Vlad The Impaler Quotes

“It touched me to be trusted with something terrible.”
― Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

“I felt sure, glaring at the children as they settled onto the sand with their shovels, that these creatures were never threatened by the grimness of history, either.

Then, looking down on their glossy heads, I realized that they were indeed threatened; they were simply unaware of it. We were all vulnerable.”
― Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

“He shuffled up to the stake and examined the impaled, naked, dead man. The stake entered his anus and protruded through his gaping mouth, his death mask frozen in a look of horror.”
― Anthony Hulse, Scent of the Dragon

“The thing that haunted me that day, however, as I closed my notebook and put my coat on to go home, was not my ghostly image of Dracula, or the description of impalement, but the fact that these things had- apparently- actually occurred. If I listened too closely, I thought, I would hear the screams of the boys, of the ‘large family’ dying together. For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history’s terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you’ve seen that truth-really seen it-you can’t look away.”
― Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

“...The strange thing, you know, is that Stalin openly admired Ivan the Terrible. Two leaders who were willing to crush and kill their own people-to do anything necessary- in order to consolidate their power...Can you imagine a world in which Stalin could live for five hundred years...or perhaps forever?”
― Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

“Autumn comes early to the foot of the Slovenian Alps. Even before September, the abundant harvests are followed by a sudden poignant rain that lasts for days and brings down leaves in the lanes of the village. Now, in my fifties, I find myself wandering that direction every few years, reliving my first glimpse of the Slovenian countryside.
This is old country. Every autumn mellows it a little more, in aeternum, each beginning with the same three colors: a green landscape, two or three yellow leaves falling through a gray afternoon.
I suppose the Romans - who left their walls here and their gargantuan arenas to the west, on the coast - saw the same autumn and gave the same shiver. When my father's car swung through the gates of the oldest of Julian cities, I hugged myself.
For the first time, I had been struck by the excitement of the traveler who looks history in her subtle face.”
― Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

“None of us like each other, but one thing is for sure, we all hate you.”
― RoChe Montoya, The 2nd Realm: Book One

“Privindu-l pe cronicar, mila îmi creştea în suflet din nou, rămuroasă, deasă şi înfiorată ca un tufiş fabulos, înfigându-şi rădăcinile prin străfundurile întunecate ale amintirilor mele, prin acele straturi uitate, de omeneşti datorii, până în mâlurile lunecoase ale neputinţei şi resemnării, vârstate cu fluturii şi şerpii de lumină ai îndurării şi ruşinii.”
― Georgina Viorica Rogoz, Drăculeștii

“Şi-a nins apoi mereu, iarnă de iarnă , un fulg, mii, stoluri de mii, întuneric alb şi imens de năluciri aparent imateriale căzând şi amestecându-se încă din plutirea lor rânduită şi iute-pieritoare cu însăşi vieţile şi gândurile oamenilor de pe acest pământ iubit şi frumos, lacom de rod şi linişte, de-nţelepciune şi-nnoire, de dăruiri şi perenitate...”
― Georgina Viorica Rogoz, Drăculeștii

“...îşi aminteşte că logofătul Filon, sfetnicul şi prietenul tatălui său Mircea, numise cândva vremea sau poate viaţa, un lanţ ... Un lanţ de încercări, ispite şi frământări, bune şi rele, ce leagă naşterea de moarte. Crugul existenţei omului... lanţ pe care-l porţi neştiutor până-ţi sună ceasul cel din urmă...”
― Georgina Viorica Rogoz, Drăculeștii

“A precarious smile crept onto Dracula's cheeks.
"I wanted to shout it out to the entire world: how I was wronged. But I found that no one really cared. Such is injustice. Such is the world. Pretenders to compassion."
"You alone wronged yourself. Too blinded by the darkness."
"My entire life, I have felt betrothed to darkness. Perhaps a little light would have been nice," the Impaler whispered as his soul vanished from his eyes.
Light fell from the clouds, and as the sun ascended the sky, Vlad's corpse caught aflame. Soon, he became ash; forgotten, withered, and whisked away by the wind.”
― Omer Farid, The Incarnate

“A map, is it, Vlady?" Frau Rivka said, her voice low. "Let’s hope it shows more than men ever do." (Patricia Furstenberg, When Secrets Bloom)”
― Patricia Furstenberg