Jade War Quotes

“The clan is my blood and the Pillar is its master,” she whispered. “I have a lot of regrets in life, but those oaths aren’t one of them.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“The possibility of death was like the weather—you could make attempts to predict it, but you would likely be wrong, and no one would change their most important plans due to threat of rain.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“My grandfather taught me that if a friend asks for your forgiveness, you should always give it. [...] He also taught me that if you have to give it again, then they weren't a friend to begin with.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Funny, isn’t it? No matter where you are in the world, the one thing that keeps men from killing each other is a fear of what’ll happen after they’re dead.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“We women claw for every inch we gain in this world...”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“If you're not sure you're in love, then you're not.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“No matter where you go, others will try to define you. Unless you define yourself.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Out of small resentments, spring great wars.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“If you want to lead, you can’t wait for everyone to line up behind you.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“You can make a rational, well-informed choice, and still be unprepared for what it means.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“The clan can claim everything I have —my time, my blood and sweat, my life and jade—but it can’t have my wife. She’s a stone-eye. She’s the one thing in the world that jade can’t touch.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“She understood that her value in the clan, her value to her family, to Hilo, and most of all, in her own mind, lay not in what she could accomplish herself — because a stone-eye was always something of a blank space amid the strong auras around them, a void where gazes and expectations slid off like oil — but in what she made possible for others. She was unable to wield jade herself, but as a White Rat for the Weather Man, she had taken jade to those who could and would use it for the clan’s gain. She had not borne the Pillar a son who could follow in the family’s footsteps, but she had ensured that Niko was brought back to be raised in his rightful place. She could never be a Green Bone herself, as much as she felt she was one at heart, but she could think like a Green Bone. She was an enabler, an aide, a hidden weapon, and that was worth something. Perhaps a great deal.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“People are born selfish; babies are the most selfish creatures, even though they’re helpless and wouldn’t survive a day on their own.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“We're getting into a dangerous game, Hilo."
"You have to go where your enemies are," Hilo said. "And then further.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Sometimes the most obvious and direct answer is the best one.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“A misunderstanding between friends is okay. A misunderstanding between enemies isn’t.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“You have to move back home, Andy," Hilo said quietly. "I've missed you."
Anden had been waiting to hear those words come out of his cousin's mouth for years. Now, however, he felt no great relief or happiness - only the sort of heaviness that comes from wanting something for so long that the final achievement of it is a loss - because the waiting is over and the waiting has become too much a part of oneself to let go of easily.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“only the sort of heaviness that comes from wanting something for so long that the final achievement of it is a loss—because the waiting is over and the waiting has become too much a part of oneself to let go of easily.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Rain fell, not steadily but with insulting indifference”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Si esto es la paz, creo que prefiero la guerra”
― Fonda Lee, Guerra de jade

“A dog that was once starved will bark at anyone who comes near his food, no matter how much he has now.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“This contest would not be a joke. Shae and Ayt Mada would be making history, no matter the outcome. Social progress, Kekonese-style, Shae mused. Equal opportunity to die by the blade.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“People are born selfish; babies are the most selfish creatures, even though they’re helpless and wouldn’t survive a day on their own. Growing up and losing that selfishness—that’s what civilization is, that’s what sets us above beasts.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“We women claw for every inch we gain in this world, and you’d worked too hard for your place on Ship Street to let it be taken from you.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Gold and jade, never together.’ Those of us who wear jade don’t hold political office, but you’re not asking for gold—you’re asking for jade. In that, the clans have the final say.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Each of Hilo’s words came out as distinct as a slowly drawn knife cut. “I will never swear oaths to you.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“Twelve men,” the Finger said at once. “Hilo-jen… they’re here to kill us.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“I came because I’m honestly curious to hear what a scavenger like you could possibly have to say to me as Pillar.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“While we may be born into families, it doesn't necessarily mean we belong to them.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War

“I promise.” He looked at his watch, picked up his bag, and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. “I’m going to be a father. I know that changes things.”
― Fonda Lee, Jade War