5 Quotes by Adrian Mathews

Niekuomet netikėkite, kad mums pražudo didelės klaidos. Tai padaro mažos klaidelės.

A spirit of practicality had come to her aid. It was only human. When the earthquake stops, when the flood recedes, when the volcanic dust settles or the guns fall silent, the survivors pick their way through the rubble and debris and wreckage. A chair leg here, a first communion certificate or a bundle of love letters there. The flotsam and jetsam of the old ways―the ways that will never return.

Satan wants you for a storm cloud, baby.

To get this right, you’d have to know what codes were doing the round in the eighteenth century, wouldn’t you? Mind you, it ain’t always easy. You’ve heard of the Voynich Manuscript?’‘No.’‘A scientific book, at least four hundred years old, written in code. No one’s ever managed to crack that one, not even you modern whizz-kids.

I saw an exhibition of paintings of alchemists once,’ said Ruth. ‘It used to be a popular setpiece. There was one I liked by Joseph Wright of Derby―of an alchemist who’d accidentally discovered phosphorus. He’s just crouching there, staring in amazement at his test tube or alembic, or whatever you call it. A bloody good painting, actually.