Ally Carter quotes
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“Not knowing you can't do something, is sometimes all it takes to do it.”
-- Ally Carter -
“She'd absolutely adored the library_an entire building where anyone could take things they didn't own and feel no remorse about it.”
-- Ally Carter -
“The older I got, the smarter my teachers became.”
-- Ally CarterSource : "Out of Sight, Out of Time". Book by Ally Carter, March 13, 2012.
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“It is an occupational hazard that anyone who has spent her life learning how to lie eventually becomes bad at telling the truth.”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2011). “Heist Society”, p.45, Hachette UK
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“It was epic. It was awkward. It was epically awkward.”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2013). “Gallagher Girls: United We Spy”, p.68, Hachette UK
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“Because even though the truth can set you free, that doesn't mean it won't be painful.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Sometimes it takes an outsider, someone with fresh eyes to see the truth.”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2011). “Heist Society”, p.75, Hachette UK
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“...nothing ever happens quickly (except when it does). Nothing is ever, ever easy (except when it is). And, most of all, nothing ever goes perfectly according to plan (except in the movies).”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2011). “Only the Good Spy Young”, p.162, ReadHowYouWant.com
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“As soon as she was close, she whispered, "you've got to get out of here." "No, you've got to get out of here," he told her. "Go downstairs. Go now." "No," she countered. "You go." "Why?" he asked. "You tell me first." But before they could say another word, the last elevator slid slowly open and two men in masks rushed out. From the opposite side of the of the ballroom, shots rang out, rapid fire, piercing the ceiling, plaster falling onto the dance floor like snow. And then Hale and Macey whispered in unison, "Because of that.”
-- Ally Carter -
“When Hale's hand disappeared inside his tuxedo jacket, Macey wasn't exactly sure what he'd find inside the pocket. It could have been another phone or a breath mint. Really, nothing would have surprised her. Well nothing except... "Is that an earbud?" she whispered. He smiled. "Are you on comms?" "Shhh," he told her softly.”
-- Ally Carter -
“That's cool." Hale nodded, unfazed. "But just so you know, that"---he pointed to the piece of metal peeking out from behind the stage---"is a Hurst 5,000 PSI hydraulic spreader-cutter, more commonly know as the Jaws of Life." "So?" "So I'm not a normal boy.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Macey couldn't decide whether to be intrigued that Hale was walking around with a state-of-the-art covert communications device or be jealous because she'd been caught without one of her own.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Hale looked at Macey, who added, "Seven minutes since shots fired." "Kat what's the emergency response tie in Midtown Manhattan?" "Not long enough if they want a clean exit," she told him. Macey hadn't heard Kat's words, but she looked at Hale like she'd read his mind.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Kat picked up a folder labeled Senior. "What are these? Bank records?" She did a double take, looking at Hale. "Did your dad really pay two million dollars to the campaign to elect Ross Perot?" "I..." Hale said, stumbling for words and thumbing through another file. "Wow. I guess my cousin Charlotte isn't really my cousin." "Don't worry," Kat said. "It looks like there might be a kid in Queens who is.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Tell me Zach.†I don’t know if it was the wind or the adrenaline, but I shivered. “And don’t lie to me.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Every head turned to see two more security guards appear, each holding a Bagshaw by the back of the neck (which might have been considerably less conspicuous had the Bagshaws not been dressed as chimney sweeps). Kat turned back to Hale. 'The Mary Poppins?' 'Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Another door swung open, and another guard appeared, this time with Gabrielle, who wore a black catsuit and rappelling harness.”
-- Ally Carter -
“You still don't get it, do you, Margaret?' Kat smiled almost sadly. 'We never had to steal the Antony. All we had to do was get it next to the Cleopatra and switch the signs.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Well, see, there's this cave in Switzerland I really need to find.' She slipped on her sunglasses; was already in the middle of the street when she turned and looked back at Hale and Gabrielle. 'You coming?”
-- Ally Carter -
“Acting like you don’t care is a whole lot easier when you don’t care”
-- Ally Carter -
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“But the downside of being con artist is that it very hard to con. Even if the lies you tell are to yourself.”
-- Ally Carter -
“It was so rare to find someone who was both so young and so wise, both so fresh and so jaded.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I think it's kinda nice.' And I did. my mom isn't famous for her pies. No, she's famous for defusing a nuclear device in Brussels with only a pair of cuticle scissors and a ponytail holder. Somehow, at the moment, pies seemed cooler.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Number of empty Ben & Jerry's containers: 3 -- two mint chocolate cookie, one plain vanilla. (Who buys plain vanilla ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, anyway? Is there a greater waste?)”
-- Ally Carter -
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“If it works, it works,' Kat told him. 'And if it doesn't?' he asked. She looked at him. 'If it doesn't, then I've heard Monaco has the nicest prisons in all of Europe.' 'It does,' both Hamish and Angus said in unison. And with that, it was decided.”
-- Ally Carter -
“When the woman took the earbud, he didn't ask another question. She was a woman on a mission as she placed the tiny device in her ear and said, "This is Special Agent Abby Cameron. Let me talk to Macey McHenry.”
-- Ally Carter -
“That's a lovely piece," Kat said, pointing at a Louise XV armoire near the fireplace. The man raised his eyebrows. "Did you come to steal it?" "Darn it," Kat said with a snap of her fingers."I knew I should have brought my big purse.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Mariano the Second had been the son of a fisherman, but he'd suffered from an unfortunate tendency toward seasickness and was forced to find a respectable career that could be safely conducted on dry land. So he built boats. Mariano the Third built bigger boats. And by the time a girl from a very different type of family business arrived at their shopfront on the Mediterranean coast, Mariano the Fourth had built and patented at least half a dozen of the most advanced (and justifiably expensive) watercrafts in the world.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“The kids kept walking, moving through the Henley's halls like a tide, but when Kat turned to leave, she walked in the opposite directions. She wasn't an ordinary kid, after all. Katarina Bishop followed no one.”
-- Ally Carter -
“So instead she settled on, "Did my father put you up to this?" Hale exhaled a quick laugh and shook his head. "He hasn't returned my calls since Barcelona." He leaned closer and whispered, "I think he might still be mad at me." "Yeah, well, that makes two of us." "Hey," Hale snapped. "We all agreed that that monkey seemed perfectly well trained at the time.”
-- Ally Carter -
“It's every little girl's dream," she said. "Interpol surveillance. And kittens.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“So, your dad's hot." "Thanks. He was that way when I met him, so I can't really take credit.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Sleep every chance you get. Eat every chance you get. Those were two of the many lessons that Kat learned at her father’s knee and her uncle’s table.”
-- Ally Carter -
“That wasn't your mom in you—that was your dad.”
-- Ally Carter -
“You know, Ms. Morgan, that was your mother you just hammered," Mr. Solomon said.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Macey was just starting to argue when Abby asked, "What can you tell me about the gunmen?" "They're amateurs," Hale said at the exact same time Macey told her teacher, "They're pros.”
-- Ally Carter -
“The window can be fixed, Katerina. I'm far more concerned about him.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I suppose you should her it from me that I met your mother" he smiled a litte sadly. "well. . . When I say met I mean one time I tried to kill her." "Do me a favor" Zach's voice was low and dark and dangerous. "Next time don't just try”
-- Ally Carter -
“And so that means..." "We have to rob the Henley," Simon said. Kat sank onto a truly uncomfortable sofa. "Again.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“It was the first time in years I didn’t wonder if my father was out there, looking at it too.”
-- Ally Carter -
“The things that are most precious to us are sometimes the most secret.”
-- Ally Carter -
“What kind of plan B?" Hale asked. He was almost holding his breath when a voice answered, "My kind." Macey tried to read the look on his face then, but it was gone in a flash. It had been a simple moment of peace and joy and pure happiness. That voice made Hale happy. It kept him calm. It was his backup and his conscience. Macey couldn't help herself, she envied him.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Someday you will know that the heart is not always as wise as it is strong. - Uncle Eddie”
-- Ally Carter -
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“What?" He cut a grin at Kat when he saw the impressed look on her face. "Corporate espionage is my second greatest passion.' "With your first being..." Kat prompted. "Gelato," Hale said, and turned back to the group.”
-- Ally Carter -
“She pulled away and looked at him. 'I kissed you and you left.' When Kat heard the pounding, she thought it was the beating of her heart. It was too loud, she thought. Hale was going to hear it; he was going to see it; and he was going to know how much power he had to hurt her.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Gabrielle was insulted and didn't even bother to hide it. 'Oh, and I suppose you think your dad was alone when he free-climbed the Kyoto Banking Tower on a windy day last September.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Don’t mind me,†I said. “I’m just the person who tried to rob the place last July.†“No, you diddn’t,†Abby said, appearing on the roof. She was wearing a trim suit and tall black boots. Her hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail at the nape of her neck, and either i was imagining things or Townsend wasn’t quite as good a spy as I thought, because I could have sworn I saw him drool a little. Note to self: your aunt is a hottie.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Covert Operations Report At approximately 0900 hours on Saturday, October 14, Operative Morgan was given a stern lecture by Agent Townsend, a tracking device by Agent Cameron, and a very scary look from Operative Goode. (She also got a tip that her bra strap was showing from Operative McHenry.) The Operative then undertook a basic reconnaissance mission inside a potentially hostile location. (But it wasn't as hostile as Operative Baxter was going to be if everything didn't go according to plan.)”
-- Ally Carter -
“How sweet is that? I know I'm no boy expert, but I have heard entire lectures on reading body language, and I have to say that assuming that a person will have forgotten your name is way high on my "indicators of humbleness" list (not that I have one, but I totally have a starting point now).”
-- Ally Carter -
“There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear..." he said, ticking them off on his fingers; but he lingered on the last, drawing a deep breath before he said, "Revenge.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“As Buckingham talked, I couldn't help but remember that there's a reason they call us Gallagher Girls. It's not just because the youngest of us are twelve. It's also because our founder was under twenty. From the very beginning we have been discounted and discredited, underestimated and undervalued. And, for the most part, we wouldn't have it any other way.”
-- Ally Carter -
“He was beside me then, his arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly. "I'm not crazy," I whispered. "I know." Believe it or not, that's the most romantic thing Zachary Goode ever told me. And I kind of loved him for it.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Waiting. Like it or not, it's a skill all spies have to master eventually.”
-- Ally Carter -
“So you're Zach." Townsend didn't even try to hide the judgement in his voice as he looked Zach up and down in some sort of silent but dangerous examination. Zach huffed but smiled. "so you're Townsend." The two of them stared for a long time, wordless. It felt like I was watching a documentary on the Nature Channel, something about alpha males in the wild.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“You get some sleep, Abigail," Townsend told her. "I'll keep watch." "That's very gracious of you, but being that we're on an airplane..." Even after the plane took off, they kept debating security perimeters and protocols. I'm pretty sure they argued for forty-five minutes about where the best place for cappuccino was near the Colosseum.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Listen to me." He grabbed my arms, holding me there. " I couldn't find you. And I will never forgive myself for that. Ever.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Your memory is your first and best weapon, ladies. Learn to use it.”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2008). “Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (B&N Custom Pub)”, Hyperion
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“Time, Ms. McHenry," Townsend said. "It can be a cruel, cruel thing”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Yes, of course. But ... how?" Kat felt her crew around her: Hamish's arm hung around Simon's shoulders; Gabrielle's delicate hands draped through the arms of Angus and Nick. Kat's own hand found Hale's, then, fingers interlacing, palms pressing together so tightly that Kat knew nothing could come between them. Nothing. She looked at him. No one. "It's easy," Kat said, "when you don't have to do it alone.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I'm fine I said for the 2,467th time this semester. (I know. I was keeping count)”
-- Ally Carter -
“You are back, Cam. Which means for the first time since you left, it's okay for us to be mad at you for leaving. - Macey”
-- Ally Carter -
“You might think being the target of an international terrorist organization, an amnesiac, and a girl with hair dyed in the middle of the night by Macey McHenry would make people stare at you. Well, try walking into the Grand Hall with seriously puffy eyes while holding hands. With a boy.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“It's not Cam's fault," Bex told her. "We rigged her bed so that if she gets up, I get an electric shock." "Liz designed it," Macey said, and Bex shrugged "We told you we were taking precautions." Of course. Because at Gallagher Academy, "precautions" usually equals "voluntary shock therapy".”
-- Ally Carter -
“When Zach said, "Im going to kill Dr. Steve." It wasn't the angered threat of a worried boy; it was the calm, cool statement of an operative trained to do exactly that. And that, I think, is why it scared me. But it wasn't as terrifying as the look in Bex's eyes when she said, "Not if I find him first.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Waffles. Im craving waffles." Bex rolled onto her side. "Tell your waffles hi for me.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Across the room, Hale smiled slightly. 'We can draw you a diagram if you need it.' 'No thanks,' Nick said. 'I think I've got everyone but you.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Basement?' Hamish cried, then glanced at his brother. 'You hear this fellow? He thinks we can just go on down to the furnace and start tinkering?' Angus laughed. 'He probably wouldn't care at all if the whole place went boom, he wouldn't.' At this the guard bristled and stood up even straighter. 'Now see here---' 'No, you see, my good man. Out here, see, we've got snow. So in there, I'd bet, you've got heat. And where there's heat there's gas; and where there's gas there's...' Angus trailed off while his brother said, 'boom.”
-- Ally Carter -
“The Bagshaw's blew up an armored truck one,' Gabrielle offered.”
-- Ally Carter -
“But then the girl moved, and smiled, and pulled her hand from the grate- a gorgeous green stone clutched tightly in her grasp. It was covered with dust and cobwebs, but it was uncracked and unharmed. And, of course, completely fake.”
-- Ally CarterSource : Ally Carter (2011). “Uncommon Criminals”, p.85, ReadHowYouWant.com
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“Do you want to hold it?' she asked, dangling the padded envelope in front of Hale with two fingers. 'No.' 'Do you want to touch it and kiss it and wear it around your neck?' 'Don't be silly,' he told her. 'Everyone knows green isn't my color.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Maggie threw her head back and laughed. 'So you're going to try...what? Birds of a Feather?' she quested. 'Of course not,' Kat said. 'Everyone knows the French government banned the importation of peacocks in 1987.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Nick sat beside Simon, who was at his computer. Marcus stood at attention beside the food. Hale had his feet on the table, reading the morning paper. And someone had given the Bagshaws a gun. 'Pull!' Hamish yelled, and Angus pulled a cord and sent a skeet flying across the deep blue water. A split second later, a loud crack was reverberating across the deck. Kat jumped. Hale sighed. The shot went far wide, and Marcus never moved a muscle.”
-- Ally Carter -
“It felt as if maybe the curse had lifted, the tide had shifted, but then the breeze picked up and a skeet took a very unfortunate turn. Seconds later, Angus was pulling his shot far to the right, shooting a large hole in the second-story galley not ten feet above Marcus's head.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Hamish's right arm was around Angus's waist as the two of them tangoed past.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“You see, Greg, my mother is going through a feline phase. Blinky is a Persian,' Hale said simply, as if that should explain everything. 'Binky has a nasty habit of shedding all over the living room furniture, you see.' Gregory Wainwright nodded as if he understood perfectly. 'And so we had to get new living room furniture, which, unfortunately, does not go with the Monet.' Kat stood there for a moment, staring into that small window of the world where someone would tire of a Monet simply because it clashed with the couch.”
-- Ally Carter -
“You should always trust the instincts of children.”
-- Ally Carter -
“They were both totally laughing, and he was twirling her, and her hair was flying around like she was in a shampoo commercial. Seriously. She could have sold conditioner to a bald man the way she looked out there.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Maybe wrist corsages cut off circulation to the brain? I mean, is that why so many girls do stupid things on prom night? I was really going to have to investigate this further, I decided”
-- Ally Carter -
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“But I wasn't the girl I'd been when I left, and I knew it.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I thought you might need a ride.' 'The headmaster's office called me a car.' He shrugged, indifferent but amused. 'And here I am in a submarine.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Sure, this was where her father had planned the De Beers diamond heist when she was three. It was the very room where her uncle had orchestrated the hijacking of eighty percent of the world's caviar when she was seven.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Okay, first thing tomorrow we hit the streets around Taccone's place. Somebody saw something.' 'I got it covered.' 'The DiMarcos might be in town.' 'Actually, they're in jail.' 'All seven of them?' Hale shrugged. 'It was an interesting October.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“Kat had been picking things up since her third birthday, when Hamish and Angus's father took them all to the circus because he needed to "borrow" an elephant.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Now, now, hear me out," Hamish went on. "We don't have to kidnap Garrett. Not if we kidnap the buyer." "Or distract him," Angus added. "Like the Bulgari job," Hamish said. "You mean the job that landed half the DiMarco family in a South African prison?" Kat said. Angus shrugged. "Nobody said it was perfect.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Like so many aspiring writers who still have boxes of things they've written in their parents' houses, I filled notebooks with half-finished poems and stories and first paragraphs of novels that never got written.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“We're going to be okay." Here's the thing about being a spy: sometimes all you have are your lies. They protect your cover and keep your secrets, and right then I needed to believe that it was true even when all the facts said otherwise.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I never knew there were this many stars." "I can't see them," he told me. "I just see you." "That's one of your cheesier lines," I told him. "It's the altitude," he told me. "I don't have enough oxygen in my brain." "I see.”
-- Ally Carter -
“You know, it's okay to admit a little weakness now and then, Cammie. It won't kill you. In fact, I hear it makes you stronger.”
-- Ally Carter -
“We're seniors." "I know," I said "So aren't you... curious?" "About what?" "About life. Out there. Life!" she said again. "Tell me, Cameron Ann Morgan, what do you want to be when you grow up?" We'd reached another door, and I stopped and looked up at the camera that monitored the entrance, just as I whispered, "Alive.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“I don’t understand hate. I’ve seen its power. I’ve known its wrath. I’ve even felt it coursing through my veins, pushing me on. But I don’t know where it comes from or why it lasts, how it can take hold in some people and grow.”
-- Ally Carter -
“Your test had cheese meteor questions?" - Bex to Liz.”
-- Ally Carter -
“And I remembered with a pang what had happened to me the previous summer - that even Gallagher Girls aren't always as strong as they need to be.”
-- Ally Carter -
“So I stepped away, reminding myself that when you're a spy, sometimes all you can do is go on. One foot in front of the other, wherever the narrow path might lead.”
-- Ally Carter -
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“You should have had the decency to die when you needed to." “Sorry,†I admitted. “I’ve been going through a bit of a rebellious streak. I swear it’s almost over.”
-- Ally Carter -
“I think you’re freaked about what happened at Cambridge. I think it scared you." “I’ve been through worse, Bex,†I said, joining her on the lower stairs. “Way worse.†“Oh, not the attack.†Bex raised her finger in contradiction. “What happened before the attack. I think you saw the future. Which is kind of freaky when - two months ago - you didn’t think you were going to have one.”
-- Ally Carter -
“You were the only one who looked at me and didn't see her”
-- Ally Carter -
“I've thrown enough punches in my life to know when someone is hurting.”
-- Ally Carter -
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