Alina > Alina's Quotes

“Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting.”
― Haruki Marukami

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude.”
― Colette

“Truly, life is the misery we endure between disappointments.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Proof is boring. Proof is tiresome. Proof is an irrelevance. People would far rather be handed an easy lie than search for a difficult truth, especially if it suits their own purposes.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“The truth is like salt. Men want to taste a little, but too much makes everyone sick.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Heroes

“Every man has his excuses, and the more vile the man becomes, the more touching the story has to be. What is my story now, I wonder?”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“Chose? If you believe that I chose any part of the pitiful shadow of a life you see before you, you are very much mistaken. I chose glory and success. The box did not contain what was written on the lid.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Have a smile for breakfast, you'll be shitting joy by lunch.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

“A friendship between a man and a woman was what you called it when one had been pursuing the other for a long time and never gotten anywhere.”
― Joe Abercrombie

“An open mind is like to an open wound,' growled Glokta. 'Vulnerable to poison.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“They appear somewhat unreliable," he murmured.
"Unreliable? Nonsense, Superior! Out of luck is all, and we both know how that goes, no? Why, there's not a man of them I wouldn't trust my mother to."
"Are you sure?"
"She's been dead these twenty years. What harm could they do her now?”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“The only difference between war and murder is the number of dead.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“The lamplight gleamed on the Magus’ white grin. “People like to watch the pretty puppets, Superior. Even a glimpse of the puppeteer can be most upsetting for them. Why, they might even suddenly notice the strings around their own wrists”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Power makes all things right. That is my first law, and my last. That is the only law that I acknowledge.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“What poet was it who wrote there's no pain worse than the pain of a broken heart? Sentimental shit. He should have spent more time in the Emporer's prisons.”
― joe abercrombie

“I must admit that you fascinate me, Superior. Your life would seem to be entirely unbearable. And yet you fight so very, very hard to stay alive. With every weapon and stratagem. You simply refuse to die.”
“I am ready to die.” Glokta returned his gaze, like for like. “But I refuse to lose.” ~Bayaz and Glokta”
― Abercrombie, Joe

“So we wait?” asked Severard.
“We wait, and we look to our defences. That and we try to find some money. Do you have any cash, Severard?”
“I did have some. I gave it to a girl, down in the slums.”
“Ah. Shame.”
“Not really, she fucks like a madman. I’d thoroughly recommend her, if you’re interested.”
Glokta winced as his knee clicked. “What a thoroughly heartwarming tale, Severard, I never had you down for a romantic. I’d sing a ballad if I wasn’t so short of funds.”
“I could ask around. How much are we talking about?”
“Oh, not much. Say, half a million marks?”
One of the Practical’s eyebrows went up sharply. He reached into his pocket, dug around for a moment, pulled his hand out and opened it. A few copper coins shone in his palm.
“Twelve bits,” he said. “Twelve bits is all I can raise.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Have you no pity?' Glokta could only shrug. 'I did have. As a boy I was soft-hearted beyond the point of foolishness. I swear, I would cry at a fly caught in a spider's web.' He grimaced at a brutal spasm through his leg as he turned for the door. 'Constant pain has cured me of that.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“say one thing for Logen Ninefinger, say he's a cunt.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“A man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, no matter who it comes from.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged”
― Heinrich Heine

“I so cherish these enlivening moments when you defy me even as a Blondy. When you react to me so humanly. I feel myself tingling right down to the center of my brain. I love how you look at me with such undisguised disdain. It's so endearing I want to rip out your beating heart and press it to my cheek.”
― Rieko Yoshihara, Ai no Kusabi Vol. 4: Suggestion

“Your death comes.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Half the World

“The Empress expects obedience of her servants, and demands loyalty.’ ‘Any reasonable ruler would have the expectation and the demand the other way round.”
― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon