The Grace of Kings Quotes

“What is fate but coincidences in retrospect?”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“There’s never going to be an end to suffering if ‘he deserves it’ is all the justification people need for inflicting pain.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“What is so bad about being compared to women?” Kuni said. “Half the world is made of women.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“A lord who knows how to wield men is ten times more fearsome than one who knows only how to wield a sword.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“The more perfect the ideals, the less ideal the methods.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“All life is an experiment.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Old friends are like old clothes: they fit the best.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“There is often no line between perfection and evil.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“You can’t tell how high a kite can fly without being willing to let all the string out.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“I've always thought it nonsense to believe something true simply because it was written in a book long ago.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Read a lot of books and try a lot of recipes," Jia said. "When you learn enough about the world, even a blade of grass can be a weapon.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“A man who can kill several people with a sword is merely a living weapon. A great warrior can kill thousands of men with just his mind.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Emperor, king, general, duke,” he whispered to himself. “These are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you’ll find a commoner who dared to take a chance.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“It cannot be defeated: Just when a gardener thinks he has won and eradicated it from his lawn, a rain would bring the yellow florets right back. Yet it’s never arrogant: Its color and fragrance never overwhelm those of another. Immensely practical, its leaves are delicious and medicinal, while its roots loosen hard soils, so that it acts as a pioneer for other more delicate flowers. But best of all, it’s a flower that lives in the soil but dreams of the skies. When its seeds take to the wind, it will go farther and see more than any pampered rose, tulip, or marigold.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“By custom, we wield the sword and wear the armor, but who among you does not know a mother, sister, daughter, friend, who exceeds you in courage and fortitude?
So let us no more think of being compared to women as an insult.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“The way I look at it is this: If you try to obey the law, and the judges call you a criminal anyway, then you might as well live up to the name.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“He was like a seed still tethered to the withered flower, just waiting for the dead air of the late summer evening to break, for the storm to begin.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“If you insist on fighting every fight that comes your way, you’re simply letting them push you around in a different way.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Now that’s the sort of thing I wish the nobles said more often,” Dafiro whispered to Ratho. “While they resolve all their disputes this way, the rest of us can go back to planting our harvests and enjoying our lives. Let the kings and dukes get in an arena and fight all their wars with their own two hands. We’ll watch and cheer them on.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“When I became a bandit, I spent a lot of time being close to the lowliest of the low: criminals, the enslaved, deserters, men who had nothing to lose. Contrary to what I had expected, I found that they had a hardscrabble beauty and grace. They were not mean in their nature, but made mean by the meanness of their rulers. The poor were willing to endure much, but the emperor had taken everything from them.

These men have simple dreams: a plot of land, a few possessions, a warm house, conversations with friends, and a happy wife and healthy children. They remember the smallest acts of kindness and think me a good man because of a few exaggerated stories. They've raised me on their shoulders and called me duke, and I have a duty to help them get a little closer to their dreams.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Sometimes it was hard to tell where the performance ended and the real self began - but what was this "real" self other than a set of performances?”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Maybe Soto was right. It was silly to make a fetish out of love, and not to accept that love was like food, and each dish had its own flavor. The heart surely had room for more than one.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Kuni was the sort of man, Risana realized, who, rather than deceive himself, was so full of self-doubt that he could no longer see himself.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“They’re all dear to me, but I admire the dandelion the most. It is hardy and determined, adaptable and practical. The flower looks like a small chrysanthemum, but it’s much more resourceful and far less delicate. Poets may compose odes about the chrysanthemum, but the dandelion’s leaves and flowers can fill your belly, its sap cure your warts, its roots calm your fevers. Dandelion tea makes you alert, while chewing its root can steady a nervous hand. The milk of the dandelion can even be used to make invisible ink that reveals itself when mixed with the juice of the stone’s ear mushroom. It is a versatile and useful plant people can rely on. “And”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Do you see how much power you have when you act without fear?”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“It's easy for men to be friends as close as brothers when they're poor and struggling, but much harder when things are going well. Friends are never as close as blood. Remember that, Rat.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“A little self-doubt is a good thing," said Jia, "but not excessive doubt. Sometimes we live up to the stories others tell about us.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Sir, a reformed man is worth ten men virtuous from birth, for he understands temptation and will strive the harder to not stray.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Often, he felt as though he were sitting alone in the middle of a theater while the same performance was put on every night around him, with different actors saying the same lines in various settings.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Safety is an illusion, as is faith without temptation. We’re imperfect, unlike the gods, but in that imperfection we may yet make them jealous.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings