Vera City > Vera's Quotes

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.”
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

“Humanity can be roughly divided into three sorts of people - those who find comfort in literature, those who find comfort in personal adornment, and those who find comfort in food;”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“In times of storm and tempest, of indecision and desolation, a book already known and loved makes better reading than something new and untried ... nothing is so warming and companionable.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“There is always something particularly delightful about exceptions to a rule.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“Robin: When you do marry, who will you marry?
Maria: I have not quite decided yet, but I think I shall marry a boy I knew in London.
Robin(yells): What? Marry some mincing nincompoop of a Londoner with silk stockings and a pomade in his hair and face like a Cheshire cheese? You dare do such a thing! You - Maria - if you marry a London man I'll wring his neck! (...) I'll not only wring his neck, I'll wring everybody's necks, and I'll go right away out of the valley, over the hills to the town where my father came from, and I won't ever come back here again. So there!
(...)
Maria: Why don't you want me to marry that London boy?
Robin(shouting): Because you are going to marry me. Do you hear, Maria? You are going to marry me.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“Nothing is ever finished and done with in this world. You may think a seed was finished and done with when it falls like a dead thing into the earth; but when it puts forth leaves and flowers next spring you see your mistake.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“He grinned at her, and she grinned at him, and it seemed to Maria that suddenly the sun came out.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“...The simple little words came easily, fitting themselves to the tune that had come out of the harpsichord. It didn't seem to her that she made them up at all. It seemed to her that they flew in from the rose-garden, through the open window, like a lot of butterflies, poised themselves on the point of her pen, and fell off it on to the paper.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“I have known him nearly all my life, and I am going to marry him, so that there won't ever be a time when I shan't know him.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“In my opinion, too much attention to weather makes for instability of character.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“As this world becomes increasingly ugly, callous and materialistic it needs to be reminded that the old fairy stories are rooted in truth, that imagination is of value, that happy endings do, in fact, occur, and that the blue spring mist that make an ugly street look beautiful is just as real a thing as the street itself.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“But a hare, now, that is a different thing altogether. A hare is not a pet but a person. Hares are clever and brave and loving, and they have fairy blood in them. It’s a grand thing to have a hare for a friend.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“Butterflies... not quite birds, as they were not quite flowers, mysterious and fascinating as are all indeterminate creatures”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“She could only wait. But she was not idle while she waited, because she was holding herself in readiness for whatever it was that she would have to do. She was trying not to be frightened in her mind, and she found that that sort of waiting and thinking really keep a person quite busy.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse

“The very old and the very young have something in common that makes it right that they should be left alone together. Dawn and sunset see stars shining in a blue sky; but morning and midday and afternoon do not, poor things.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“Nothing living should ever be treated with contempt. Whatever it is that lives, a man, a tree, or a bird, should be touched gently, because the time is short. Civilization is another word for respect for life.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“And the written words were footsteps, feet running hard to another person.”
― Elizabeth Goudge

“Lacy had warned me about Drew the first day of school. Apparently the two of them had gone to some summer camp together––blah, blah, I didn't really listen to teh details––and Drew had been just as much a tyrant there.

~Sadie Kane, about Lacy and Drew of Aphrodite cabin.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“We speak with one voice,” Walt said. “Especially on this matter. No one hurts Sadie Kane.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“If anyone asks you if you’re taken,” I said, “the answer is yes.”
“I think I can live with that,” he promised.
“Good,” I said. “Because you don’t want to see me be cross.”
“Too late.”
“Shut up and dance, Walt.”
“Shut up and dance, Walt.”
We did—with the music of a psychotic griffin screaming behind us, and the sirens and horns of Brooklyn wailing below. It was quite romantic.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“Dealing with any man means dealing with multiple personalities.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“I see murky visions of other gods and rival magic."
That REALLY didn't sound good.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "what OTHER GODS?"
"I don't know, Sadie. But Egypt has always faced challenges from outside –– magicians from elsewhere, even gods from elsewhere. Just be vigilant."

~Ruby & Sadie Kane about...? Possibly Greeks?”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“For what it’s worth: trust your feelings. I can’t promise that you’ll never get hurt again, but I can promise you the risk is worth it.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“Knowledge of any value can't be given. It must be sought and earned”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“A person's shadow stood for his legacy, his impact on the world. Some people cast hardly any shadow at all. Some cast long, deep shadows that endured for centuries.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“Of course, most mortals can't see magic clearly, so I'm not sure what they thought they saw as we passed overhead. No doubt it caused many of them to adjust their medication.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“The afterlife looks different to every soul," he said, "depending on whatthey believe. For that guy, Egypt must've made a strong impression when he was young , maybe."
"And if someone doesn't believe in any afterlife?" i asked.
Walt gave me a sad look. "Then that's what they experience.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“Imitation is flattery”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“Everybody loves to show up at the party once all the hard work is done.”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow

“What’s the point of being a magician if you can’t wave your wand and make the people you care about feel better?”
― Rick Riordan, The Serpent's Shadow