The Magician's Lie Quotes

“Life is always better than death. Always. No exceptions.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“You want to set me free? Do it. You want to turn me in? You can do that too. You're the only one with the choice. And that bullet in your back doesn't mean you've got any less choice than you ever did. Live free of fear if you want to. We all carry something inside us that could kill us; yours just has a name. You want to change your life? Change it. You have no less of a right to be happy than the rest of us.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“But this is life, and when bad things come to us, there isn't much choice. You survive them or you don't.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“We always have a choice. Sometimes it’s just the will we lack.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“But whatever happens, I've been happy. I've been loved. I've amazed crowds and drunk in their applause. Not because of luck or favor or magic. Because of will. My will. I've been willing to do whatever it takes. That's the closest thing I have to a secret. And now it's yours."

It's a lot to think about, and he can't quite digest it. But there's a spark there. Maybe she's right about him. Maybe it is up to him, how much he lets the bullet, and the fear, take over his life. Maybe. Not a curse, but a choice. His agency and no one else's.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“She had been searching for a way to justify her own choices. It was the first time I realized that we all bend and shape our stories to fit our own ends. It was certainly no the last.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“I don't want to leave you."
"You're not leaving me", he said. "I'm yours, wherever I go.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“Live free of fear if you want to. We all carry something inside us that could kill us; yours just has a name. You want to change your life? Change it. You have no less of a right to be happy than the rest of us.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“You almost died? You’ve got fear and amazement in you. Use them.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“Science has failed you, so you need magic.” “Yes. I need magic.” It’s a relief to admit it, to say it so nakedly.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“Because I know what monsters are, she says, and I can't be in that company. So tell what you are, then if not a monster..a fool, she says”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“Oh, don’t look at me in that tone of voice.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“With a flourish, I spun half the man away, leaving the other half in place. Some nights, I left the head and shoulders behind, some nights, the legs and feet. The audience seemed to embrace both possibilities. No matter which half went where, they cried out in unison, disbelieving. They sucked in all their breath and let it all out like a single breathing person all together. The shock and the terror and the shared impossibility made a single fantastical creature of them, I made a creature of them.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“No one can provide bounty while withholding approval in the same way as the rich.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“I might be a prisoner but I didn’t have to be a victim.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“Small magic. The idea that people can sometimes do little things, for themselves or each other, that make life easier. Soothe babies. Encourage crops. Calm disagreements. Each according to their particular gifts.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“things that weren’t said out loud didn’t happen. If we didn’t acknowledge things we didn’t want to be true, we could keep them hidden in the dark.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“not to believe what she’d said. She had been searching for a way to justify her own choices. It was the first time I realized that we all bend and shape our stories to fit our own ends. It was certainly not the last.”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie

“When he settles her feet and the chair’s feet both”
― Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie