Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much.…

- Ben Aaronovitch

If you find yourself talking to the police, my advice is to stay calm but look guilty; it's your safest bet.

- Ben Aaronovitch

The Metropolitan Police Service is still, despite what people think, a working-class organisation and as such rejects totally the notion of an office…

- Ben Aaronovitch

Questions would be asked. Answers would be ignored.

- Ben Aaronovitch

This is your brain on magic.

- Ben Aaronovitch

You know, your species [humans] has the most amazing capacity for self-deception, matched only by its ingenuity in trying to destroy itself.

- Ben Aaronovitch

It's a sad fact of modern life that if you drive long enough, sooner or later you must leave London behind.

- Ben Aaronovitch

That which does not kill us has to get up extra early in the morning if it wants to get us next time.

- Ben Aaronovitch

My Dad says that being a Londoner has nothing to do with where you're born. He says that there are people who get off a jumbo jet at Heathrow, go thr…

- Ben Aaronovitch