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Top 30 Thomas Perry Quotes (2025 Update)

Thomas Perry Quote: “Once you have invented a character with three dimensions and a voice, you begin to realize that some of the things you’d like him to do to further your plot are things that such a person wouldn’t, or couldn’t, do.”

1. “Once you have invented a character with three dimensions and a voice, you begin to realize that some of the things you’d like him to do to further your plot are things that such a person wouldn’t, or couldn’t, do.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Being comfortable isn’t the way to learn to expand your abilities.”

2. “Being comfortable isn’t the way to learn to expand your abilities.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I do have to earn a living, so I’m conscious of probable reactions from readers, but the most important one is still the awareness that if I’m not enjoying a story, the reader won’t either.”

3. “I do have to earn a living, so I’m conscious of probable reactions from readers, but the most important one is still the awareness that if I’m not enjoying a story, the reader won’t either.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “There is no place so benighted and godforsaken that some moron won’t go there on vacation. People could be living in an open sewer and swallowing dirt to stop the hunger, and there’d be a couple from Larchmont wearing comfortable shoes there to take pictures of them.”

4. “There is no place so benighted and godforsaken that some moron won’t go there on vacation. People could be living in an open sewer and swallowing dirt to stop the hunger, and there’d be a couple from Larchmont wearing comfortable shoes there to take pictures of them.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Bombs were not just weapons. They were something more, expressions of the bomber’s thoughts about you, his predictions of your behavior – what you would see, even what you would think and feel. He’d staged a presentation designed to fool you. He didn’t even know your name, but you were the one he was really after. Bombs were acts of murder, but they were also jokes on you, riddles the bomber hoped were too tough for you, chances for you to pick wrong when it was almost impossible to pick right.”

5. “Bombs were not just weapons. They were something more, expressions of the bomber’s thoughts about you, his predictions of your behavior – what you would see, even what you would think and feel. He’d staged a presentation designed to fool you. He didn’t even know your name, but you were the one he was really after. Bombs were acts of murder, but they were also jokes on you, riddles the bomber hoped were too tough for you, chances for you to pick wrong when it was almost impossible to pick right.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “All writers are mimics, and I’m not interested in picking up somebody else’s style or voice.”

6. “All writers are mimics, and I’m not interested in picking up somebody else’s style or voice.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.”

7. “I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I don’t have dry seasons, because I don’t allow them.”

8. “I don’t have dry seasons, because I don’t allow them.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.”

9. “I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I do like to explore evil characters in my books.”

10. “I do like to explore evil characters in my books.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I don’t consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice.”

11. “I don’t consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I don’t think the problem is that people don’t read enough mystery books, but that people don’t read.”

12. “I don’t think the problem is that people don’t read enough mystery books, but that people don’t read.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “There are days when I intentionally don’t write. For instance, I never write when I’m traveling, because travel is a situation where I can learn more by looking and listening than by working.”

13. “There are days when I intentionally don’t write. For instance, I never write when I’m traveling, because travel is a situation where I can learn more by looking and listening than by working.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck.”

14. “Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.”

15. “You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.”

16. “What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Tod Goldberg has long been one of the most interesting writers around, and Gangsterland is his biggest and best book so far.”

17. “Tod Goldberg has long been one of the most interesting writers around, and Gangsterland is his biggest and best book so far.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “People take charge and then you find out what they wanted power for.”

18. “People take charge and then you find out what they wanted power for.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “If I don’t have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something – a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.”

19. “If I don’t have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something – a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They’re the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They’re active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.”

20. “The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They’re the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They’re active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I held a variety of jobs – most notably ten years working in universities – and kept on writing.”

21. “I held a variety of jobs – most notably ten years working in universities – and kept on writing.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “It’s important, I think, for a writer of fiction to maintain an awareness of the pace and shape of the book as he’s writing it. That is, he should be making an object, not chattering.”

22. “It’s important, I think, for a writer of fiction to maintain an awareness of the pace and shape of the book as he’s writing it. That is, he should be making an object, not chattering.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea – something I’ve figured out about her that’s news and that’s worth a reader’s time.”

23. “I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea – something I’ve figured out about her that’s news and that’s worth a reader’s time.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “When I write a book, I’m making it the best book I can.”

24. “When I write a book, I’m making it the best book I can.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “But at the same time, the commonplace statement about them is true: every character is the hero of his own story. Each has a justification for his actions that is convincing to him. It’s fun to give these people voices.”

25. “But at the same time, the commonplace statement about them is true: every character is the hero of his own story. Each has a justification for his actions that is convincing to him. It’s fun to give these people voices.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.”

26. “Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “If you’ll think about various series you’ve read, can you think of any instance in which, say, the tenth volume of the series is notably better than the first nine? I can’t.”

27. “If you’ll think about various series you’ve read, can you think of any instance in which, say, the tenth volume of the series is notably better than the first nine? I can’t.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “The women sang the Ohgiwe and danced together as the grandmothers had, for the brave, and the unselfish, for the protectors.”

28. “The women sang the Ohgiwe and danced together as the grandmothers had, for the brave, and the unselfish, for the protectors.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.”

29. “Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.”

— Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry Quote: “Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience.”

30. “Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience.”

— Thomas Perry

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