Karleen Koen > Quotes

“...she had begun to learn that success was sometimes simply a matter of having the courage to proceed in the direction of one's dreams.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child but when I grew up I put away childish things; for now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face!”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“I have this dream, she and I side by side in life, turning front to front in lovemaking, back to back in threat, protecting each other.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“Strange that one man's actions could touch so many other people, like a single, thoughtless breath of wind coming in an open window and blowing the playing cards every which way.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“What a web deceit made, its strands strangling the innocent and the guilty alike.”
― Karleen Koen, Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

“Nature gives you the face you possess at twenty . . . Life the face you possess at thirty. But the face you have at fifty is the face you deserve.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“There is no weakness in crying. If we do not sorrow over what hurts us, how do we ever go past it? I have shed many a tear myself, Barbara Devane, over what life has brought me. Compassion can come from great pain, if you allow it. But compassion takes courage. Bitterness is easier.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“The first is about forgiveness. It is never done well in little bits and dabs. Do it all at once and never look back, or do not do it at all.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“What a shame. One loses so much when one can't forgive.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“In this life, many things happen in which we play a shameful part. Those of us who are strong forgive ourselves and go on. The weak wallow in their shame and allow it to devour them. There is no one of us without sin, child. There ought to be some comfort in that.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“She did not know yet know it, but her voice made her immediately sensual. Roger looked stunned, and Diana saw it. As inexperienced as she was, so did Barbara. The sudden admiration in his eyes was different from that of a few moments ago, when it had been man to child. His look was now man to woman, acknowledging a part of herself she did not yet know she possessed. And she smiled tenderly at him, her love on her face, because he was the first man to look at her so, and because he had been kind to her when she came in, and because she loved him, as she always had. And this time it was he who caught his breath, for when Barbara smiled, eyes were dazzled.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“He felt the moment when her desire caught fire to match his.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“The night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee…”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“I can offer my love, my passion, my devotion, and little more than that for now. If what I am, what I offer, isn't enough, I want to know once and for all.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“Nothing changes and everything does.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“When she gave herself to him, it would mean something. There would be genuine feeling behind it, a heart with the body.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“What a shame. One loses so much when one can't forgive. Let's give her time to enjoy her anger, and then, when she tires of it, as she will, she'll come your direction. And it will be your turn to decide if you can forgive. A treacherous game, forgiveness, full of shoals.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“There's something fine in his eyes." Something strong and solid, thought Alice, that a woman could warm her hands and heart upon in a cold, cold world.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“I hate hearts, she thought. They're unpredictable and capricious.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“In answer, he put his hand up to cup the back of her neck, entangling his fingers in her hair, and like the moth at the candle, she stepped into his arms, and his mouth was on hers, not in friendship, but in deliberation and desire and something else, and she was lost, everything she'd felt and seen and grieved and loved welling up in her. She could not have enough of him, his mouth, his taste, his tongue, his body against hers. She ran her hands along the sleek bones of his face, the strong muscles of his neck. She would die for him. She was his to do with whatever he pleased. She was fire and light and love from head to foot.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“And the second is about change. Change is an easy thing to decide and a difficult thing to do. It is the day–to–day struggle of it that defeats people. Do not despair if old ways look good to you. Despair only if you fall into them too often.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“Alice despised moral cowardice. The only fixed point she'd known in her life was service to the queen. When she gave her loyalty, she meant it.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“I can't breathe, thought Alice. It was because of him.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“What do you know of love? It comes from being with someone, from facing life together! Life in its awfulness as well as its joy! You love a handsome face. Nothing more!”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“She'd adored his heartbreak and anger. It was all she could do withstand it.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“She is like a dark plum, he thought. She might be sweet when you bit into her, but it was just as likely she'd be bitter. He liked not knowing which side he'd taste.”
― Karleen Koen, Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

“Everything was strained and awful, and Alice didn't explode but acted as cold as winter ice from the river outside this palace whenever Barbara was near, all the while with a growing ache in her chest and throat. Sadness, anger, regret, vengeance, all churned around in her. It was almost unendurable.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels

“Change is an easy thing to decide and a difficult thing to do. It is the day-to-day struggle of it that defeats people. Do not despair if old ways look good to you. Despair only if you fall into them too often.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“Nature gives you the face you possess at twenty, she always quoted to her daughter Fanny. Life the face you possess at thirty. But the face you have at fifty is the face you deserve.”
― Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly

“But she'd lost his heart, that precious, greedy, inquiring, naughty, lively heart of his. Time and chance stand still for no man, or woman.”
― Karleen Koen, Dark Angels