DAVID BALDACCI

Why waste time trying to discover the truth, when you can so easily create it?

I'm a wicked ping-pong player.

I'm ever curious about the world. I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about. Having a vivid imagination is also a plus.

I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.

I'm tired of people screaming about price and forgetting about the content.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

I look for material that both interest me and challenges me. If I am drawn to the material and I have to work hard at it, the characters and the plots reflect the hours and hours of research.

But protagonists are protagonists and heroes are heroes.

Fiction is sort of a way to set the record straight, and let people at least believe that justice can be achieved and the right outcomes can occur.

People have given me classified information, but always with the disclaimer 'This can never end up in a book.' And it never does.

Some people take 10 years to write a book and some can do one in under a year.

In every thriller written about Washington, particularly after 9/11, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and there's no gray area at all.

I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about.

As a lawyer, as a private citizen, you see a lot of injustice. You see a lot of people who should have been punished and are not, and people who were punished wrongfully are not vindicated. Fiction is sort of a way to set the record straight, and let people at least believe that justice can be achieved and the right outcomes can occur.

The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like.

Most people associate reading with laying on the beach. They don't see that it's crucial for a democracy!

I'd read a lot of thrillers about politicians and presidents, but never one where you flip the stereotypes and make good people bad and bad people good.

People who have expertise just love to share it. That's human nature.

Trapped in a trap of your own making.

Shaw, we're going to die, aren't we?" Probably. Why?" Just wanted confirmation.

Passion is a rare commodity. When you find it, treasure it and never give it up!

Small mistakes tend to lead to large ones. Ours is a lifetime appoinment, and all you have is your reputation. Once it's gone, it doesn't comeback.

Only I could drink a thousand drinks and never forget a damn thing. I would just remember every detail of the thousand drinks down to the shapes of the ice cubes.

Confidence is one thing, disrespect is quite another. (Justice Elizabeth Knight)

Half truths were a wonderful way to inspire credibility.