Dan Brown
I think I was a shy kid. I grew up without television. I had a dog, and we lived up in the White Mountains in the summer, and I had no friends up there. And I would just go play hide-and-seek with my dog and probably had some imaginary friends.
It's not about what you tell the reader, it's about what you conceal.
I grew up in a very religious household. My mom was a church organist. I was a religious kid.
I'm not going to lie; the most fun of writing these books is just saying, 'Where am I going to write about? Let me go there!'
I feel like if I'm going to take time reading, I better be learning.
I'm not a car person. Three years after 'The Da Vinci Code' came out, I still had my old, rusted Volvo. And people are like, 'Why don't you have a Maserati?' It never occurred to me. It wasn't a priority for me. I just didn't care.
It's probably an intellectual weakness, but I look at the stars, and I say, 'There's something bigger than us out there.'
I don't really think about genre. I like to write books that I'd love to read myself.
I love to learn, and at some level, there's something to learn from my books. And I love art and philosophy, so there's something philosophical about my fiction.
The challenge for a writer looking at history is to figure out what is history and what is myth. After all, what you are looking at is an interpretation of history, and so at some level, it becomes an interpretation of an interpretation.
When I wrote 'The Da Vinci Code,' I told myself that this story of Jesus makes more sense to me than the story I read in the Bible.
I personally believe that our planet would be absolutely fine without religion, and I also feel we are evolving in that direction.
I'm trying to write books that taste like ice cream but have the nutrition of vegetables.
I'm not trying to emulate William Faulkner. I never said I was.
I like mac and cheese.
When I was a kid, the miracles of my life were the Resurrection, a candlelight service on New Year's Eve, the Virgin Birth, and the Three Wise Men.
I spent some time in India and thought I might write about Hinduism. But it's so far removed from my experience I couldn't even get my mind around it to write about it.
I have great admiration for the fact-checking team. Considering it takes me years to gather all the facts in my books, it's a daunting task for the fact-checkers to review all of that material in a matter of weeks.
Writing is a solitary journey, so I am always excited to go out on book tour and meet readers one-on-one.
Our need for that exterior god that sits up there and judges us... will diminish and eventually disappear.
Christianity, Judaism and Islam all share a gospel, loosely, and it's important that we all realize that.
Our religions are much more similar than they are different.
Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer.Collection: Truth
Small minds have always lashed out at what they don't understand.Collection: Inspirational
Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, its impact is in the hands of the user.Collection: Impact
Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.Collection: Light
Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.Collection: Fear
Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity.Collection: Acceptance
History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?Collection: Inspirational
The information was kept hidden for the same reason we keep matches from children. In the correct hands, fire can provide illumination... but in the wrong hands, fire can be highly destructive.Collection: Children
The human mind has a primitive ego defense mechanism that negates all realities that produce too much stress for the brain to handle. It’s called Denial.Collection: Stress
Only one form of contagion travels faster than a virus. And that's fear.Collection: Viruses
I'm a fan of the truth... even if it's painfully hard to accept.Collection: Fans
Life is filled with difficult decisions, he thought. And winners are those who make them.Collection: Decision
Our minds sometimes see what our hearts wish were true.Collection: Heart
Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.Collection: Lonely
When multiple explanations exist, the simplest is usually correct.Collection: Multiple
Anyone who said power was not addictive had never really experienced it.Collection: Said
The greatest story ever told is, in fact, the greatest story ever soldCollection: Stories
When they face desperation... human beings become animals.Collection: Animal
Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light.Collection: Light
When a question has no correct answer, there is only one honest response. The gray area between yes and no. Silence.Collection: Silence
Today is today. But there are many tomorrowsCollection: Today
All around the world, we are gazing skyward waiting for God… Never realizing that God is waiting for us.Collection: Waiting
Pure energy is the father of creation.Collection: Father
Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.Collection: Faith
Great minds are always feared by lesser minds.Collection: Knowledge
Darkness feeds on apathy.Collection: Darkness
Please accept this humble fax. My love for you is without wax.Collection: Humble