C.J. Cherryh > Quotes

“God—had it happened? Was it true?
Had he just lost not only the words, but all the time between?
Or was this the greatest case of test anxiety in history?
God.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Visitor

“Honesty," Machigi drawled in his thickest Marid accent, "is a truly frightening power. He has it. Do you dare, Giti-sa? Do you dare deal with a man who will not lie to you? He will tell the truth to you, and he will tell it to me, and to Lord Bregani and to the aiji-dowager. So get your story straight and be very honest in that list-making. You would not want to leave something out that could come back to haunt you.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Divergence

“In sum, the same faults he had had at the beginning he had, though in lesser measure, and he tried to mend them, where he saw them. He tried to give Emuin answers to his questions now, for instance, since he had been there and Emuin had not been entirely aware of Mauryl’s doings, but his own beginnings in particular were a haze to him, and he retained only few keen impressions of that hour—or rather he retained them all, but not the ones Emuin wished.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Fortress of Dragons

“When you begin to prefer old quarrels to new opportunities, you have begun to die, Tati-ji! You have begun to sink, forgotten, into the slough of history. We, we, on the other hand, fully intend to live forever!”
― C.J. Cherryh, Destroyer

“The world was getting scary. That was the truth. And it was moving fast. And it wasn’t a good morning. Not at all.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Betrayer

“The packet the girl had given him smelled wonderfully of cake and spice; and he wondered who she was, or what he had done to deserve her attention. Other girls were giving out gifts of cakes or garlands to their sweethearts-but he was notoriously, famously shy of girls-everyone teased him for it, she intended to give it to Bogdan, that was most probably the answer.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“Azdra’ik’s hand landed unwelcomely on his shoulder. and he looked the goblin full in the face, expecting some fool trick; but Azdra’ik’s griip had no force this time.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“She was indeed hardly more than Sasha’s age. He would never introduce to Sasha to some of the company he kept or show Sasha some of the things he had seen-he could not say why, except it would embarrass both of them; and she was so young, she was so like Sasha, he found himself imagining her expression as offended innocence-and her pursuit of him less attraction than vengeful disgust for a scoundrel.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“For the rest of his life he feared he was going to dream about things he did not understand.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“Why?” he asked Azdra’ik. “Why pay so much? What am I worth to you?”

A long-nailed finger jabbed his chest. “Because, thou innocent boy, if she had had the rest of you she would have gained you, and gaining you-gained substance in this world, among other things neither you nor I would care to see. But thou’rt mine, thou art mine, man-she can’t touch the horse while I hold him nor touch me or thee by the terms we agreed. So walk! You’re bound to the witching by magic nor she nor we can mend, and by the Moon, you’re going to find her!”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“Looking about him at the trees, at a woods pathless to his eyes-where, indeed, was he?”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“You’re too honest, Sasha Vasilyevitch. You should learn to laugh. That’s your trouble. You’re too serious”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“Wizards’ dreams are all true and all treacherous; and if we know always what we dreamed, we’d be no wiser. I put no trust in dreams.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“Let it rain. Father Sky missed us with his lightnings. He’s having a tantrum. Rich men are like that.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“Somebody had lost a fine dog, in Tamas’ estimation, the day Zadny had slipped his leash; he had arrived in the ice wind, starved and foot-sore, refusing every hand but Tamas’ own, from which day he was Tamas’ dog, and fastest of all the dogs Tamas used.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“The anger, the darkness of the ghost for a moment more than the firelight, more than the hillside and the earth and the presence around them.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“The boy is not a killer. He hasn’t the heart to be killer.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“Call him a fool, but if he had had luck anywhere in Vojvoda last night, it had been here, in Sasha Misurov’s company.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“I wonder what happened to this Kavi Chernevog. I wonder where he is.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“He could do too much by wishing, and he dragged himself back from that terrible wish he had that something should bring Pyetr Illitch to his senses.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“Eveshka’s assault on the senses set a man to thinking about home, wherever that was, about modest little houses and cozy firesides with bread baking.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“Well,” she said, with that lisp that fangs made in a voice, and stared right into his soul. “Well, well, a venture against me. “How nice.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“It glided onto the steps below him, a darkness on which metal glistened, a horrific and elegant armoring he had seen once before, in the cellars of Kruckzy Straz-a jut-jawed countenance beneath a map of dark hair and braids.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“There was never a time they were lost or strayed that Nikolai had not found them and brought them home, only this time was the worst, it was by far the worst.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“There were times, if one was a boy, it was a good idea not to be noticed.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“The staff lowered, thumped against the floor, and Sasha glanced from that point of impact up to the old man’s face, thinking he had never seen a grin like that except on a carved wolf, or eyes like that except on painted devils.”
― C.J. Cherryh, Rusalka

“A witch wind, country folk called the sudden storm that plunged Maggiar from autumn into winter, that stripped the colored leaves from forest and orchard all in a night.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“Pizza, that food of sociality and good humor, had been the very thing”
― C.J. Cherryh, Explorer

“Murderers. You loose your hounds to do your work, what’s the difference?”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror

“His dream of last night came back, when he was wide awake, people and disaster and stones riven with light.”
― C.J. Cherryh, The Goblin Mirror