Rachael > Rachael's Quotes

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“What a world this would be, were it not held wholly and solely in the grip of stubborn old men.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“Never laugh at live dragons.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“You do not yield.”
― Sarah J. Maas, Kingdom of Ash

“Courage is found in unlikely places.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”
― Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire

“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“To whatever end?” she breathed. Rowan followed her, as he had his entire life, long before they had ever met, before their souls had sparked into existence. “To whatever end, Fireheart.”
― Sarah J. Maas, Kingdom of Ash

“Aim your heart at the fucking world.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.

Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?

We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.

They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth.”
― George R.R. Martin

“A leader leads,” Ragnar said, “and you can’t ask men to risk death if you’re not willing to risk it yourself.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom

“There is such joy in chaos. Stow all the world's evils behind a door and tell men that they must never, ever, open the door, and it will be opened because there is pure joy in destruction.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Pale Horseman

“A life without books is a life not lived.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“Ariadne gagged but held onto her stomach contents as she relieved the bodies of their guns, a large hunting knife, and two extra bullet magazines that she shoved down the front of her bra.
"Should I ask why hide them there?" Asterion said as he watched her. Ariadne gestured to her blood-splattered sundress.
"I have no pockets because of the patriarchy, so where else am I going to put them?”
― Alessa Thorn, Asterion

“You’re past is stone, but your future clay. And you decide the shape of the life you’ll make.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“Astrid was just as fierce a scholar as I was a swordsman. A girl who wielded books like blades.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“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.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“But you're not a weak and foolish girl.
No. I'm a fucking queen.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“I will not give my heart to a coward. I will give it to a lion.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“The book was near falling to pieces, but the lettering was still visible, faint and faded, oui, but still there. This, too, was a strange immortality. Poems, stories, ideas, frozen forever in time. The simple wonder of books.”
― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Vampire

“You need to learn to control your woman." Kon smiled. "No, I don't. She's magnificent.”
― Alessa Thorn, Darkest Night

“I will sing to you. As your ship burns and your soul flees, I will sing. To the contest we had.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Starsight

“We don’t lock up books in this house,” Philippe said, “only food, ale, and wine. Reading Herodotus or Aquinas seldom leads to bad behavior.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“You’re impossible. Stop worrying about what other women do. Be your own extraordinary self.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile."..' Opportunity is fleeting, experiment dangerous, and judgement difficult.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“I trust my wife's judgement... That's what Philippe says about Granny, just before all hell breaks loose.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“fine initium novum,’” Matthew said, gazing upon the land of his father as though he had, at last, come home. “‘In every ending there is a new beginning.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night