The Heart of Stone Quotes

“I’ve been shot at, hacked at, pummelled with catapult-stones, doused in flaming oil, tipped into drowning-pits, even covered by a landslide. I’ve seen every kind of violence humans know how to wreak, and I have learnt that you are creatures beyond cruel, beyond vengeful, beyond dishonest. So, yes, Knight. You are all villains in my mind.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“I feel sorry for you, Task.’
‘Don’t bother.’
‘No, not because you’ve suffered, or you’re cursed, but because you don’t realise.’
He threw her a quizzical look.
Lesky reached out a hand and placed it on his stone. He tensed, but felt nothing, just the warmth of her skin.
‘You don’t realise how human you are. All of us. Alabast, Ellia, me, Huff, even you, with a mind made out of stone. We all walk around pretendin’ we’re not broken in some way. Most spend their lives hiding it. But we are broken. And you know what? That’s fine. In fact, it’s perfect because it’s imperfect. Each crack, each blemish, each scar, whether of the skin or in the mind, they make us whole. We’re made through livin’, not by bein’ born. What we learn is what shapes us. Some choose a friendly shape, others somethin’ more jagged and sharp. That is what it means to be human, Task. We can choose. You say your master made a mistake? Made you broken? I think he made the finest golem there is. One who’s more than stone, not just some mindless machine. One who can make actually make a choice for himself. One who’s got a conscience. A heart.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“With another screech, the golem wrenched itself free of its wreckage and began to claw itself forward, trailing its ruptured spine. It was as if necromancy, not golem-magic, was pulling its strings.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“What in the name of the Architect’s arsehole is going on here?’
Sergeant Collaver’s face was so red with fury it looked as if his forehead might pop.
‘General’d have me chained up, too, if he knew you were squatting in the mud with spies and miscreants.’
The spies and miscreants seemed happy with this idea.
‘Come join us, Chief!’
‘Mud’s very soothing after a long day’s walk.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“Task knew all about skinbags and their money. There was pointless lunacy in the metal of coins, capable of driving a man to evil. He had often wondered why they simply didn’t manufacture more of it, and make everybody happier in the process.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“Alabast staggered over to the discarded clothes with startling accuracy, as if he had been fuelled by the alcohol. He had been considering that possibility more and more recently, and whether it was a sign to shape up. He shook the horrid thought from his head. He couldn’t get blind drunk on vegetables, exercise and a good night’s sleep.”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone

“People don’t like the reflection of what I am to them. I may be different, all stone and dust instead of skin and blood. But they still see themselves. Copied. Faked in stone. They see their Architect’s work in something that isn’t flesh, and they can’t help but be offended by it, scared by it. Fear breeds hate”
― Ben Galley, The Heart of Stone