I, Medusa Quotes

“I'm grateful now to know the truth, that the only person who can give me purpose is myself. As the world fades, I find myself wondering if perhaps purpose is not a single thing one finds, but rather a thing one finds over and over again.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“That’s the curious thing about monsters,” she whispers. “The worst ones don’t bother hiding in the dark.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“You are not a monster,” I murmur. I don’t know if the words are for the lion or for me. “You are only what they made you.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“What Poseidon did? It wasn't random. He orchestrated every encounter. He knew exactly what strings to pull, what words to say, because he is old and you are young. and because he knew he could take advantage of you. That is not your fault.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Your voice and your truth will never hold weight unless you also learn to hold power,”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“We let each other sit in grief for the lives we had, for the girls we could’ve been, if the world were kinder.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“However long or short they may be, our lives can usually be pared down to a collection of choices made on a few fateful nights. Rarely do we know for sure which of these nights will be the ones that will alter everything to come. But if you pay close attention, there is a sensation, a light tingle beneath the surface of your skin, that hints at destiny.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I warned you that men with power are always the first to be believed,” she says. “You should have listened. In these situations”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I find that I’m excited to learn what my next purpose will be.
And that is enough.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“What matters is power and those who wield it, because they’re the ones who get to decide what’s true and what’s a lie.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Gods always behave like the people who make them. —Zora Neale Hurston”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I will never be helpless again. i will never be powerless again.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Do you want to know the surest way to assess the measure of a man?” Stheno blinks, unnervingly calm. “You look at those who serve him.” She leans in. “So, look.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“As the world fades, I find myself wondering if perhaps purpose is not a single thing one finds, but rather a thing one finds over and over again.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“But going after them, trying to avenge every wrong . . . that kind of hate can consume a person, you know. That kind of hate doesn’t avenge; it just destroys.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I’d turn a thousand men to stone
to keep you safe.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“It doesn’t matter that you might have wanted to at first,” she says. “You can change your mind at any time.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“But going after them, trying to avenge every wrong…that kind of hate can consume a person, you know. That kind of hate doesn’t avenge; it just destroys.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Athena isn’t just a goddess of craft and wisdom. She’s a goddess of war. I’m sure even she understands that sometimes violence is necessary to maintain order.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“She tallies how many men she has killed thus far and wonders how many more she will kill before the rage within her is sated”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“We were wondering…” She gestures to the other acolytes as though she speaks for all of them. “Is your hair real, or is it a wig?” I pause, confused. I’ve never been asked a question like that before. It seems so ludicrous that at first I wonder if she’s asked it in jest. I self-consciously roll one of my locs between my forefinger and thumb. “It’s mine,” I say quietly. “It’s my hair.” I make a point of tugging on the loc just slightly, so that she can see it’s attached to my scalp.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Your voice and your truth will never hold weight unless you also learn to hold power.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“However long or short they may be”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Prince Maheer is a man with power”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I find myself wondering if perhaps purpose is not a single thing one finds, but rather a thing one finds over and over again.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“I’m grateful now to know the truth, that the only person who can give me purpose is myself.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“That is your occupation. What I want to know is what drives you, what is it that brings you a sense of fulfillment?”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“marriage is a woman’s sacred duty, second only to motherhood.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“Do you want to know the surest way to assess the measure of a man?” Stheno blinks, unnervingly calm. “You look at those who serve him.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa

“As she douses the temple’s torch and surrenders to the dark, Medusa thinks about monsters, and how easily she became one.”
― Ayana Gray, I, Medusa