C.J. Sansom quotes:

Have you ever thought what a God would be like who actually ordained and executed the cruelty that is in [the biblical Book of Revelation]? A holocaust of mankind. Yet so many of these Bible-men accept the idea without a second thought.

We of alien looks or words must stick together.

Dominion is a spy novel, a love story, and also I hope gives some sense of the difficulties faced by dissidents under any totalitarian regime: the threat of imprisonment, torture and death; the threat to one's family, the terror of being alone in a hostile world.

If a ruler who wants to act honourably is surrounded by unscrupulous men, his downfall is inevitable.

In worshipping their nationhood men worship themselves and scorn others, and that is no healthy thing.

Truly, as the ancients taught us, there is nothing under the moon, however fine, that is not subject to corruption.

Like all lawyers, I was delighted by gratitude. It happened so rarely.

But if we never acted except when we were certain our motives were pure, we would never act at all.

If I knocked and waited at every door, who knows what I might miss?

It seems a universal rule in this world that people will always look for victims and scapegoats, does it not? Especially at times of difficulty and tension.

Funny, when i was a little boy I wanted to be good. But I could never seem to manage it somehow. And if you're not good, the good people will throw you to the wolves. So you might as well just be bad

The echoes of childhood torments have great power, even when not brought to mind in such an inexplicable and horrifying way.