King of Ashes Quotes

“Sometimes the man wearing the crown ain’t the man that’s supposed to be the king.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Power without empathy leads to ruin,”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Money is like acid. It burns through everything. Friendships, family, lovers, husbands and wives. Whatever bond you think you have, money will make that shit dissolve.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“A king without a queen or pawns is just a piece of wood sitting on a board, Roman thought.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Whatever bond you think you have, money will make that shit dissolve.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Children should be protected from the lives of adults. Especially from the private lives of their parents. Children should be allowed to exist in a state of constant unawareness when it comes to what their parents do inside or outside the bonds of marriage. That sacred covenant is between God and man, but Mother and Father are gods in a way, and they have a sacred covenant with their children. To keep them safe, to do no harm, and to allow them to be children as long as they can.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“beginning to think the only difference between a tragedy and an opportunity was how much what was lost mattered.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“So grown people can just be hoes and nobody supposed to say nothing?” Roman says, and instantly realizes he has entered an undiscovered country. A land of fallen idols and deposed emperors. A realm that each child must one day traverse. A journey that takes you from seeing your parents as infallible to recognizing them as all too human. For most, that journey ends with a wistful kind of acceptance. We love our parents not because they are perfect but because they persevere despite their imperfections. We all fall short of grace, but the beauty lives in the attempt.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders. —WILLIAM FAULKNER”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“There's a thousand ways to die, he thought, but sometimes all it takes is one thing to make you want to live. Like your brother remembering what you like on your pizza.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“I used to be afraid the universe was evil. Now I almost wish it was. Because evil can be bargained with, evil has a purpose, no matter how horrible it may be. But what I’ve come to realize is the universe is indifferent, and that is so much more terrifying,”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“A land of fallen idols and deposed emperors. A realm that each child must one day traverse. A journey that takes you from seeing your parents as infallible to recognizing them as all too human. For most, that journey ends with a wistful kind of acceptance. We love our parents not because they are perfect but because they perservere despite their imperfections. We all fall short of grace, but the beauty lives in the attempt.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Khalil’s also made people disappear, he thought. He’s killed at least four people in what the police were advised to call self-defense.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Roman had enough self-awareness to recognize that type of intimacy lacked emotional depth. It satisfied his desires but didn’t really touch his heart.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“You like a little pain?” Jae asked. Roman had leaned back and gazed at her. The question was somewhat ironic except she didn’t know it yet. He liked the pain, craved it, needed its cleansing power. Yet he was always loath to confess that to a real lover. It was a level of intimacy he rarely approached with someone who wasn’t a professional.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“His mother tries to pull away from him. She is shouting, cursing, but Roman is giving her words back to her with even more venom. He is screaming about his father, about Dante, Neveah, and finally himself. They are struggling, not fighting exactly but something even more primal. A physical expression of their shared pain and resentment and loss.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Why wouldn’t he? Because y’all are friends? I work with money every day. Money is like acid. It burns through everything. Friendships, family, lovers, husbands and wives. Whatever bond you think you have, money will make that shit dissolve. It’s acid. Don’t ever lie to yourself and think it ain’t,” Roman said.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Roman had lost a lot in life, but he knew one thing. He’d never been defeated.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“There will be days and nights when he will think he’s never really taken another full breath ever again.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Torrent didn’t look away, but Roman thought he was not seeing him right now. His eyes had a faraway dreamy quality that mostly was from the liquor, but Roman thought it was also partly from long hours of staring into the abyss.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Either he did the things that needed to be done, or his family would never be safe. There were no lines, only choices.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“But, you ready? Here’s the lifeline. You get me, let’s say, twenty-five thousand, and I make sure your name disappears from any list of known associates. I sweep any possible investigation under the rug. Then you can be my new CI.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“There was no one to answer her, so she answered herself. “Not anything that makes you happy,” she said, and pulled onto the interstate.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Roman ran both hands over his face. “You know that quote from Machiavelli where he says it’s better to be feared than loved? Because people might stop loving you, but if you make them afraid of punishment, they’ll never stop fearing you?”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Sounds like you want to make him a scapegoat for the police not doing their jobs. Go ahead, take him. By the time you get to the station, all your shit will be in the front yard and I hope it’s on fire,” Neveah said.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“I’ll be picking up your other brother too. Would you like to join them?” Chauncey said. Neveah blew a cloud of smoke in his face. “Would you like for me to call your wife?” she said.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“It was going to be okay. Everything was going to be all right. That was the far horizon he had to focus on, even as bodies fell all around him like falling stars.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“There had to be a phrase or a saying that articulated the feeling one had attending a party thrown by and drinking the liquor of a man who had knocked out your fucking teeth a week and a half ago.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“The dulcet tones of “O-o-h Child” by the Five Stairsteps came warbling through the speakers. It was one of their mother’s favorite songs.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes

“Your other brother’s friend was a confidential informant that was hooked up with the Black Baron Boys and was double-dipping with the Ghost Town Crew.”
― S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes