Orphan Quotes

“At seventeen the young woman had worked out how to improve her future prospects; she would seduce the Prince.”
― Robert Reid, The Emperor

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”
― John Wesley

“I implore you. Take the train appearing in the distance: this train might be the last.”
― Dorlies von Kaphengst Meissner Rasmussen, Escaping the Russian Onslaught: A Family’s Story of Fleeing the Russian Army after Hitler’s Nazi Regime

“For your information, Dolores, Rudi gave me full leave to do what I think is best for our children.”
― Dorlies von Kaphengst Meissner Rasmussen, Escaping the Russian Onslaught: A Family’s Story of Fleeing the Russian Army after Hitler’s Nazi Regime

“I was alone. I had no one. No mother, no father, no brothers, no sisters, no grandmas, no grandpas, no uncles, no aunties, no cousins, and no tribe. I’d seen the children at the orphanage laugh or cry when they received news about a family member. I would never receive such news and no family would laugh or cry for me. That day I understood with sharp clarity that I didn’t have a mother who wanted me.”
― Maria Nhambu, Africa's Child

“At the end of one of the bookshelves she picked up a very old book. It was truly ancient, and woven into the cover was a motif of joined hands which merged into three words: Aonaibh Ri Chéile. The dedication on the inside cover was simply “To Elbeth with Love.” The author was someone called Angus Ferguson”
― Robert Reid, The Emperor

“Edward reached out with his arms and embraced her, his heart filled with a mix of sadness and hope. He desperately wanted to believe her promise and hold on to her vow that they would be reunited soon. Still, young Edward’s life had been so full of disappointment that it was hard for him to believe his unfortunate circumstances might soon be ending. He clung to her, wishing she would never let him go.”
― Steven Decker, One More Life to Live

“A hush, a silence accompanied this dusting of snow until an odd whistling sound broke through the numbness, coming closer, growing louder. What was that?”
― Cricket Rohman, Wanted: An Honest Man

“History is orphan. It can speak, but cannot hear. It can give, but cannot take. Its wounds and tragedies can be read and known, but cannot be avoided or cured.”
― Kedar Joshi

“Orphans? Would you really? Adopt children?"
"There are advantages. If they turn out badly, we can blame their natural parents. We can also choose our own assortment of ages and genders. We can even get them ready-grown, if we wish.”
― Loretta Chase, Captives of the Night

“For my sake,” he said firmly, addressing the air in front of him as though it were a tribunal, “I dinna want ye to bear another child. I wouldna risk your loss, Sassenach,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. “Not for a dozen bairns. I’ve daughters and sons, nieces and nephews, grandchildren—weans enough.”

He looked at me directly then, and spoke softly.

“But I’ve no life but you, Claire.”

He swallowed audibly, and went on, eyes fixed on mine.

“I did think, though . . . if ye do want another child . . . perhaps I could still give ye one.”
― Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

“Is there any greater mystery than the separateness of each person?”
― Laura van den Berg, Find Me

“You make an excellent murder suspect. Orphan, turned savior, turned bride, turned killer—I’m actually surprised that wasn’t Kristof’s headline today.”
― Stephanie Garber , Once Upon a Broken Heart

“And after that until the end, there was no relief from being a girl with chores that she wasn’t being paid for, a girl with no new sandals and a friend who wasn’t a friend but a mistress, and a family that wasn’t but people who owned her and ordered her about, and nothing at all but her pretty breasts and her round bottom and her misbehaving hair to help her feel any different.”
― Ru Freeman, A Disobedient Girl

“Well, well," he said, "you still have your lamps here. That's not proper form, my friends. It's disorderly. Sorry, this will have to go!" And he threw the stone into the lamp.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“I was fatherless. And that seemingly small part of my identity, in many ways, molded an orphan heart in me.
When I encountered love my orphan heart rejected it because it felt like the smartest thing to do. My philosophy was They will reject me, so I will reject them first. They don’t get to hurt me.
I did this often. I intended never to owe anyone a kindness I couldn’t pay back. I stayed ’out of the way.’ I did my best not to cost anyone anything.
I was suspicious of gifts. What do they want? What are they trying to pull? How are they trying to trap me?
I thought. I couldn’t imagine I was worth anyone’s time, money, pain, or inconvenience. I didn’t see myself as a blessing, so how could I trust in unconditional love? When you see yourself as a burden, nothing is free—especially love.”
― Lacey Sturm, The Mystery: Finding True Love in a World of Broken Lovers

“But Isabel was like no one Nora had met before. She was beautiful, of course---the otherworldly clarity of her English skin!---and possessed of the sort of poise Nora could only dream about. Beyond that, she was magnetic. Try as Nora might, she couldn't resist her brother's new wife. First, there was her voice when she spoke, that crisp accent and authoritative diction that made Miss Perry (strictest in a long line of governesses) seem like a drover's wife by comparison; next, there was her laugh, which rose like bubbles in a glass of champagne.
And then there were her stories. True tales of adventure and daring, rivaling anything Nora had read in her Girls' Crystal Annuals: during the Blitz, Isabel had handled secret papers in Whitehall and later worked in some sort of capacity that she wasn't able to speak of at length (at least not then and there). Even more excitingly, she was an orphan---a real one, just like a girl in a book, whose parents had died in tragic circumstances when she was only young, casting her out of the nest and into a childhood of boarding schools and midnight feasts and hockey sticks and daring japes. Nora couldn't think of anything more romantic.”
― Kate Morton, Homecoming

“Maybe this is necessary. Maybe there will be hope when Bush's bombs stop falling. But she cannot bring herself to say it, not when what happened to Babi and Mammy is happening to someone now in Afghanistan, not when some unsuspecting girl or boy back home has just been orphaned by a rocket as she was. Laila cannot bring herself to say it. It's hard to rejoice. It seems hypocritical, perverse.”
― Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

“I wrestled with being fatherless. Finally, I dismissed the idea of needing a father and embraced an orphan identity. I found a cold kind of peace in deciding I wouldn’t expect anyone to help me. I would protect myself, provide for myself, and decide for myself what was right and wrong. But all the boundaries I made were dotted lines, always shifting and changing with the wind. As an orphan I not only had to be God for myself but I also felt the need to be God for every other orphan I came across. When I failed myself and others one too many times, I wanted to die.
When you think of yourself as God, you can condemn yourself and others in the most hellish ways. When you have God as your father, you can rest in his goodness, sovereignty, and justice. But if there is no God, you must be the judge.”
― Lacey Sturm

“I am also an orphan. Once a couple had come to either adopt me or another girl, who was much more beautiful than me. Thank God, they did not adopt me. Otherwise, I would never have reached where I am today. This is just a small step to give back to the society what I got due to great destiny!”
― Neelam Saxena Chandra, Tales from Venus

“Photographs were such powerful magic. It was a gift from the God of Immortality. I felt like both my mom and dad were on either side of my shoulder as I flipped through the album. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like an orphan. For the first time, I felt the warmth and love of a complete family through the album.”
― Tshetrim Tharchen, A Play of the Cosmos: Script of the Stars

“At a certain time, the father of this prince had served at the imperial court in Beijing, where his talents had won for him the favour of the Qianlong Emperor as well as the envy of his peers. His reward was a vast fortune that ostracized him from society, and later, when his only son was yet in his infancy, he quit this world entirely. A short while thereafter, the boy's mother followed in the footsteps of the father, and so the Prince, having been left an orphan, found himself quite naturally the sole heir to this veritable mountain of gold, silver and precious stones.”
― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

“On Jeju, we had a saying: If there is happiness at age three, it will last until you reach eighty. I belived this to be true. Mi-ja, on the other hand, often said, "I was born on a day with no sun and no moon. Did my parents know how hard my life would be?" We could not have been more different and yet we were very close.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“That's the depressing side of being an only child; when your parents die, and you inevitably become an orphan, you own the title in every sense of the word. Meaning now you've got no one to clean up the remnants of a life you no longer share with anyone.”
― Amy Matayo, They Call Her Dirty Sally

“So, do you remember anything about your par-.”

Riley started but Abby cut her off.

“I thought you said you were going to stop
asking about my parents.” declared Abby

“I was then asked a new question...”

Abby stopped, and Riley was about ten feet
from her when she knotted Abby stopped Riley
spun towed her.

“You good?” asked Riley.

“Just... listen, I was five when they died, and I don’t
remember them very much." replied Abby.

Riley opened her mouth to say something but
closed it just as fast, Abby chuckled.

“Funny thing is, I do not even remember their
names, where they lived, my birthday, if I
have any family members still alive...or how my
parents died. Ok, there, that is all I know, now stop
asking, do not forget I have a gun and a knife still
on me so do not make me mad.” Abby said.”
― Abigail Bostic

“Promises meant nothing. People left. That was all they ever did.”
― Arabella Sveinsdottir, Nowhere Strangers: A Sapphic Coming-of-Age Story of Digital Romance, Heartbreak, and Self-Discovery

“Had someone finally come back for her? And then she woke up. Alone. Again.”
― Arabella Sveinsdottir, Nowhere Strangers: A Sapphic Coming-of-Age Story of Digital Romance, Heartbreak, and Self-Discovery

“So after Lisa died, Greg looked after you?"
"Sure. I went to school, had a roof over my head, had enough to eat."
His eyes narrowed. "That's the bare minimum, Mari. Victorian orphans got that."
"No wonder I liked David Copperfield so much," I said coolly.”
― Sarah Chamberlain, Love Walked In

“Oh, to be the spitting image of her father, or a younger version of her mother. She longed to carry those pieces of them, written across her face so that none might forget those who had been so precious to her, but were nothing now.”
― Molly Collier, The Paragon

“Once you realize God's got your back, you'll stop worrying about who doesn't.”
― Joy Marino, Who Can Find Her?