The Empress of Bright Moon Quotes

“Fear,” she said from the pavilion, “is a roof. If you do not break it, you shall not see the sky. My mentor’s words.”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“Children were birds, and mothers were trees, and no matter how far they flew, no matter how high they soared, they always craved the branches of the tree, and the nest, to rest. The late Noble Lady’s words. If what she said was true, then I hoped my bird would know that the tree would always be there, its roots deep in the earth, its branch of love spreading, growing, waiting, in every season and every year. And I would tell her the scent of the blossoms in spring, the song of cicadas in the summer heat, the color of autumn’s leaves, and the warmth of the sunlight during frosty days. I would tell her the shapes of”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“the whole hall. And virtue, like the prick of light, needs only a spark of flame. Once it is lit, the flame shall light up the path that benefits many—the weak, the sick, and the poor—and that, my child, is the path for peace, the path for all.”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“When I looked at my reflection in the pond, I could see myself walk in an amusing gait, strutting, my shoulders thrown back, my stomach protruding like a well-fed duck on the way for a good swim with ducklings. I smiled. I would soon have my own duckling, and I would lead and protect like a mother duck.”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“paulownia tree,”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“Every morning at dawn, I sat against the wall, my legs crossed, my eyes closed. I wound my thoughts together, turning the wisps of smoke into a thick rope, and I grasped the rope, stepped onto the trail it led, and glided farther and farther. What lay ahead of me? I did not know, yet I felt no fear or anxiety. I only walked, farther and farther, to a chamber glowing afar, through which the sunlight, the opaque moonlight, and the warm air poured.”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon

“Could I fight against rumor? I did not think so, for rumor had no grave and only bore seeds. It germinated in the air, thrived in the sun, and ripened in the shadows. It would not die in the rain and fly only higher in the wind.”
― Weina Dai Randel, The Empress of Bright Moon