Thomas Harris Quotes

On his Hannibal Lector mask: I've got it at home. I wear it to bed every night.

Barbarism is the natural state of mankind.

It comes back to the old question: How can the Bible be so wise in some places and so barbaric in others? And why should we put any faith in a book that includes such brutality?

Civilization exists precisely so that there may be no masses but rather men alert enough never to constitute masses.

I like French films, Chabrol in particular. With him, you often get a skewed morality in which you sympathise with the person you shouldn't.

The contemporary crime novel is, at its best, a novel of character. That's where the suspense comes from.

John le Carre's 'The Night Manager' is a relentlessly exhilarating thriller with profound emotional depths.

Good writers know that crime is an entre into telling a greater story about character. Good crime writing holds up a mirror to the readers and reflects in a darker light the world in which they live.

The dark book has been terribly popular. Dark characters, dysfunction, and all sorts of things from reality that are true in our world.

I love 'Shattered Glass.' It's one of my favorite movies. I think it's just brilliant.

Civilization is hideously fragile … there's not much between us and the horrors underneath, just about a coat of varnish.

Laws fixed, certain, and uniform, are said to be the distinguishing traits of civilized from savage communities. In these last, seldom are any laws, unless it be the arbitrary and uncertain will of the strongest.

Is it right for us, as a society, to do a thing – hang a man – which none of us individually would be prepared to do or even witness? The answer is 'no, not in a civilized society

'Atomic Blonde' is about the characters' bigger existential crisis and their world. It's not so much the conceit of the spy game; it's more that being a spy sucks. But we're going to make it fun to watch.

As far as characters in fiction that I really admire - it's pretty strong to say you would wish that you had created another character - but I'll throw out Will Graham, the protagonist in 'Red Dragon,' a book I've read several times.

'The Oath' seems like the perfect project for me, coming off the back of a big-scale adventure film like 'Everest.' I want to delve into an intimate, dark and psychological world where the characters are claustrophobic.

'The Chill,' by Jason Starr and Mick Bertilorenzi, was both a wise and nervy choice to start the year: Starr's standalone novels, such as 'Hard Feelings' and 'The Follower,' sustain a mood not unlike the perpetual unscratchable itch on one's back, and go Highsmith-level deep into the sociopathic mind.

There's this film called 'The Pledge', with Jack Nicholson in it. Now that's a dark film.

Badlapur' is a drama, a character-driven story. It is not so much about plot.

Kolaigaran' is not a typical hero-villain subject. We explored the other side of human nature, which is grey.

Noir focuses on the criminal mind, not a whodunit: more why they did it and will they get away with it. The abnormal psychology is what fascinates me rather than the puzzle-solving aspect.

Crime novels, it has been said, show the human psyche under pressure.

I wonder if I could eat a child if I had the chance.' 'I doubt if I could cook one,' said Constance.

The bookshelf, like the book, has become an integral part of civilization as we know it, its presence in a home practically defining what it means to be civilized, educated, and refined.

Civilization may be said indeed to be the creation of its outlaws.