June Hur > Quotes

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most. I would be nothing at all, if I could not be first.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Some dreams, I'd learned, were meant to fade away. And to let go of them didn't mean to let go of myself, but to release the life I'd imagined I wanted. The loss had grieved me at first, but in its fading away-slowly, very slowly-a new dream had bloomed.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“If by any chance we do not meet again in this lifetime, then I will find you in the next—or as many lifetimes as it takes to see you again.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“We mortals exist for but a season, and yet we love as though we are bound by eternity.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“When we’re together … it’s as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine. And when we are silent”—a faint smile tugged at his lips—“I forget you are even there sometimes.”

“I’m flattered, nauri,” I said drily.

“It is the greatest compliment. I dislike being around people for too long. But when I am with you … I never feel the need to be someone I am not.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“So long as you live, we’ll have the rest of our lives to find each other again. And I will find you again. I promise.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“He moved my hand into his, and as our fingers intertwined, it occurred to me that love wasn’t all that I’d feared it to be. I had imagined that it was a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path. Instead, it felt as ordinary and extraordinary as waking up to a new day.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“You would brave a life with me?"
"I would brave this life," I murmured against him, "and a thousand more.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“Everyone must choose the paths they will walk on. And when you choose, remember to count the cost.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“When the time comes

You watch out for me. And I will always watch out for you.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Revenge begets revenge; the anger is unquenchable. We become the monsters we are trying to punish. Justice, however, brings closure, and that is what I want. It can only be achieved by remaining sober-minded and rational. And, in the end, it is not my place to punish the prince. It is the king’s, and only the king’s. All I can do is find enough evidence to make the truth undeniable.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“But there are two types of people,” Inspector Yu added, his voice quiet. “Those that retreat and huddle together like frightened birds, overwhelmed by the darkness of this kingdom, and those that grasp their freedom to struggle on the behalf of others, their eyes fixed on a great light that will always shine for those who seek it.”
― June Hur, The Forest of Stolen Girls

“We are women,” she continued, “and nothing short of death stops us from doing precisely what we wish to do. That is what the laws and restrictions binding our lives breed: determination and cunning. The likes of you will not obey me. You will tell me that you intend to be as still as a rock, and yet I know you will dart from shadow to shadow like a fish.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“There is one lesson all who enter the capital will learn: evil comes from the unfulfilled need for significance.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“You will not always be the wisest, nor the strongest, nor the bravest. That is why we need friends. They will guide you down the right path, no matter how dark it grows.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“The moment I chose to help you, I realized something.” Gahee finally lifted her gaze up to mine, and it was like seeing the faintest flicker of light in the darkness of night. “Doing what is right, it is so utterly terrifying. And yet so freeing.”
― June Hur, The Forest of Stolen Girls

“We must learn to embrace the new seasons in our lives. There is a season to gain, a season to lose; a season for peace, a season for war; a season to laugh, a season to mourn, and to betray.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Everyone must choose the paths they will walk. And when you choose, remember to count the cost. Do not live with regrets.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“A life among servants had taught me that no human being wished to remain silent and misunderstood.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“When we believe, we hold on to what we think is true. But when we have a conviction, that truth holds on to us.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Tell me to leave,” he urged me desperately. I knew I ought to bid him farewell, yet my hands would not release his sleeve. “And if I do not?” After a long, tense moment, he leaned in, pressing his forehead gently against the curve of my shoulder. “Then I will be yours,” he confessed, his voice a soft caress, “and I shall be your ruin.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“There is a saying among us who work there: Palace secrets must never get out, or else inevitably there will be blood.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Tomorrow, the kingdom could sink into the sea. Tomorrow, all the elders we trusted could betray us. Tomorrow, the fog might consume everything we loved. But I had him today. And he had me.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“There are too many sorrows in life to feel each too deeply.”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“Your life isn’t meant to be used up to fulfill another person’s dream. That’s what Mother told me. And I’m sure if Father had known your true feelings he would have said the same.”
― June Hur, The Forest of Stolen Girls

“Unmindful of the killings, a lone bird called out a blissful song, the welcoming of a new day.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“I am tired of being the elder sister, were the words within. When I expressed my objection for the first time today, Father gave me such a look of disappointment that I felt my entire world tremble. Why does he only see my disobedience, and not my desperate love for him? To live near home, to be close enough to care for my parents in their old age—I wish I could cry, I wish I could fall apart as little sister often does, and still be loved and understood. But I cannot. My parents do not love me when I am weak, when I fail them, when I err. Who am I, if I am not the perfect daughter?”
― June Hur, A Crane Among Wolves

“When we're together... it's as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“My fingers numb, I reached into my robe, and it took a while for me to feel the crinkled paper I was looking for. I slipped it out and unfolded the sheet on which I had drawn my brother's face. His lightly shaded eyes, his round face, his timid smile.

He belonged to the past, a place he would never leave, not even to come looking for me.

I kissed the sheet and then tore it in half, then in half again, the paper hissing with each motion. I opened my fingers and let the torn pieces be swept away like moths on the wind.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“The dead are gone, yet we live in their shadows.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones