vixen > vixen's Quotes

“But forgiveness...I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We're each of us our own...bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“I changed the world; the world changed me.
Everything you do comes back to you. When you affect a situation, you are also affected.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“But without that spark of anger, without destruction, there can be no rebirth.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Forgiveness. The frail beauty of the world takes root in me as I make my way back through the woods, past the caves and the ravine, where the earth has accepted the flesh of the deer, leaving nothing but a bone or two, peeking above Kartik's makeshift grave, to prove that any of this ever happened. Soon, they'll be gone too.
But forgiveness...I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret. cruelty and sacrifice. We're each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Dans chaque fin, il y a un début.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“God save me from a woman's tears, for I've no strength against them.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“It's strange how deliberate people are after a death. All the indecision suddenly vanishes into clear, defined moments - changing the linens, choosing a dress or a hymn, the washing up, the muttering of prayers. All the small, simple, conscious acts of living a sudden defense against the dying we do every day.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Are you saying we're not ravish-worthy?”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“But forgiveness...I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Yes, after all, if I were to join you, I might enjoy myself, and wouldn't that be a shame? Please, don't spare me another thought.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“You can never really know someone completely. That's why it's the most terrifying thing in the world, really - taking someone on faith, hoping they'll take you on faith too. It's such a precious balance, it's a wonder we do it at all.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“I know because I read.”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Let's be brave girls, shall we?”
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

“Choose your words carefully, even the words you think, because they become seeds, and seeds become history.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“What did they do to you, Kazi?” His voice was low, earnest. Even in the dim light, I was able to see the worry in his eyes.
I pretended I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Who did what?”
“Who made you afraid of an open world? An open sky? Was it Venda? Your parents?”
“No one did anything,” I answered quietly.
“Then hold on to me,” he said. “Let me show you the stars.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“The ghosts, they never go away. They call to you in unexpected moments, their hands lacing with yours and pulling you down paths that lead nowhere.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“I do want tomorrows with you, Jase. I want a lifetime of tomorrows.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“It's awkward, isn't it?" he said.
"What's that?" I replied, my voice far too breathy.
"These moments when we're not hating each other.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“I like you, Jase Ballenger,” I said softly. “I think if you weren’t a thief, we might be friends.”
“And if you didn’t whisk out knives and threaten to cut pretty necks, I think we might be friends too.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Oh, how obsessed you are with your pretty neck.”
His hands tightened on my wrists. He pulled me close, his teeth nipping at my neck and between kisses, he whispered, “It is not my neck I am obsessed with, Kazi of Brightmist.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“Truth that came too late was as useful as a meal to a dead man.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“ Make a wish, Kazi, one for tomorrow, for the next day, and the next. One will always come true.

Because if I could believe in tomorrow or the next day, maybe that would give the magic time to come true. Or better, maybe by then I wouldn't need the magic at all.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“You must find the magic that warms your skin in winter, the magic that perceives what cannot be seen, the magic that curls in your gut with fierce power and will not let you give up, no matter how long or cold the days.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“It was our story. It didn't have to have a happy beginning or a happy ending, but the middle was a feast at a banquet, a rich soapy bath, a night's rest at an inn and full stomach, a warm chest nestled up against my back, the soft heat of lips at my nape, stories whispered in my ear.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“There is magic in everything, only you must watch for it. It does not come from spells or potions or the sky, nor by special delivery of the gods. It is all around you.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“I only need you, Kazi, that's all I need.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“Hear the language that isn’t spoken, for everyone can hear spoken words, but only a few can hear the heart that beats behind it.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“My head spun, but in a way that wanted to sink into, to drown in the warmth of it. I was falling into a vast dark sky and I didn't care. I wanted to disappear into it. I wanted more. Our tongues explored, soft, warm, and then he pulled away, his eyes searching mine, wondering, asking. Should he stop?
No, I thought. No. Don't stop.
His gaze held, waiting, as if he needed to hear me say it aloud.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“It had always been the laughter that needled through me, a repeated stitch that surfaced over and over again.....Laughter reveals in the same way a sigh or a glance does. It's an unintentional language. Worry, fear, deceit - they hide in the things unsaid.”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves

“There were three of them outside the mercantile—women—and one of them was juggling. I blinked, thinking the magistrate had made a mistake. This was a girl I might have eagerly bought a drink for last night, but there was no mistaking she was outfitted for trouble, a sword hanging from one hip and two knives from the other. Her long black hair hung loosely over her shoulders, and she laughed and chatted with the store clerk as she continued to juggle, and then—
I jabbed Mason. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“She just nicked an orange!”
― Mary E. Pearson, Dance of Thieves