Top 140 Lisa Gardner Quotes (2025 Update)
Page 3 of 3

101. “Luka loved the sheriff’s department. He moved in a stiff-legged trot, all keen eyes and pricked-up ears. Retired police officer, returning for duty.”

— Lisa Gardner

102. “Is your father really evil?” I heard myself ask. “Yes.” “Because he drank, did drugs?” “No, honey. Because God made him that way, and he liked it. Your father had an excuse. My father doesn’t.”

— Lisa Gardner

103. “And that’s love, yes? Not making all the right decisions all the time, but being there when it matters the most.”

— Lisa Gardner

104. “Life may not be perfect, at least it offered moments that were perfect enough.”

— Lisa Gardner

105. “And a man and woman should fight. Frankly, they should have a good head-to-head battle about every six months, then make love until they break the box springs.”

— Lisa Gardner

106. “This new generation, they’ve been raised by their parents to assume they’ll start at the top. No scut for them. They’ll just sit in their parents’ basement till the job offer for partner comes in.”

— Lisa Gardner

107. “I’m not the most detailed writer. I have a tendency to be more action-oriented vs. descriptive.”

— Lisa Gardner

108. “I wonder if that’s how I look to others; like I’m normal and functional, too, when in fact, I feel completely emptied out.”

— Lisa Gardner

109. “And part of brilliance isn’t just solving a problem; it’s seeing a problem no one else realizes is a problem yet.”

— Lisa Gardner

110. “I’ve held a beating pulse between my fingers and I’ve squeezed. And it’s the best goddamn feeling in the world. DIFFORD:.”

— Lisa Gardner

111. “My mother would like me to start all interviews by stating that she and my father are perfectly normal. They are proud of me, and as perplexed as anyone by my novels.”

— Lisa Gardner

112. “You look down and to the left. When people are trying to remember something, they look up and to the left. When they’re avoiding the truth, however, they look down and to the left. Interesting bit of trivia they teach us in detective school.”

— Lisa Gardner

113. “When we’d magically assumed we could do better than our own parents, because we hadn’t walked in their shoes yet. We didn’t realize just how complicated and lonely even a good marriage can get.”

— Lisa Gardner

114. “Good things can be forged from bone-deep fury.”

— Lisa Gardner

115. “When it comes to basic survival, you want to remember the rule of threes: You can go three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Prioritize accordingly.”

— Lisa Gardner

116. “What I loved about romances was the character, and I think I still bring that to my novels. What romance taught me was that the ‘who’ will always matter more than the ‘what.’ It’s fun to come up with plots, but I want to make sure the reader cares about who it’s happening to.”

— Lisa Gardner

117. “The past has a will of its own. It wants to be heard.”

— Lisa Gardner

118. “I don’t get the big deal myself. If you can die for your country at eighteen, why not have a beer?”

— Lisa Gardner

119. “Leave it to Massachusetts to create a gun policy so paranoid that even when you took the proper legal steps no one believed you.”

— Lisa Gardner

120. “Whomever speaks first gives up some power.”

— Lisa Gardner

121. “Fabric,” she volunteered, kicking the large box ruefully. “Occupational hazard, I’m afraid.” “For a client or ‘just because’?” “Both,” she admitted. “It always starts as an order for a client, then next thing I know, I’ve added two bolts of ‘just because.’ Frankly, it’s a good thing I don’t live in a bigger space, or Lord only knows.”

— Lisa Gardner

122. “And I take all that sadness back inside me, cleaning the floor, sweeping up the shredded bits of wax, because I don’t want.”

— Lisa Gardner

123. “Loving a child was humbling.”

— Lisa Gardner

124. “Because you and I are alike that way. We know monsters are real, and they don’t all live under the bed.”

— Lisa Gardner

125. “A parent’s approval always mattered, regardless of age –.”

— Lisa Gardner

126. “Maybe the question shouldn’t be why am I doing this, but why isn’t everyone looking?”

— Lisa Gardner

127. “The human mind is complex. Telly can be both explosive and cunning. Impulsive and brilliant. One does not negate the other.”

— Lisa Gardner

128. “Most people don’t realize what a financial luxury privacy is. An individual bedroom, time alone, designated workspace: These things cost money. Angelique got to sleep in a shared family room, while probably doing homework on the kitchen table on a refurbished laptop after her brother had his turn.”

— Lisa Gardner

129. “There’s power in humility. It’s one of the toughest lessons I’ve had to learn.”

— Lisa Gardner

130. “Later came the hard knowledge that no one can save you from yourself.”

— Lisa Gardner

131. “So many think we must share the same beliefs to get along. In my experience, sharing the same fear is a far more effective strategy.”

— Lisa Gardner

132. “My family’s loud. Not big, but definitely demonstrative. My father still grabs my mother around the waist and tries to lure her into dark corners. As an adult, I appreciate their relationship. As a kid... Hell, we were scared to death not to announce ourselves before walking down a darkened hall.”

— Lisa Gardner

133. “How terrible to lose a child most of the world never knew was missing.”

— Lisa Gardner

134. “Even the most honest person will tell a lie.”

— Lisa Gardner

135. “You can go three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food.”

— Lisa Gardner

136. “People with a history of depression often appear happiest right before they commit suicide. Not because their depression has passed, but because they’ve finally chosen a course of action.”

— Lisa Gardner

137. “Humans are interesting, however. Our ability to adapt is truly impressive. Our rage against our own suffering. Our relentless need to find a way out, to do something, anything, to advance our lot in life.”

— Lisa Gardner

138. “They have to get through each day, which makes truth a fickle companion.”

— Lisa Gardner

139. “Plans give you a list of tasks to keep you from drowning in your own fear. Plans give you a feeling of control, even if it’s just an illusion at the time.”

— Lisa Gardner

140. “And I won’t stand in a corner anymore. I will step up. I will become part of the world I live in, even when it’s scary. Because life is scary, but it still beats the alternative.”

— Lisa Gardner