David > David's Quotes

“Fear of the cost of doing the right thing is enough for most to abide in ignorance.”
― Daniel M. Ford, Stillbright

“It is a rule of leading people, Gideon. You may be confused, or afraid, or overwhelmed, or all three—those who depend on you must never see it.”
― Daniel M. Ford, Stillbright

“You may tire of reality but you never tire of dreams.”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Road to Yesterday

“There is such a place as fairyland - but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the common light of common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”
― L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl

“Okay. Morality in a nutshell. Don't hurt people if you can avoid it. Don't steal stuff unless you're starving or it's really, really important. Work hard. Pay your bills. Try to help others. Always double-check your math if there are explosives involved. If you screwed it up, you need to see it gets fixed. And don't eat anything that talks. If it doesn't fall under one of those categories, just do the best you can.”
― Ursula Vernon, Digger, Volume One

“Never underestimate the power of a good cup of coffee.”
― Ursula Vernon

“Dragons have been known to have staring contests with mountains. They usually win.”
― Ursula Vernon, Castle Hangnail

“Molly dove into the pastries. It had been a very long walk from the village and she’d been living on sandwiches and a thermos of cold tea. “These are delicious!” she said, around a mouthful of pastry. “Is learning to cook from first husband,” said Cook. “Then is cooking him. Lousy husband. Second husband is chef, much better.”
― Ursula Vernon, Castle Hangnail

“A true adventurer needs a keen wit, a stout heart, and a strong bladder. Though luck can stand in for the wit and the heart, but I have never yet found a good substitute for the bladder.”
― Ursula Vernon, Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew

“Bats are one of the coolest—and most useful!—animals on earth. A single bat can eat over a thousand mosquitoes an hour. (That’s a lot of bugs!) Many plants, including some of our favorite fruits, are pollinated by bats too. The smallest bat on earth weighs less than a penny, while some flying foxes have six-foot wingspans. Unfortunately, bats are in trouble. People are often scared of bats, thinking they all carry rabies or will get caught in your hair. And bats have been hit hard by diseases and destruction of their home caves. So these days, bats need our help.”
― Ursula Vernon, Lair of the Bat Monster

“If ONE MORE PERSON says "What if they'd medicated Van Gogh!?" I think I'm permitted to set things on fire. If they'd medicated Van Gogh, he'd either have painted twice as much, or he'd have been happy and unproductive. And you know what? Starry Night wasn't worth a terrible price in human misery. It's neat. It wasn't worth it.”
― Ursula Vernon

“ If I were a man, I would fight him.
If she were a man, no one would force Kania to try to bear child after child. If I were a man, I would not be the next in line to be married if he kills her. If we were men… She stared at her fingers curled into the dirt. It did not matter. They were not and the history of the world was written in women’s wombs and women’s blood and she would never be allowed to change it.
Rage shivered through her, a rage that seemed like it could topple the halls of heaven, then vanished under the knowledge of her own helplessness. Rage was only useful if you were allowed to do anything with it.”
― T. Kingfisher, Nettle & Bone

“People get hung up on happiness and joy, but fun will take you at least as far and it's generally cheaper to obtain.”
― T. Kingfisher, What Moves the Dead

“Goblin tea resembles a nice cup of Earl Grey in much the same way that a catfish resembles the common tabby. They share a name, but one is a nice thing to curl up with on a rainy afternoon, and the other is found in the muck at the bottom of polluted rivers and has bits of debris sticking to it.”
― T. Kingfisher

“She brutalized flour and butter, she visited wartime atrocities to milk and yeast. She committed acts of crumpet.”
― T. Kingfisher, Toad Words and Other Stories

“ Wait and see. The world is not always cruel.”
― T. Kingfisher, Nettle & Bone

“Hours passed, like a kidney stone.”
― T. Kingfisher, Clockwork Boys

“All women are beautiful,” said Istvhan, dismissing this. “It is the job of their lovers to make them feel that way if they do not already.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Grace

“One of the grimmer realizations of Sarkis’s youth had been the discovery that knowing you were being an ass did not actually stop you from continuing to be an ass.”
― T. Kingfisher, Swordheart

“You are not a failure, you know,” he said, “simply because you can’t endure something unendurable.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Strength

“I am the servant of the sword,” he said. “I obey the will of the—great god, woman, put on some clothes!”
― T. Kingfisher, Swordheart

“If we ran then we would have to admit there was something to run from. If we ran, then the small child that lives in every soldier's heart knew that the monsters could get us.”
― T. Kingfisher, What Moves the Dead

“When you're different, even just a little different, even in a way that people can't see, you like to know that people in power won't judge you for it.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

“Madam,” said Istvhan, his voice dropping nearly an octave, “I have made love. I have had sex. I have bedded, rutted, fucked, and on one occasion, with enthusiastic consent and a great deal of oil, I have sodomized, but I have never, not once, canoodled.”
― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Strength

“It seemed like once you agreed that the government could put you on a list because of something you were born with, you were asking for trouble.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

“Having a cat around means that there are never any unexplained noises. If something crashes or thumps or goes bump in the night, you think, 'It's that damn cat again', and don't worry about it.”
― T. Kingfisher, A House with Good Bones

“She decided not to risk it. Words could always be said, but could rarely be unsaid.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Uncle Earl believes strongly in Jesus, Moses, the healing power of crystals, the Freemasons, the Illuminati, that aliens landed at Roswell but the government is suppressing it, secret histories, faith-healing, snake-handling, that there is an invention that will replace gasoline but the oil companies are suppressing it, chemtrails, demon-possession, the astonishing powers of Vicks VapoRub, and that there’s proof that aliens contacted the Mayans and the Aztecs and probably the Egyptians, but the scientists are suppressing it. He believes in Skunk Ape, Chupacabras, and he positively adores Mothman. He is not Catholic, but he believes in the miracle of Fatima, visions of Mary appearing on toast, and he is nearly positive that the end times are upon us, but seems to be okay with this, provided it does not interfere with museum hours.”
― T. Kingfisher, The Hollow Places

“I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. It was all so ridiculous. Gran Mae thought she could get me about my weight? I’d come out of academia. If she wanted to tear me apart, she should have commented on my doctoral thesis.”
― T. Kingfisher, A House with Good Bones

“I'd like to yell," said Imogene, "but this hardly seems like the time, does it?" She grimaced. "Willard, can you take the scissors? My hand is getting a cramp."

"Certainly, Lady Strauss."

"And promise you'll kill her. No gallantry, now."

"Madam." He frowned at her. "I am a butler. Do you truly believe that I do not know how to dispatch a houseguest if required?”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call