The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)

by Mark Lawrence

Being able to see the walls of your prison is a luxury that few are afforded. Make no mistake though: every one of us is trapped.

A slave who wanted to live had to pretend to be part of the herd, exhibiting only the minimum intelligence required to execute their tasks.

She understood in one moment the sudden change that can be wrought in the appearance of an object simply by changing the angle from which you illuminate it.

Evar wondered, had spent their youth, their whole lives, battering at locked doors, only to find—if they ever managed to open them—that there was nothing on the other side they couldn’t have found on their own side?

if hope is to come our way it will be in a stranger’s hands, and if we turn our backs on them, we will never know what we missed.”

“I’m going my own way. I’d forgotten that I had other choices.”

“It turns out that the most important lesson that history teaches us is that history should not teach us. Lessons should be learned, not taught. Wisdom has to be earned, and no number of words can wrap the gift of knowledge sufficiently to keep it safe from misuse. The definition of madness is repeating the same action and expecting a different result.”

examine the crack, his frown returning. “Most fears could have been good things before we let them harden into what they are.”

this is a tool, and like any tool it can be both a weapon and a danger to those who wield it if they don’t properly understand its use.”