Nutella > Nutella's Quotes

“Destroying what someone else cherished never brought back what you yourself had lost. All it did was spread grief like a contagion.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Denying desire only made yourself vulnerable to those who were smart enough to see what you couldn't even acknowledge to yourself.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“He had done what he had to do, and in doing so he had destroyed the world.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Learn to want something for yourself, Ma Xiuying. Not what someone says you should want. Not what you think you should want. Don’t go through life thinking only of duty. When all we have are these brief spans between our nonexistences, why not make the most of the life you’re living now? The price is worth it.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“The body became used to exercise, particular sounds and sensations, or even physical pain. But it was strange how shame was something you never became inured to: each time hurt just as much as the first.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“But you know what's worse than suffering? Not suffering, because you're not even alive to feel it.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“The residence’s doors banged and slammed as if by angry ghosts, and Ouyang felt his ancestors’ eyes upon him as he ate with the son of his family’s murderer, the person he held dearest in all the world.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“A woman gambles all of herself, body and future, when she marries. That's more courageous than any risk a bureaucrat takes when it concerns only his face, or his wealth”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Relief feels like happiness, if you don’t know the difference.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“I fear that I am not the best possible person for this, but I am the best possible person available at this time, which is much the same thing.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Look, if you can't laugh about the homicidal fits that make you a menace to society, what's even the point?”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“If we limited loving to just the sane, undamaged people, the next generation would have about three people in it and presumably humanity would die out shortly afterward.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“He wished that he could break out his knitting, but for some reason, people didn’t take you seriously as a warrior when you were knitting. He’d never figured out why. Making socks required four or five double-ended bone needles, and while they weren’t very large, you could probably jam one into someone’s eye if you really wanted to. Not that he would. He’d have to pull the needle out of the sock to do it, and then he’d be left with the grimly fiddly work of rethreading the stitches. Also, washing blood out of wool was possible, but a pain. Still, if he had to suddenly pull out his sword and fend off an attack, there was a chance he’d drop the yarn, and since he’d been feeling masochistic and was using two colors for this current set of socks, there was absolutely no chance the yarn wouldn’t get tangled and then he’d be trying to murder people while chasing the yarn around. And god forbid the tide rose and he went berserk. You never got the knitting untangled after that; you usually just had to throw it away completely.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Granted, she hadn’t known Stephen that long, but if you couldn’t bond over multiple corpses, what could you bond over?”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Rescue was bad. People who wanted you to be vulnerable and grateful tended to get very angry when you stopped being vulnerable and didn’t act grateful enough.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Civettes were not known for their empathy. Tab hooked his claws into her trousers and climbed up, demanding petting, unconcerned that his human was making strange face noises. Humans always made strange face noises; a weasel learned to deal with it.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Normal people flirt. I think. Apparently we just exchange terrible life stories.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“Istvhan, you ever kill someone with an ice swan?” he whispered. “I clubbed someone unconscious with a frozen goose once. That’s similar?” The Bishop suffered a mysterious coughing fit. “No, you had to use the goose as a bludgeon, didn’t you? For the swan, I figure you’d snap the head off and try to stab with the neck.” “Hmmm…” Istvhan eyed the ice sculpture speculatively. “It’s pretty big. And not well balanced.” “I figure you’d have to go two-handed with it.” “I think I’d grab one of the candelabras instead. Some of those are nice and heavy.” “Far too unwieldy. I could take you apart with the ice swan while you were still trying to get the candelabra off the ground.” “Gentlemen,” said Beartongue, “I forbid you to smash the Archon’s decor and try to duel with it.” “Yes, your holiness.” “I’ll have you both excommunicated.” Stephen coughed. “Technically we’re not in your church, your holiness.” “Then I will have you confirmed so that I can excommunicate you even harder.” “Yes, your holiness.” He and Istvhan traded smug looks. Shane gazed into the distance, perhaps imagining a place where he had suitably serious colleagues.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“The door opened and DuValier sprang out. Stephen growled, low in his throat, and stood up straighter. “Istvhan, loan me your sword. I need to kill this man.” “No one give him a sword,” ordered the Bishop. “I am feeling distinctly conflicted here,” said Istvhan. One of the paladins, a woman with a curiously blank expression, unhooked a long dagger from her belt and handed it to Stephen. “Thank you.” “Technically that wasn’t a sword,” said the Bishop. “I applaud your threading of the needle there. Dammit.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“There was something about poverty that was a little like war. Either you had been there or you hadn't, and it wasn't really possible to explain it to anyone who hadn't.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“You never knew when you might have to cut and run. Normal people probably didn't worry about that. Normal people probably had nice, normal lives. Grace only had her own life, and it had taught her that you took precautions because life changed too often at other people's whims and sooner or later, everything would be taken away.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, because that’s how they treated it. I signaled Miki I would be withdrawing for one minute. I needed to have an emotion in private.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“If you had to take care of humans, it was better to take care of small soft ones who were nice to you and thought you were great because you kept preventing them from being murdered.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“Right, so the only smart way out of this was to kill all of them. I was going to have to take the dumb way out of this.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“I was tired of pretending to be human. I needed a break.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“Why yes, I did want to disengage the safety protocols, thanks for asking.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“Somewhere there had to be a happy medium between being treated as a terrifying murder machine and being infantilized.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“Then there was Asshole Research Transport. ART’s official designation was deep space research vessel. At various points in our relationship, ART had threatened to kill me, watched my favorite shows with me, given me a body configuration change, provided excellent tactical support, talked me into pretending to be an augmented human security consultant, saved my clients’ lives, and had cleaned up after me when I had to murder some humans. (They were bad humans.)”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

“I looked down. I was dripping onto the floor, a mix of blood and fluid. I hate it when I leak.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol