Ingrid Spera > Ingrid's Quotes

“Cleaving to the authority...will not protect your family...Those who lie down meekly in a civil war are always the first to be trampled.”
― Donna Thorland, The Rebel Pirate

“We don't know much about our hero before 325 BCE-he just sort of materialized out of thin air like a face-melting UFO or a vengeful, homicidal rainbow, but apparently he had some serious beef with people in charge...”
― Ben Thompson, Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live

“My little old dog
a heart-beat
at my feet”
― Edith Wharton

“The clump-and-thud of avalanching books suggested that someone must be using the weapon of knowledge in an unconventional fashion.”
― Dean Koontz, Innocence

“The prince enjoyed unusually good health even among princes; both by gymnastic exercises and by taking good care of his body he had brought himself to such a state of physical fitness that in spite of the excesses he indulged in when enjoying himself, he looked as fresh as a big shiny green Dutch cucumber.”
― Leo Tolstoy

“Dr Brand talked about the difference between belief and expectation. As in: it's good to BELIEVE that our efforts are likely to bring positive results, but it's another thing entirely to EXPECT that they will. We can't demand a particular outcome; we're not entitled to any particular outcome. It's the expectation that makes us so miserable when things go wrong.”
― Doug Dorst J. J. Abrams

“A person is no more & no less than the story of passions & deeds.”
― JJ Abrams Doug Dorst

“I will tell you what matters most...: it is love. When you fall in love, friends, let yourself fall.”
― Doug Dorst J. J. Abrams

“Beauty is more a danger than intelligence or wit. One becomes a living mirror for the inadequacies of others.”
― Gordon Dahlquist, The Chemickal Marriage

“If you don't answer my questions, I'll hurt you. I am authorized.”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Tourist

“That’s the worst part, that so many would not value their own unique abilities, not value themselves, much less respect those who have fought and died so that they could live free to make the choice to surrender that precious right of choice –long with their gift and individuality.”

She gripped the blanket in a fist. “I often think that the y deserve everything they’re going to get. I only regret that those of us who value what we have will suffer the same fate. They’re the ones I fight for. The rest of them be damned.”

Alex swallowed at the pain so clearly evident in her voice. “We have people like that in our world, too. People who say that freedom is no longer practical, that we must surrender it for a greater common good.”

“Fear them,” she whispered. “They are the heart of evil. They tolerate tyranny, excuse it, compromise with it. In doing so they always bring savagery and death upon the rest of us.”
― Terry Goodkind, The Law of Nines

“Steampunk is...the love child of Hot Topic and a BBC costume drama”
― Gail Carriger

“Why try to fit yourself into that same, tired mold when you could become something better?"

"Because it's safe," he said. "Don't we all want to feel safe?"

Linley shrugged. "Not always. Sometimes I like to push the boundaries. I like seeing what I'm truly capable of."

The both ducked down to miss a long, overhanging branch that skimmed across the jungle path.

"But you could get hurt," Patrick said. "You could get yourself killed."

"Isn't death the one risk of really living?”
― Allyson Jeleyne, A Love That Never Tires

“Max spat his coffee out all over himself. He tried to laugh and choke at the same time and so the only thing that came out was a sputtering bark that sounded like a phlegmatic seal with a pack and a half a day Lucky Strike habit -non filtered.”
― Zachary J. Kitchen, The Unbeliever

“I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“You're a sinister little shit, aren't you?" Victra asks.
"I'm Gold, bitch. What'd you expect? Warm milk and cookies just because I'm pocket sized?”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“Love and war. Same coin. Different sides. I'm too wrinkled for either."

"Maybe war will breathe some life into your old bones."

"Well, I tried love last month." He leans close. "Didn't work like it used to."

"Too honest, Lorn." I can't help but laugh.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“It's the only way to beat the monsters."
"It's not the only way," I say.
"No?" she asks, surprised.
"You can always become a monster too.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“I would have found you earlier, before whatever happened that filled you with this rage. I would not have raised you to be a great man. There is no peace for great men. I would have had you be a decent one. I would have given you the quiet strength to grow old with the woman you love.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“I’m Gold, bitch. What’d you expect? Warm milk and cookies just because I’m pocket-sized?” Roque”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“You will fall to ruin because you believe that exceptions to the rule make new rules. That an evil man can shed the trappings of wickedness because you want him to. Men do not Change... Learn the lesson now, so you don't have to learn it with a knife in your back later... Reputations exist for a reason.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son

“The rapt pupil will be forgive for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be visrtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it wil commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature-but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind. But of an end to their argument, we shall have none, not ever, until the end of all.

So where is the country of the Tsar of Death? Where is the nation of the Tsar of Life? They are not so easy to find, yet each day you step upon both one hundred times or more. Every portion of Eath is infinitely divided between them, to the smallest unit of measure, and smaller yet. Even the specks of soil war with one another. Even the atoms strangle each other in their sleep. To reach the country of the Tsar of Life, which is both impossibly near and hopelessly far, you must not wish to arrive there, but approach is stealthily, sideways. It is best to be ill, in a fever, a delirium. In the riot of sickness, when the threatened flesh rouses itself, all redness and fluid and heat, it is easiest to topple over into the country you seek.

Of course, it is just as easy, in this manner to reach the country of the Tsar of Death. Travel is never without risk.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless

“Histories are instruments of oppression.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless

“Punishment doesn't mean you aren't loved. On the contrary. You can only punish someone you love.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless

“A shared history does not entitle you to a future, my friend.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“You are—remarkable. Every day, I think I am going to be surprised by how remarkable you are, but I am not. Because this is what it means to be you. It means knowing no bounds. Being limitless in all that you do.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“Despina edged closer. “When I was a little girl in Thebes, I remember asking my mother what heaven was. She replied, ‘A heart where love dwells.’ Of course, I then demanded to know what constituted hell. She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘A heart absent love.’” Despina studied Shahrzad as she spoke.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“In my life, the one thing I have learned above all is that no individual can reach the height of their potential without the love of others.
We are not meant to be alone, Shahrzad. The more a person pushes others away, the clearer it becomes he is in need of love the most.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“If you would, give him the love that will enable him to see it for himself. To a lost soul, such a treasure is worth its weight in gold. Worth its weight in dreams.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath & the Dawn

“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person. Never had he received such kindness. Maybe the private life wasn't forever. Maybe everyone got it for a little while and then spend the rest of their lives remembering.”
― Ann Patchett, Bel Canto