The Professor Quotes

“It reminds me that we're all fighting here, even as we smile and study and behave like good little girls. Like Juliet. We're all fighting to control our own destinies. Even if it ends in tragedy.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“The instruments of darkness tell us truths. Do you know the rest? No. A young, innocent little student. You didn’t memorize Macbeth. An oversight, that. Because Banquo warns that the truth will betray us.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“My scholarship felt like the fulcrum of all my hopes and dreams. Now it seems almost like an albatross.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“There were no bruises on her body. No breaks or fractures. Those would be easier to fix, I think. The damage happened inside her mind. She seems listless. Unmoored.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“My eyes narrow. “You can call me Ms. Hill. Let’s get one thing straight, Professor Stratford. You can give me assignments in class, but you don’t control me outside that room.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“The office is steeped in intellectual tradition and honor. I’m defiling it. That fact shouldn’t make me wetter.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“You’re not a cliché, dear heart. You’re intelligent and curious and so damned special you can’t even see it.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“There are pages strewn across the desk, the chairs, books stacked laying spine open to save the place. “That will hurt the spines,” I say, which is an inane comment.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“It’s a quote from the same gravedigger scene, where Hamlet finds the skull of someone he knew. The court jester, who represents the inevitability of death, the futility of our actions. Because no matter how happy we are in life, we end the same way. It’s the point of no return in Hamlet’s spiritual journey, for he can no longer make sense of his existence. A shiver runs through me. Nihilism, then. That’s the meaning of the grand parties. The belief that nothing matters, for whether someone is good or evil, happy or sad, rich or poor, they will turn to dust in the end. So there’s no reason to strive, to struggle. No reason to worry about rules or safety. No reason to give a damn.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“The world teaches us to be afraid of random men, but I’ve always known that the monster in my life lived at home.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“Do you think the Shakespeare Society is dangerous?” “I don’t know,” she says, her expression thoughtful. “Anyone could have gotten hurt at the masquerade ball. Overdosing, getting into a fight. Fucking someone they shouldn’t. Would it be the society’s fault for providing the venue?” “You’re saying people are responsible for their own safety.” “If I fall down on campus, it’s not like the university is footing my medical bill.” “Good point.” There’s a flaw in the logic, but I can’t find it at the moment. I live in a world made of flowery language and dramatic turns of phrase. I prefer fictional deaths, thank you very much.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“I guess I just…think honesty is the best policy. I know that might make me sound naïve or—” “It doesn’t. It makes you sound honorable.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“He looks curious. “If you thought it might get you in trouble, why did you confess?”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“Her tone is flippant, but there’s a tension in her smile that makes me wonder. After all, I hid my own problem being a casual joke about Shakespeare. And her mother controls her music career and contracts as her manager. It reminds me that we’re all fighting here, even as we smile and study and behave like good little girls. Like Juliet. We’re all fighting to control our own destinies. Even if it ends in tragedy.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“I can’t even trust myself. That’s what abuse and neglect does to you. It makes you doubt your own instincts”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“That’s the thing about power. It’s not handed out. It’s taken.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“A masquerade party isn’t the place for honesty. Or maybe it’s the perfect place. Maybe the masks give us courage we’d never have without them.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“When people look at terrible homes and wonder why the children don’t always look distressed… It’s because we learn to hide it. It’s easier that way. Less chance of being punished for daring to contradict.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“I never felt that aroused when he touched me. I thought maybe it was just me, maybe I wasn’t interested in sex. That night in Cressida City proved that wrong. I’m a highly sexual creature…as long as I’m with an older man who quotes Shakespeare and pulls my hair.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“You don’t understand. Men have needs. It’s fine for a girl not to have sex, but for a man it hurts. Like physically hurts.” Take an Advil. That’s what I want to retort, but I don’t.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“Let’s agree to disagree, but either way, there’s no future for us. We can be friends.” He puts a hand to his heart. “Friend zoned. A direct hit.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“Then again, the idea of belonging to a secret society holds a deep appeal for me. The kind that doesn’t need logic. The kind that comes from never, ever fitting in.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“I’d ask her for tips if it didn’t seem like approaching a baited bear while dripping in honey.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“What a bitch,” Alyssa says. For some reason, I feel compelled to defend her. “I like her.” Daisy snorts. “For her sparkling personality?” I shrug. “For her honesty. We’re all full of rage and resentment penned up like prisoners or even animals. At least she’s not hiding it.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“I want to know what it feels like to live, even if it’s only going to end in tragedy.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“If it was just your body, just your gorgeous lips, I might have survived it. Then you had to go and speak. You had to say something no one has said in an undergraduate class. Something that was fresh and interesting and so fucking smart I could have climaxed.” That makes me want to tease him. “You have a smart kink?” “Hell yes. And it’s a real problem.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“You looked new.” “I looked…new?” “Green. Nervous. Young as a lost little lamb.” “So you’re insulting me now.” “That’s why everyone in that bar was staring at you, men and women alike. The room was full of predators. You felt it. That’s what made you scared. They wanted to devour you.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“they always blame the woman. Oh, maybe they would fire you or demote you or whatever the hell they can do to rich as hell professors who like whiskey, but they will whisper about the harlot who tempted you down that path. My name will become legendary in this field, not for what I know but for who I had sex with.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“Professor Stratford looks satisfied. “This is Advanced Comparative Analysis of Literature, ladies, gentlemen, and others. Agency. Control. Danger. Identity.” He pauses, and I feel the way he does not look at me so acutely it’s like passing beneath one of the large buildings—cold and dark. Shocking after the warmth of his regard. “Sex.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor

“This is more than analysis. More than understanding. It’s embodying. It’s living inside the pages, seeing them from the inside out.”
― Skye Warren, The Professor