is like that. You can break it for a good reason. But it still remains broken.
Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (2008). “Hold Tight”, p.289, Penguin

Reason , Break , Broken

This is the price you pay for having a great father. You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments - and you get the tears at the end, too.
Harlan Coben

Joy , Father , Dad

A novel is like a sausage. You might like the final taste but you don't want to see how it was made.
Harlan Coben

Twitter post from Sep 08, 2014 Source

Want , Finals , Sausage

I like to see the difference between good and evil as kind of like the foul line at a baseball game. It's very thin, it's made of something very flimsy like lime, and if you cross it, it really starts to blur where fair becomes foul and foul becomes fair.
Harlan Coben

Differences , Games , Baseball

I always think the insecurity is going to go away, but it's always there. Only bad writers think they're good.
Harlan Coben

Thinking , Going Away , Insecurity

I'm a little bit of a control freak.
Harlan Coben

Bits , Littles , Freak

The actual writing time is a lot shorter than the thinking time.
Harlan Coben

Thinking , Writing

The book I always say that influenced me, subconsciously, because at the time I didn't know I wanted to be a writer, was William Goldman's 'Marathon Man.' That was the first adult thriller that I loved. I read it when I was 15 or so, when my father gave it to me.
Harlan Coben

Men , Book , Father

There's always a price you pay when you lie. Once you introduce a lie into a relationship, even for the best of intentions, it is always there. Whenever you’re with that person again, that lie is in the room too. It sits on your shoulder. Good lie or bad lie, it's in the room with you forever now. It's your constant companion.
Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (2012). “Seconds Away (Book Two): A Mickey Bolitar Novel”, p.146, Penguin

Forever , Lying , Pay