Nancy Farmer > Quotes

“I always say the truth is best even when we find it unpleasant. Any rat in a sewer can lie. It's how rats are. It's what makes them rats. But a human doesn't run and hide in dark places, because he's something more. Lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“I love you," Matt said.
I love you, too," Maria replied. "I know that's a sin, and I'll probably go to hell for it."
If I have a soul, I'll go with you," promised Matt.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“People’s souls are like gardens. You can’t turn your back on someone because his garden’s full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“He has his good side and his bad side. Very dark indeed is his majesty when he wants to be. When he was young, he made a choice, like a tree does when it decides to grow one way or the other. He grew large and green until he shadowed over the whole forest, but most of his branches are twisted.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Slow people are just paying close attention.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Always choose your bodyguard from another country, they find it harder to make alliance and betray you.”
― Nancy Farmer

“Patience and love can do anything.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“After all, what is suffering but an awareness of suffering?”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Look around you...Feel the wind, smell the air. Listen to the birds and watch the sky. Tell me what's happening in the wide world.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls

“Guardian angels guide the steps of idiots.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Tam Lin says rabbits give up when they're caught by coyotes [...]. He says they consent to die because their animals and can't understand hope. But humans are different. They fight against death no matter how bad things seem, and sometimes, even when everything's against them, they win.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“I don't mind," he whispered. "If I had a soul, I'd probably wind up in hell anyway.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“The high point of your life was when you knocked me down”
― Nancy Farmer, A Girl Named Disaster

“But I also know that to ignore joy while it lasts, in favor of lamenting one's fate, is a great crime.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls

“Power's a strange thing, lad. It's a drug people like me crave it.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“I am she who lifts the mountains
When she goes to hunt,
Who wears mamba for a headband
And a lion for a belt.
Beware!
I swallow elephants whole
And pick my teeth with rhinoceros horns,
I drink up rivers to get at the hippos.
Let them hear my words!
Nhamo is coming
And her hunger is great.

I am she who tosses trees
Instead of spears.
The ostrich is my pillow
And the elephant is my footstool!
I am Nhamo
Who makes the river my highway
And sends crocodiles scurrying into the reeds!”
― Nancy Farmer, A Girl Named Disaster

“Does is make the dragon happy?" Matt asked.
"Does is make the dragon happy?" echoed Tam Lin. "Why, I never thought of that. I suppose it does. What other pleasure can a creature have whose life consists of making everyone else miserable?”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Most of all, it was the wild music that impressed Matt. It did the same thing that playing the piano had done when he was frightened and lonely. It took him into another world where only beauty existed and where he was sage from hatred and disappointment and death.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“No kindness is ever wasted, nor can we ever tell how much good may come of it.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls

“A little extra forgiveness never hurts," said Matt, quoting one of Celia's favorite sayings.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Quests always have their ups and downs,' rumbled the giant. 'The point is never to give up, even if you're falling off a cliff. You never know what might happen on the way to the bottom.”
― Nancy Farmer

“Tam Lin says rabbits give up when they're caught by coyotes," Matt said after he'd calmed enough to trust his voice. "He says they consent to die because they're animals and can't understand hope. Hit humans are different.. They fight against death no matter how bad things seem, and sometimes, even when everything's against them, they win."
"Yeah. About once in a million years," said Chacho.
"Twice in a million," said Matt. "There's who of us."
"You are one dumb bunny," said Chacho, but he stopped crying.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“I think people have an instinct for a family. You look until you find a mother, a father, a sister, a brother. They don't have to be blood relatives. They just have to love you. And when you find them, you don't have to look anymore.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Lord of Opium

“The other girls in the village never felt restless. Nhamo was like a pot of boiling water. 'I want...I want...,' she whispered to herself, but she didn't know what she wanted and she had no idea how to find it. ”
― Nancy Farmer, A Girl Named Disaster

“That was the best kind of story: when the teller was as much under its spell as the listener.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

“You don’t have a soul, so you can’t be baptized. All animals are like that. I think it’s unfair and sometimes I don’t believe it. After all, what would heaven be without birds or dogs or horses? And what about trees and flowers? They don’t have souls either. Does that mean heaven looks like a cement parking lot? I suppose this is what the nuns call a theological problem.”
― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

“Most people live inside a cage of their own expectations. It makes them feel safe. The world's a frightening place full of glory and wonder and, as we've both discovered, danger. Flying isn't for everyone.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls

“I'd guess that you have some purpose to fulfill and that is why you were saved. But don't get a swelled head over it. A cabbage has a purpose when someone needs to make soup.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Islands of the Blessed

“Just say no to pillaging.”
― Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls