Livia Blackburne > Livia's Quotes

“The process doesn’t end there. Stories are more than just images. As you continue in the tale, you get to know the characters, motivations and conflicts that make up the core of the story. This requires more parts of the brain. Some parts process emotion. Others infer the thoughts of others, letting us empathize with their experiences. Yet other parts package the experience into memories for future reflection”
― Livia Blackburne, Dalle parole al cervello

“Someday, Locke Lamora,” he said, “someday, you’re going to fuck up so magnificently, so ambitiously, so overwhelmingly that the sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will shit comets with glee. And I just hope I’m still around to see it.”
“Oh please,” said Locke. “It’ll never happen.”
― Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora

“I don't have to beat you. I don't have to beat you, motherfucker. I just have to keep you here... until Jean shows up.”
― Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora

“I can't wait to have words with the Gray King when this shit is all finished," Locke whispered. "There's a few things I want to ask him. Philosophical questions. Like, 'How does it feel to be dangled out a window by a rope tied around your balls, motherfucker?”
― Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora

“Nice bird, asshole!”
― Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora

“Throwing blondes at Locke Lamora was not unlike throwing lettuce at sharks.”
― Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora

“If the king could make a throne seem like a stool fit for a printer's apprentice, the queen could make a rumpled bedspread into a throne.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

“If these were death agonies, they were fake ones, Costis thought, and was sure of it when they reached the shallow stair at the far end of the reflecting pool. No one on the verge of death has the strength to pile one foul word on top of another like a man compiling a layered pastry of obscene language, from the the bottom step all the way to the top.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

“If Attolia could look like a queen, Eugenides was like a god revealed, transformed into something wholly unfamiliar, surrounded by the cloth-of-gold bedcover like a deity on an altar, passionless and calculating.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

“Risk is everywhere. Only the nobles have the luxury of a long easy life. Justice, vengeance, the ability to carve out your own fate instead of being herded like an animal. Sometimes it’s worth dying for.”
― Livia Blackburne, Poison Dance

“I wouldn't destroy an entire house to destroy one man. But I would destroy a man to destroy a house.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

“Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“There was, apparently, no honor in driver's ed.”
― E.K. Johnston, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim

“Yes, you will. And I will warn you now that not their blood but your suspicion might build evil in them. They will be what you expect of them…I think when a man finds good or bad in his children he is seeing only what he planted in them after they cleared the womb."
"You can’t make a race horse of a pig."
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make a very fast pig.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Well, Samuel rode lightly on top of a book and he balanced happily among ideas the way a man rides white rapids in a canoe. But Tom got into a book, crawled and groveled between the covers, tunneled like a mole among the thoughts, and came up with the book all over his face and hands.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Maybe everyone is too rich. I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house, and he will die of despair.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Three thousand bodies swing forward, three thousand pairs of boots snap together, three thousand backs jerk as if yanked straight by a puppeteer's hand. In the ensuing silence, you could hear a tear drop.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“When Hel and I were Fivers, a Barbarian raiding party took us prisoner. I was trussed like a festival-day goat, but they tied Helene's hands in front of her with twine and propped her on the back of a pony, assuming she was harmless. That night, she used the twine to garrote three of our jailers and broke the necks of the other three with her bare hands.
“They always underestimate me,” she said afterward, sounding puzzled.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“He was a dandy with on eear cocked, a gleam on his claw and a glint in his eye. He sauntered through the market square elegant and tattered, admired and cursed: a highwayman, a gentleman thief. His name was Taggle, for the three kittens had been Raggle, Taggle, and Bone.”
― Erin Bow, Plain Kate

“It is better to die honorably and render yourself immortal than live to old age and fade to dust.”
― Livia Blackburne, Daughter of Dusk

“Nothing's promised us by the gods. Isn't that all the more reason to love while we can?”
― Livia Blackburne, Rosemarked

“There’s a balance here of yin and yang, a dance between aggression and gentleness that creates real strength in any warrior. Attack, and fall back. Thrust and parry. It’s beautiful, really.”
Mulan thrust her sword forward and then skipped back. “A balance of yin and yang,” she repeated. “I don't have to turn myself into a man to fight or rule. And I don't have to be a docile woman like my ministers expect me to be. I can be gentle and strong as circumstances requires.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“Please do.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“This is phoenix embroidery.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That is the traditional symbol for an empress.”
“I thought it would be a dragon.” That was what the old emperor had worn on his ceremonial robes. It was also the animal carved on the ceiling of the imperial audience hall and on the throne.
“The dragon symbolizes the emperor. The phoenix symbolizes the empress. Both are majestic creatures, and both convey great authority.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“You are the hero whose quick thinking saved our country. You are the warrior who risked great personal loss and dishonor to protect your family and, by extension, all of China.”
It was absurd, the disconnect between the emperor’s words and Mulan’s own conception of herself. Yes, she supposed she had done these things, but she was also just Mulan, Fa Hsu’s daughter, who tripped over chickens and stole sweet buns from the kitchen.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“What I need,” Mulan said quietly, “is someone who will stand by my side. Someone who will support me in my role.” She looked at him, willing her heart into her eyes. “Someone who loves me, and whom I love in return.”
As Shang gazed back at her, everything around them became blurred, muffled. Finally, she spoke the terrifying, hopeful words.
“I want you to marry me, Shang.”
In that moment, Mulan could hear nothing but her heart beating in her ears. For what seemed like an eternity, silence hung between them.
Shang let out a shaky breath. His expression wasn’t a clear yes, and Mulan’s soul froze. “Mulan,” he said. “Heavens know I want nothing more, but I worry I’ll be holding you back.”
Relief flooded through her at his words. She took his hands. “Shang, we’ve led China to victory now, not once but twice. You don't hold me back. Your love makes me stronger.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“Looking at Mulan, the soldier felt pride, but also compassion. Mulan had mastered the art of war, but there remained obstacles ahead, dangers more nuanced than a simple exchange of swords. She was close to fulfilling her destiny, but first, she'd have to learn the way of the spirits, to use their strength as her own. And she would know pain. Because the fenghuang, the phoenix, that guardian of imperial harmony, does not grant its blessing to everyone. Only the most honest, loyal, and selfless. The one who is brave against encroaching darkness.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“Mulan was proud of these women. Proud of their calm preparations, proud of the ease with which they strapped on their weapons, their gentle yet firm touch with their horses. And she was proud, most of all, of the banner that flew over their heads. It was mud yellow rather than the rich gold of palace silks, since mud yellow was the only shade Ruolan could manage with the herbs at hand. The dragon and phoenix pictured on it were bare outlines. But Ruolan and Wenling had stayed up all night to embroider them, and Mulan could see the heart that had gone into every stitch. Now they would put down their needles and wield their swords with no less skill.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“Make me a banner of gold and red. I want an emblem of a dragon and a phoenix, and it must be completed tonight.” Dragon for emperor, phoenix for empress. Dragon for power and authority. Phoenix, that symbol of yin-yang harmony, because she was a woman and unashamed to be one.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame

“From up here she had a clear view of the garden below. Just next to the wall was the worn bench where Mulan had so often sat with Grandmother, helping her sort vegetables as Nai Nai told fantastic stories of the monkey king, the zodiac animals, the thunder god's wife, and the woman on the moon. When Mulan expressed awe at those adventures, Grandmother told her about the adventures in store for her.
"See how wide your forehead is?" Grandmother would say. "That means you'll travel far and bring back good fortune."
"I will?" Mulan responded, rapt.
"Yes, but it will not be easy," Nai Nai said, and she'd point to a scar on Mulan's temple from a childhood fall. "That scar means you'll struggle and face hardship, but if you persevere, you will overcome it."
How right Grandmother been. During long cold nights in the army, when the ground sent icicles through her hopes, Mulan had clung to Grandmother's words.”
― Livia Blackburne, Feather and Flame