Quentin Coldwater Quotes

“As a teenager in Brooklyn Quentin had often imagined himself engaged in martial heroics, but after this he knew, as a cold immutable fact, that he would do anything necessary, sacrificing whatever or whomever he had to, to avoid risking exposure to physical violence. Shame never came into it. He embraced his new identity as a coward. He would run in the other direction. He would lie down and cry and put his arms over his head or play dead. It didn't matter what he had to do, he would do it and be glad.”
― Lev Grossman, The Magicians

“Dear Q,

Hell of a thing getting you out of that dungeon. Richard showed up, finally, for which I suppose we should be grateful, though G-d knows he doesn't make it easy.

We wanted to stay, Q, but it was hard, and getting harder every day. The centaurs said it wasn't working. But if you're reading this then you woke up after all. I'm sorry about everything. I know you are too. I know I said I didn't need a family to become who I was supposed to be, but it turned out that I did. And it was you.

We'll meet again.

-E”
― Lev Grossman, The Magicians

“Quentin hugged him so hard that Eliot spilled his whiskey down his front, which he complained about loudly, but Quentin didn’t care. He had to make sure Eliot was real and solid. It made no sense that he was here, but thank God he was. Quentin had had enough of sadness and horror and futility for one day. He needed a friend, somebody who knew him from the old days.

And seeing Eliot here, out of the blue, for no reason whatsoever, felt like proof that impossible things were still possible. He needed that too.”
― Lev Grossman, The Magician's Land

“And had Eliot really been awake for the whole thing? His brain dealt out a sloppy fan of mental Polaroids, out of sequence: an image of Janet kissing Eliot, of her hand working diligently between Eliot’s legs. Had she really been weeping? Had he kissed Eliot? A vivid sense memory of somebody else’s stubble, surprisingly scratchy, chafing his cheek and upper lip.”
― Lev Grossman, The Magicians

“He just stared at his lap and waited for each successive second to impose itself on him in turn like an uninvited guest the way the previous one had.”
― Lev Grossman, The Magicians