Mortals Quotes

“The only problem with her is that she is too perfect. She is bad in a way that entices, and good in a way that comforts. She is mischief but then she is the warmth of home. The dreams of the wild and dangerous but the memories of childhood and gladness. She is perfection. And when given something perfect, it is the nature of man to dedicate his mind to finding something wrong with it and then when he is able to find something wrong with it, he rejoices in his find, and sees only the flaw, becoming blind to everything else! And this is why man is never given anything that is perfect, because when given the imperfect and the ugly, man will dedicate his mind to finding what is good with the imperfect and upon finding one thing good with the extremely flawed, he will only see the one thing good, and no longer see everything that is ugly. And so....man complains to God for having less than what he wants... but this is the only thing that man can handle. Man cannot handle what is perfect. It is the nature of the mortal to rejoice over the one thing that he can proudly say that he found on his own, with no help from another, whether it be a shadow in a perfect diamond, or a faint beautiful reflection in an extremely dull mirror.”
― C. JoyBell C.

“Zeus, first cause, prime mover; for what thing without Zeus is done among mortals?”
― Aeschylus, Agamemnon

“I met Anne in the autumn... Autumn, that wild season when rural men rack orchard trees with sticks and weep with the desire to kiss faraway Demeter’s supple breasts—to set lips to her travel-swollen eyes. They seek goddesses, but I desired only Anne. ”
― Roman Payne, Rooftop Soliloquy

“So there was love, once. More than love. And now there is more than hate. Mortals have no words for what we gods feel. Gods have no words for such things. But love like that doesn't just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always love left, underneath. Horrible, isn't it?”
― N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“We might only have a mortal lifetime, but it will belong to us, and no one else.”
― Jennifer Saint, Ariadne

“I built them what they wanted and I made a profit off of it. Now they call me a god...What fools these mortals be.”
― Benjamin R. Smith, Atlas

“Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.”
― Darren Shan, Palace of the Damned

“What fools we mortals are to think that the plans we make are anything more than a soap bubble blown against a hurricane, a frail and fleeting wish destined to burst.”
― Barbara Nickless, Ambush

“fear in sooth holds so in check all mortals, because they see many operations go on in earth and heaven, the causes of which they can in no way understand, believing them therefore to be done by power divine.”
― Lucretius

“I can see why a mortal would make a useful spy, beyond the ability to lie. A mortal can pass in to low places and high without much notice. Holding a harp, we're bards. In homespun, we're servants. In gowns, we're wives with squalling goblin children.

I guess being beneath notice has advantages.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“Mortals are liars,' the Unseelie queen says with a snort.

'That doesn't mean everything they say is a lie,' I return.”
― Holly Black, The Stolen Heir

“He doesn't die very differently than mortals, although I am sure it would gall him to know that.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“Here is a lesson to you—do not envy the gods; pity us, for we are fixed in our divine function, while you are free to do as you please. We must be wise whereas you may be fools.”
― Vera Nazarian, Cobweb Forest

“Catching the moon would have broken you, though. That's not a task for mortals who want to keep their hearts.”
― T. Kingfisher, Nettle & Bone

“The human species pretends it's so resilient. Mortal lives are one long game of make-believe. If you couldn't lie to yourselves, you'd cut your own throats to end your misery.'

I am struck by the word species, by the idea that he thinks I am something entirely else, like an ant or a dog or a deer. I am not sure he's wrong, but I don't like the thought. 'I don't feel particularly miserable right now.' I can't show him I'm afraid.

His mouth curls. 'What happiness do you have? Rutting and breeding. You'd go mad if you accepted the truth of what you are. You are nothing. You barely exist at all. Your only purpose is to create more of your kind because you die some pointless and agonising death.'

I look him in the eye. 'And?”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“The human species pretends it's so resilient. Mortal lives are one long game of make-believe. If you couldn't lie to yourselves, you'd cut your own throats to end your misery.'

I am struck by the word species, by the idea that he thinks I am something entirely else, like an ant or a dog or a deer. I am not sure he's wrong, but I don't like the thought. 'I don't feel particularly miserable right now.' I can't show him I'm afraid.

His mouth curls. 'What happiness do you have? Rutting and breeding. You'd go mad if you accepted the truth of what you are. You are nothing. You barely exist at all. Your only purpose is to create more of your kind before you die some pointless and agonising death.'

I look him in the eye. 'And?”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“Mortal feelings are so volatile that it's impossible to help toying with them a little.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“I have heard that for mortals, the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear. Your heart beats fast. Your senses are heightened. You grow light-headed, maybe even dizzy.' He looks at me. 'Is that right? It would explain much about your kind if it's possible to mistake the two.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“We live as emotional transients in a world of isolation. Oh, if I could only borrow back so many wasted moments, but only the arrogant have no regrets; so much is paid for with borrowed time.

The infant road,
the child’s path,
in the rising tide of the day,
is the aged road
the dying path,
in the dusk where mortals play.”
― Craig Froman, An owl on the moon: A journal from the edge of darkness

“No matter how careful I am, eventually I'll make another misstep. I am weak. I am fragile. I am mortal. I hate that most of all.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“The Indian regarded the human being as a 'divine mortal', or a 'divine physical being'. Indeed, I have had it explained to me that the prefix "hu" in some tongues meant 'divine', and "man" of course, is mortal. So a human being is a divine mortal being - a dual being existing in the realms of both spirit and matter; one spiritual, the other physical; one eternal, the other temporal.”
― Kenneth Meadows, Earth Medicine: Revealing Hidden Teachings of the Native American Medicine Wheel

“She abandoned here to dally with her sweet-tongued savage. I allowed this - an indulgence I have often regretted. So I will assuage that regret by bringing you back into the fold, Granddaughter. Whether you live or die is irrelevant. You are Arameri, and like all of us, you will serve.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“The Enefadeh are the reason we wear blood sigils, Lady Yeine. No one may pass the night in Sky without one. It isn't safe.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“As Lord Dekarta said, Lady Yeine - all descendants of Shahar Arameri must serve. One way or another.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“So be good," the priests would add, "or the Nightlord will get you.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“On the one occassion that I risked a glance back, I saw the gentle glow of the hallway fade into a throat of black so deep looking that way hurt the eye. I did not look back again.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“I especially like your face. You don't showc much emotion - is that a Darre thing or your mother's traning?- but when you di, all the world can read it.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“It isn't your fault." Sieh sounded unhappy. "We just need to explain, and she'll understand.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“I will laugh when you're dead," he said softly. The small hairs along my skin prickled, for his voice was a grown man's now, tenor malevolence. "I will claim your heart as a toy and kick it for a hundred years. And when I am finally free, I will hunt down all your descendants and make their children just like me.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

“I closed my eyes and traced my mother's face against my memory for the ten thousandth time.”
― N. K. Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy Series 3 Books Set – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods