“Though everyone in the bar knew who he was, no one asked him about the death, though one old man did rustle his newspaper suggestively.”
Donna Leon“I never wanted to be rich or successful or famous. I just wanted to be happy and have fun.”
Donna Leon“And I don't want to live anywhere where I am famous. It makes me very, very uncomfortable, because it conveys an advantage over people, and I don't like that.”
Donna Leon“She became his Ariadne, leading him through the labyrinth of books, stopping now and then to pass another one to him.”
Donna Leon, By Its Cover“Most people — however much they might deny it — had an idea of what they were getting into when they got into it.”
Donna Leon, About Face“Her mask gave no sign of how this affected her.”
Donna Leon, About Face“Perception of personal danger very often set people on the path of virtue.”
Donna Leon, About Face“We buy things. We wear them or put them on our walls, or sit on them, but anyone who wants to can take them away from us. Or break them....Long after he's dead, someone else will own those stupid little boxes, and then someone after him, just as someone owned them before he did. But no one ever thinks of that: objects survive us and go on living. It's stupid to believe we own them. And it's sinful for them to be so important.”
Donna Leon, Quietly in Their Sleep“Oh, so seldom does fate cast our enemy into our hands, to do with as we will”
Donna Leon, Acqua Alta“I raised my hand and asked if God was a spirit. And he said yes, He was. So I asked if it was right that a spirit was different from a person because it didn't have a body, wasn't material. And when he agreed, I asked how, if God was a spirit, He could be a man, if He didn't have a body or anything.”
Donna Leon, Quietly in Their Sleep“You really love to gossip, don't you?” he asked, wishing she had brought him a glass of wine.“Yes, I suppose I do,” she answered, sounding surprised at the realization. “You think that's why I love reading novels so much?”
Donna Leon, Suffer the Little Children