Molly Collier > Quotes

“He was wild with panic. That familiar, friendly darkness kissed the edges of his periphery, soothing, urging him to come into it and feel peace.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“A brilliant sunset of pink and orange painted the sky to his right as they escaped from the castle grounds. He noticed the absence of the deep red of blood in the lovely sky’s scenery. His familiarity with the color was unnatural. It was found nowhere else in nature, almost as if it had never been meant for humans to see.
To his left, the impending dusk loomed, and Satya found comfort in its familiar embrace.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“She thought him honorable for exercising the most basic level of restraint? Surely, she had never met an honorable man.
He wasn’t one, but in that moment, he wanted to be.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“And yet, in all of his efforts to understand the Mirror, his great mystery, his attempts to prove logic had failed again and again.
Tests and theories and science—these things were his bread and butter—and they were meaningless now, in the face of mystery.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“One mind is a brain, two minds are a brilliance,”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“She hadn’t understood loss until it had laid her to waste, and she feared what would become of her when she was again without purpose, left to the mercy of her own grief.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“The pain of having his fingers relocated had been sudden, but not altogether unwelcome. It was as if his body knew that something was being righted. The pain of being put back together was not so bad as the pain of being taken apart. At least, that was the logic he clung to as each resounding pop reverberated in his ears and threatened to turn his stomach.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“She no longer felt quite so much like a sunflower always seeking the sun’s warmth, but rather like the moon—a perfect companion made to shine brighter in its presence.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“He wondered at the damage such simple words could do when there was no love behind them. Then he wondered how many kind words it would take to repair a lifetime of such damage.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Idealism is the cradle for change. One cannot make something new without first envisioning the possibility.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“But she knew herself. Her body longed to feel pain, to exact it, but her mind feared it too much to allow herself the freedom to. Besides, her knuckles were already blistering from the beating they’d been taking for the better part of an hour. Without the gloves she’d have shattered a hand by now.
Wouldn’t that be just like her. To fear pain so and yet stumble into it at every opportunity.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“For emotion is why anyone does anything at all. If you can control emotion, you can control everyone. If you can understand emotion, you can understand everything.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“How will you live with yourself if you don’t join us, and we earn your freedom for you? Or if we fail? How will you live with your conscience then?”
“If you fail, I will find a way to live with my conscience because I will live and you will not,”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“He knew he was not alone; he had his comrades. But since meeting her, there was a distinct loneliness whenever he was without her, even in the companionship of others.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“People were so easy to predict if one only paid attention to their lips. Most people told their stories there without even needing to open their mouths.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“The soft, lovely home she’d been building for her heart was brutally ripped away, leaving only a cage of cold bone to protect her from further attacks. Her defensive modification fended off the devastation of her revelation. It was not compartmentalization—it was survival.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“I would rather die fighting than go on living by turning a blind eye to the suffering of my brothers and sisters.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“There was no state of being “fixed,” Doha had learned. There was just the period between bouts of this requires attention immediately. There were certainly wrong ways to do things, but there was no one right way. If functionality was the goal, well, there were multiple routes to it, and Doha relished the freedom in that.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Doha wasn’t a very good friend.
But he was a good person.
And he was a great engineer.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Why was it that everyone she met looked so much worse up close?”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“I would rather live this imperfect life than get myself killed under the pretense of creating a better one.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Why was it that she’d never been able to find kinship with someone her age? Why was it that the few ties she fashioned always ended up coming undone by her own doing?”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“She seemed to feed on their laughter, and they on her humor, like the lily of the pond—sustained by the very water it purified.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Deep in the desert, o’er painted rock hill,
Once was an ocean aplenty until
The Devourer emerged, the water was scourged.
What should never have emptied nevermore would fill.

Deep in the desert, ‘neath painted rock hill,
The thwarted one waits for the levee to fill.
The witch drank it dries, the crow stole her eyes, so she usurped its body and took to the skies.

Deep in the desert o’er painted rock hill,
The crow hag thirsts when the stormclouds refill.
The crow drinks them dry, the hag tarries by, but not a drop descends from the grey desert sky.

Deep in the desert ‘neath painted rock hill,
The crow plots its descent into the anthill.
The ants–unawares–have forgotten their prayers.
The Devourer remembers and hungers still.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“We chose to fight, so that our people might have the choice not to.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“She’d have liked to say that she hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone, but that wouldn’t have been quite truthful. She’d wanted to hurt everyone, to make them feel what she felt, or even just not to be alone in it. In the wake of her loss, she’d longed to throw away everything she’d worked for, just to undo the agonizing truth that she could not accept.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“It sometimes seemed as though there was no place for a reserved woman in the world. One was either maternal or harsh. Warm or cold. Mirai wore her chilly nature as a badge of shame, though she knew herself to be deeper and more complex than such a label. If the rest of the world was unable to see her, so be it. Mirai knew that she was more than just one thing. More than just one box. She was a myriad.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Do not allow your mind’s perception of pain to prevent your body from achieving what it is capable of.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“It was thought that decisions were made by the logic-front of the brain, while emotions were controlled by the feeling-back of the brain, the part deeper and closer to the heart. In their culture, it was the responsibility of the party still thinking with the logic brain to rebuke those overtaken by emotion, who intended to start silly arguments or cause harm to others. The logical person would bring shame and reason to their friend by striking the front of the head, and thus increasing blood flow to the area.
The science of the practice was murky, but at its core, it was customary practice to smack someone who seemed in need of a good smack.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“But while peace was a balm, it was also a stifle. When life was safe and comfortable, what cause would one have to look beyond the confines of the comfort zone?”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon