Ben Aaronovitch

"The police can live with looking corrupt, bullying, or tyrannical, but looking stupid is intolerable. It has a tendency to undermine public faith in the forces of Law and is deleterious to public orde…"

"As property prices started rising, developers snatched up bomb sites and derelict buildings and erected the shapeless concrete lumps that have made the ’70s the shining beacon of architectural splendo…"

"Low sample size—one of the reasons why magic and science are hard to reconcile."

"I’m an old-fashioned copper–I don’t believe in breaking the laws of thermodynamics."

"First law of gossip—there’s no point knowing something if somebody else doesn’t know you know it."

"Could it have been anyone, or was it destiny? When I’m considering this I find it helpful to quote the wisdom of my father, who once told me, “Who knows why the fuck anything happens?"

"There were screams and yells from the street below as people saw what was happening. There would be lots of phone-camera footage on the news that night from people with more media-savvy than brains."

"It’s always better to tell a half-truth than a half-lie."