More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Jay Kristoff
Read between
October 15 - October 20, 2021
For every prayer heeded, ten thousand go unanswered. And saints suffer alongside the sinners, prey for monsters spat straight from the belly of hell.
But if there is a hell, mustn’t there also be a heaven? And if there is a heaven, then can’t we ask it why?
Do you ever wonder what we did, to make him hate us so?
“I do here vow; Let the dark know my name and despair. So long as it burns, I am the flame. So long as it bleeds, I am the blade. So long as it sins, I am the saint. And I am silver.”
“‘The blood of lions flows in your veins,’ she told me that day. ‘And one day as a lion is worth ten thousand as a lamb.
“Too much hate will burn a man to cinders, Chevalier.” “Oui. But at least he’ll die warm.”
“There’s no misery so deep as one you face by yourself. No nights darker than ones you spend alone. But you can learn to live with any weight. Your scars grow thick enough, they become armor.
there’s a difference between those who swim with the flood and those who drown fighting it. And its name is Wisdom.
‘From holy cup comes holy light; the faithful hand sets world aright. And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight, mere man shall end this endless night.’
God helps those who help themselves, old friend.’
“A life without books is a life not lived.
Put a man in a room for a hundred years with a thousand books, and he’ll know a million truths. Put him in a room for a year with silence, and he’ll know himself.”
“The only thing worse than a fool is a fool who thinks himself wise.”
“Romance is a mortal’s folly, Silversaint.”
There it is again,’ he whispered. ‘The first resort of every bad man I ever met.’ “‘The world needs bad men, boy. We keep the monsters from the door.’ “‘But that’s the problem, hero. Bad men never realize when the monster is them.’
need your blade, mon ami. I need your strength. But most of all, I need your faith.’ “I reached down, slowly pulled my hand out of hers. “‘Faith’s a hard thing to come by these nights, Sister.’
One hand holding a sword is worth ten thousand clasped in prayer.’
“All that stood between us now were two words. Strange how so much power, so much peril and promise, resides in so tiny a thing. Two little words can carry weight enough to see empires rise and kingdoms fall. Two little words can begin the end of everything. How many hearts have been made complete by words so small as I do? How many more have been shattered with a breath as tiny as It’s over? Little sounds that reshape or unmake your entire world, like great spells of old to redraw the very lines by which you see yourself and all else about you. Two little words. “‘Forgive me.’ “‘Do it.’ “‘I
...more
“‘Dead shall rise, an’ stars shall fall; “‘Weald shall rot to ruin ae all. “‘Lions roar an’ angels weep; “‘Sinners’ hands our secrets keep. “‘Til Godling’s heart brights hea’en’s eye, “‘From reddest blood comes bluest sky.’
Know my name, ye sinners, and tremble!’ came a fierce cry. ‘For I am come among thee as a lion among lambs!’
the only thing holding some folk back from the worst atrocities they can imagine is the fear they might not get away with it.
a man who sings his own song is deaf to the music of heaven.
How shall I hear the word of God, if I am in love with the sound of my own voice?’
“That girl had a thousand smiles,” he sighed. “A smile cruel as winter wind, that cut you down to shivering bone. A smile light as dove’s down, just the softest hint of it across her cheek to let you know she was listening as you spoke. A smile that could make you fear, and a smile that could make you cry, and a smile that made you feel like you were the only man alive. And the smile she gave me that night was the first time she’d ever done so, and I’ve not forgotten it, not through all the blood and fire, not through all the nights from that one to this. A smile that whispered, and made me
...more
“There’s no sin so dangerous as the sin that is chosen.
“No sin so glorious as the sin that is shared.
“‘How does a man pray?’ “‘I don’t know. I don—’ “‘He prays on his knees, Gabriel.’ “And then she pushed herself back up onto the table, slid her hands over my shoulders, pulling me closer, down. The taste of her blood crashed and burned upon my tongue, and her eyes looked deep into mine as she whispered the words that made me completely and finally fall. “‘Pray to me.’
I asked myself if goodness could come of sin, and if so, what sin was at all. I asked myself if God loved us, how it was he could hate that we found love ourselves. How he could allow such suffering to go unanswered. How he could have deemed it wise to create a world that cradled horrors such as these. “I asked myself, but I heard no answers. “I wasn’t ready to listen yet.”
There’s no glory so sweet as glory earned.
‘If we spend all our lives in darkness, is it any wonder when darkness starts to live in us?’
Her eyes were darker than all the roads I’d walked and all the monstrous things I’d seen, and in them I knew I’d find a heaven if only I were willing to risk a hell.
“Your voice will never feel so tiny as when you’re screaming at God,”
‘God may have sent the storm, but he gave me arms to swim for shore. He might bring the winter snows, but he gave us hands to light the flame. You see the suffering all around you but not the joy right beside you, and you curse him for the worst but don’t thank him for the best.
You only appreciate the sunshine after you’ve stood in the pouring rain.
“‘Such is the price of sin, Gabe.’ “‘If it’s sin, how can goodness come of it? And who’d let that goodness flower a moment only to tear it out of the earth? A sadist! A blacksmith who blames his own blade! What kind of bastard punishes the people you love in order to punish you?’
