Top 500 Jim Butcher Quotes (2026 Update)
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451. “For the good of the people, some must place themselves in harm’s way. Some must pledge their courage and their lives to protect the community.”

— Jim Butcher

452. “Time, time,” Toot complained. “Is that all you mortals can ever think about? Everyone’s complaining about time! The whole city rushes left and right screaming about being late and honking horns! You people used to have it right, you know.”

— Jim Butcher

453. “Thomas has the kind of whiter-than-white boyish grin that makes women’s panties spontaneously evaporate.”

— Jim Butcher

454. “Mathematically, maybe,” I said. “But trust isn’t one of those things that lends itself well to math.” “Sure it does,” Bob said. “You trust somebody, they betray you, you get a negative value. You never trust, they can never disappoint you, you break even.”

— Jim Butcher

455. “Anger subsides. Love doesn’t.”

— Jim Butcher

456. “In the action business, when you don’t want to say you ran like a mouse, you call it ‘taking cover.’ It’s more heroic.”

— Jim Butcher

457. “Solution: Winchester.”

— Jim Butcher

458. “Well,” Antillus Raucus said. “There it is.” “Brilliant last words,” Phrygius said beside him. “We’ll put them on your memorium. Right next to, ‘He died stating the obvious.’ ” “Ah,” Lord Placida said. “It begins.” “See?” Phrygius said. “Sandos knows how to go out with style.” “You want to go out with style, I’ll strangle you with your best silk tunic,” growled Antillus.”

— Jim Butcher

459. “I’d gone with my usual option. I was running through long tunnels filled with demons and monsters and nightmares, because it was easier than going to the gym.”

— Jim Butcher

460. “I’ve always admired your ability to make jokes when faced with adversity.”

— Jim Butcher

461. “This is what it look like when it WORKS?”

— Jim Butcher

462. “And besides, she was curious. She had questions. And answering questions was very nearly always more important than caution.”

— Jim Butcher

463. “I put the ick in magic.”

— Jim Butcher

464. “Honey, I liked the Harry Potter movies, too, but that doesn’t mean I ran out and got a Dark Mark tattooed onto my left forearm like you did.”

— Jim Butcher

465. “It isn’t complicated. You just open up and let someone in. And whatever comes after that, you face it together.”

— Jim Butcher

466. “I can’t tell you how many jobs I’ve done without a hitch since the last time I saw you, Dresden. You walk through the door and everything goes to hell.” “That’s embroidered on my towels, actually,” I said.”

— Jim Butcher

467. “The Denarians want to disrupt civilization, and with the Archive under their control, they could do it. Maybe they’d use biological or chemical weapons instead. Maybe they’d crash the world economy. Maybe they’d turn every program on television into one of those reality shows.” “That’s mostly done already, Harry.”

— Jim Butcher

468. “He had hard, steady eyes, and all the comforting, reassuring charm of a dental drill. – Harry Dresden describing Morgan.”

— Jim Butcher

469. “You’ve got it backward, Harry,” he said. “You are a soul. You have a body.”

— Jim Butcher

470. “I parked in front of the Field Museum under a NO PARKING sign. There were a couple of actual spots I could have used, but the drive was even closer. Besides, I found it aesthetically satisfying to defy municipal code.”

— Jim Butcher

471. “You’re dead, son. Cheer is contraindicated.”

— Jim Butcher

472. “Let me be clear that I never offered House Astor an insult... Nor did I insult Reginald. I simply described him in accurate terms. If he finds himself insulted by the truth, it’s hardly my concern.”

— Jim Butcher

473. “You’d think as long as I was gambling with my soul, I would have thought to get Mab to throw in fifty bucks an hour plus expenses.”

— Jim Butcher

474. “Come with me if you want to live.”

— Jim Butcher

475. “Here’s something else I bet you didn’t know about Tyrannosaurs: they don’t corner well.”

— Jim Butcher

476. “Hey. I don’t care what kind of faerie or mortal or hideous creature you are. If you’ve got danglies and can lose them, that’s the kind of sight that make you reconsider the possible genitalia-related ramifications of your actions real damned quick.”

— Jim Butcher

477. “I witnessed the birth of time itself. I watched the mortal coil spring forth from perfect darkness. I watched the stars form, watched this world coalesce, watched as life was breathed into it and as your kind rose to rule it.” She put both hands on the table and leaned toward me, her blue eyes cold and hard. “Thus far, I have behaved as a guest ought. But do not mistake propriety for weakness, mortal. I beg you not to oblige me to take further action.”

— Jim Butcher

478. “Thomas was an annoying wiseass who tended to make everyone he met want to kill him, and when I have that much in common with someone, I can’t help but like him a little.”

— Jim Butcher

479. “My answer came out at once. For me, chivalry isn’t dead; it’s an involuntary reflex. It could have been any woman asking for help, and I’d have said the same thing. It might have taken me a second or two longer, but I would have. For Elaine, there was no need to think about it for even that long. “I’ll help.”

— Jim Butcher

480. “Mister went to his spot before the fireplace and demanded that it be made warm.”

— Jim Butcher

481. “I pressed past the outer branches of the lilacs and found a small and relatively open space in the middle. Then I waited.”

— Jim Butcher

482. “You know how to use magic?” I asked. “I prefer calculus.”

— Jim Butcher

483. “I’ve had a tense couple of days. And I’ve got to tell you, burning someone’s face off sounds like a great way to relax.”

— Jim Butcher

484. “All of my base are belong to me.”

— Jim Butcher

485. “The hardest lesson a wizard has to learn is that even with so much power, there are some things you can’t control. No matter how much you want to.”

— Jim Butcher

486. “It rained toads the day the White Council came to town.”

— Jim Butcher

487. “Faith, Harry. God has a way of seeing to it that things fall into place.”

— Jim Butcher

488. “Me and polite have never been on close terms.”

— Jim Butcher

489. “Speak, then, manling,” said Mother Winter. “You have a little time left.”

— Jim Butcher

490. “Mickey Mouse woke me up, my alarm jangling noisily, his little hand on two and the big hand on twelve. I wanted to smack the clock for waking me up, but I reined in the impulse. I’m not against a little creative violence now and then, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I wouldn’t sleep in the same room with a person who would smack Mickey Mouse.”

— Jim Butcher

491. “Duty flows uphill and down.” He.”

— Jim Butcher

492. “They say screwy things, make odd choices which, in retrospect, they feel amazingly foolish for making.”

— Jim Butcher

493. “If a White Court vampire wants to feed off a human, all she really has to do is crook her finger, and he comes running. There isn’t any ominous music. Nobody sparkles. As far as anyone looking on is concerned, a girl winks at a boy and goes off somewhere to make out. Happens every day. They don’t get.”

— Jim Butcher

494. “I work in grand halls and bedchambers with wine and perfume. Not in dark alleyways with cloaks and knives. I don’t like knives. I don’t even own a knife. And my cloaks are far too expensive to risk bloodying.”

— Jim Butcher

495. “Laughter is good for you. Nine out of ten stand-up comedians recommend laughter in the face of intense stupidity.”

— Jim Butcher

496. “People have far more power than they realize, if they would only choose to use it.”

— Jim Butcher

497. “Dawn is significant, magically speaking. It is a time of new beginnings.”

— Jim Butcher

498. “I don’t believe in faeries!”

— Jim Butcher

499. “I have a problem with creepy, dead, poisonous things. So sue me.”

— Jim Butcher

500. “I am disturbed by the presence of inordinate levels of coincidence.”

— Jim Butcher