Gaia Di Pietro > Gaia's Quotes

“She recognized the way he was looking at her. It was how she’d once looked at Altan. It was the way she’d seen Daji look at Riga—that look of wretched, desperate, and reproachful loyalty. It said, Do it. Take what you want, it said. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you. Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“I have become something wonderful, she thought. I have become something terrible. Was she now a goddess or a monster? Perhaps neither. Perhaps both.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“They were monsters!" Rin shrieked. "They were not human!"

"Have you ever considered" he said slowly "that that was exactly what they thought of us?”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“You humans always think you’re destined for things, for tragedy or for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“Great danger is always associated with great power. The difference between the great and the mediocre is that the great are willing to take the risk.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“Well, fuck the heavenly order of things. If getting married to a gross old man was her preordained role on this earth, then Rin was determined to rewrite it.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“Nothing is written," said the Phoenix. "You humans always think you're destinied for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose. You chose to take the exam. You chose to come to Sinegard. You chose to pledge Lore, you chose to study the paths of the gods, and you chose to follow your commander's demands over your master's warnings. At every critical juncture you were given an option; you were given a way out. Yet you picked precisely the roads that led you here. You are at this temple, kneeling before me, only because you wanted to be.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“If there is a divine creator, some ultimate moral authority, then why do bad things happen to good people? And why would this deity create people at all, since people are such imperfect beings?”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“Jiang was wrong. She was not dabbling in forces she could not control, for the gods were not dangerous. The gods had no power at all, except what she gave them. The gods could affect the universe only through humans like her. Her destiny had not been written in the stars, or in the registers of the Pantheon. She had made her choices fully and autonomously. And though she called upon the gods to aid her in battle, they were her tools from beginning to end. She was no victim of destiny. She was the last Speerly, commander of the Cike, and a shaman who called the gods to do her bidding. And she would call the gods to do such terrible things.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“It’s easy to be brave. Harder to know when not to fight.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“I don't need your pity. I need you to kill them for me. You have to kill them for me," Venka hissed. "Swear it. Swear on your blood that you will burn them.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“If you hold the fate of the country in your hands, if you have accepted your obligation to your people, then your life ceases to be your own.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“I am the only storm that matters now, and there is no shelter from what I bring.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

“It’ll be okay. No matter what happens, you have me. That’s not going to change. Not as long as you still want me.”
… “I’ll always wat you.”
“Then you’ll always have me.”
― Sophie Gonzales, If This Gets Out

“But I've never been allowed to cry. My whole life I was taught that crying is a waste of time. Don't cry. Fix it. Sort it out. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. But I can't.”
― Sophie Gonzales, If This Gets Out

“It's been so hard for me to believe that being adored doesn't mean I'm one mistake away from being despised.”
― Sophie Gonzales, If This Gets Out

“Take what you want. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“You don't fix hurts by pretending they never happened. You treat them like infected wounds. You dig deep with a burning knife and gouge out the rotten flesh and then, maybe, you have a chance to heal.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“I am the force of creation, I am
the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“It doesn’t go away. It never will. But when it hurts, lean into it. It’s so much harder to stay alive. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to live. It means you’re brave.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” She leaned down close until her lips brushed his skin, until her breath scorched the side of his face. “I’m not Sinegardian elite. I’m that savage mud-skinned Speerly bitch that wiped a country off the map. And sometimes when I get a little too angry, I snap.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“I‘m exactly what they deserve,” she said. “They don‘t want peace, they want revenge. I‘m it.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“He brushed his lips against her forehead as he drove the knife deeper into her back.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Dragon Republic

“You'll be a rumor. A whisper. The thought that wakes the bastards of this world sweating in the nevernight. The last thing you will ever be, girl, is someone's hero.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

“When all is bood, blood is all.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

“Never flinch" A cold whisper in her ear. "Never fear. And never, ever forget.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

“The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

“The Light is full of lies, Acolyte. The Suns serve only to blind us.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight