Erika Johansen > Quotes

“Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and when that happens, you blame the hands, but you also read the book.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Carlin often said that history was everything, for it was in man’s nature to make the same mistakes over and over.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“The mark of the true hero is that the most heroic of his deeds is done in secret. We never hear of it. And yet somehow, my friends, we know. —Father Tyler’s Collected Sermons, FROM THE ARVATH ARCHIVE”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“When it fails, they do call it madness, Lazarus. But when it succeeds, they call it genius.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“Christ, let's go."
"Women shouldn't curse."
"Get fucked.”
― Erika Johansen, The Fate of the Tearling

“The future was only disasters of the past, waiting to happen anew.”
― Erika Johansen , The Queen of the Tearling

“I am Death. I come quickly, I come slowly, but I am not cheated.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Corruption begins with a single moment of weakness.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“This, I think, is the crux of evil in this world, Majesty: those who feel entitled to whatever they want, whatever they can grab. Such people never ask themselves if they have the right. They consider no cost to anyone but themselves.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“These people are so damned proud of their hatred! Hatred is easy, and lazy to boot. It’s love that demands effort, love that exacts a price from each of us. Love costs; this is its value.”
― Erika Johansen, The Fate of the Tearling

“You win your people or you lose your throne.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Everyone dies eventually. I think it's better to die clean.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Even small gestures of kindness have the potential to reap enormous rewards. Only the shortsighted man believes otherwise.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“Those who cease to worry about their souls often find them difficult to reclaim later”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“And Kelsea wondered suddenly whether humanity ever actually changed. Did people grow and learn at all as the centuries past? Or was humanity merely like the tide, enlightenment advancing and then retreating as circumstances shifted? The most defining characteristic of the species might be lapse.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“There's no other life for me. Anyway, clemency wouldn't begin to repay your debt. I've given you a greater gift than you know."
"What gift?"
"You'll find out. In return, I expect you to keep it safe."
Kelsea turned back to the mirror. "Great God, tell me you didn't impregnate me while I slept."
The fetch threw back his head and roared with laughter. He placed a friendly hand on Kelsea's back, making her skin prickle. "Tear Queen, you'll either be dead within a week or you'll be the most fearsome ruler this kingdom has ever known. I see no middle ground.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Pain only disables the weak.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“Always, we think we know what courage means. If I were called upon, we say, I would answer the call. I would not hesitate. Until the moment is upon us, and then we realize that the demands of true courage are very different from what we had envisioned, long ago on that bright morning when we felt brave.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“They’re good, these stories,” Mace continued, his cheeks stained with light color. “They teach the pain of others.” “Empathy. Carlin always said it was the great value of fiction, to put us inside the minds of strangers.”
― Erika Johansen, The Fate of the Tearling

“Hell? Hell is a fairy tale for the gullible, for what punishment could be worse than that we inflict upon ourselves? We burn so badly in this life that there can be nothing left.”
― Erika Johansen, The Fate of the Tearling

“Pen?”
“Lady?”
“You think I’m pretty.”
He blinked in surprise. “I always found you so, Lady. But it’s true that your face has changed.”
“You always found me pretty?”
Pen shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, Lady. Some women are defined by their appearance, but you have never been one of them.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“Stories moved Kelsea most, stories of things that never were, stories that transported her beyond the changeless world of the cottage.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Whenever she had a problem to consider, she invariably found herself in the library, for it was easier to think when she was surrounded by books.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“You think of beauty only as a blessing, Majesty, but it brings its own punishments.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“They had found the seven volumes of Rowling with no help at all, but there was no squabbling.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“We don't always choose, Majesty. We simply make the best choices we can once the deed is done”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Weakness, all the more dangerous for being combined with a sense of entitlement”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Names made a thing real.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling

“This is how women are trained to stay indoors, she thought, the idea echoing in her mind like a gravesong. This is how women are trained not to act.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“Love was a real thing, Aisa thought, but secondary. Certainly love was not as real as her sword.”
― Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling