Victoria Princewill > Quotes

“If you keep people downtrodden and they unite to defy you, you cannot expect mercy, not if you had not shown them any.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“So why do anything at all?’
‘There is always a myriad of reasons. The one you choose is for you to decide.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“On darker days, she had called herself fortunate. She would linger by the precision-cut flowerbeds. This is your home. She would repeat the words until the pain of her bruises began to fade. This is your home. Now she felt foolish. Was this her home? Did it matter? The earth is the earth is the earth, as her mother liked to say.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“He tried to deny the questions that fluttered like
butterflies across the water. Could he live this life once more and innumerable times? Could he live this life at all?”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“Consider this an act of… balance. Keeping your indiscretions even.’
‘Even?’ Jamīla spluttered. ‘Are things even on both sides? Is it even to help the oppressors if one is part of the resistance?”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“There is something about being in the presence of nature that rejuvenates my mind in a way I cannot fully explain. In the natural world we are all men, we are all equals, we are humbled by those unshakeable details. The sun, the moon, the sky – they remain unchanged by our existence. As vibrant or diaphanous as they appear, they are not dictated by us, our petty whims, our endless wars, our great loves, our unquenchable grief. They are within our sight, but we are not within theirs. We are separated by invisible fault lines. I am made reverent by this notion. It gives me life.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“Rise, please,’ she said, her voice tired. ‘Let us not make slaves of each other.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“What is it – your smile – what is it filled with?’ Sanaa stopped smiling, her face remote. ‘Rage,’ she said, almost idly, spinning her tea glass.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“I do not simply want out. I want... more. Our minds are not mere basins for our memories.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“Elaheh’s hair hung loose; Gul held a thick strand pressed to her lips. Elaheh lay gently against Gul’s chest, and her eyes were closed. Jamīla held that image in her mind for a long time. Every interaction she had witnessed in the court was a form of exchange, a transferral or assertion of dominance, of fearful or resigned acquiescence. Gul and Elaheh didn’t just look like equals; they looked like women in a world where hierarchies did not exist. Jamīla could not imagine a love that might render her speechless, but she found she wanted to try.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“What is it – your smile – what is it filled with?’
Sanaa stopped smiling, her face remote. ‘Rage,’ she said, almost idly, spinning her tea glass.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“The key is to play both sides. Then regardless of the outcome, we are guaranteed to win.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“Why did you come?’
‘A certain curiosity. Perhaps a little vanity. I wanted to see what this was. I have seen. I am leaving.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“You are not unworthy. You are simply not relevant.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“He tried to deny the questions that fluttered like butterflies across the water. Could he live this life once more and innumerable times? Could he live this life at all?”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers

“But the peace you seek, you shall not find outside. Not even at dawn. You must learn to conjure it, at all times, in the dark, within yourself.”
― Victoria Princewill, In the Palace of Flowers