The Silence of Bones Quotes

“There is one lesson all who enter the capital will learn: evil comes from the unfulfilled need for significance.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“We must learn to embrace the new seasons in our lives. There is a season to gain, a season to lose; a season for peace, a season for war; a season to laugh, a season to mourn, and to betray.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“When we believe, we hold on to what we think is true. But when we have a conviction, that truth holds on to us.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“A life among servants had taught me that no human being wished to remain silent and misunderstood.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“The dead are gone, yet we live in their shadows.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Unmindful of the killings, a lone bird called out a blissful song, the welcoming of a new day.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“My fingers numb, I reached into my robe, and it took a while for me to feel the crinkled paper I was looking for. I slipped it out and unfolded the sheet on which I had drawn my brother's face. His lightly shaded eyes, his round face, his timid smile.

He belonged to the past, a place he would never leave, not even to come looking for me.

I kissed the sheet and then tore it in half, then in half again, the paper hissing with each motion. I opened my fingers and let the torn pieces be swept away like moths on the wind.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Sometimes monsters are born, but sometimes they are made by an accumulation of hurt.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“You were my sister for too short a time. So read these pages in the afterworld, and when we greet each other again, remember to call me "Older Brother.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“It was strange how sadness reached so deeply into my chest for a man I had never spoken to.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“But never let fear stop you from doing good.
Everyone dies; what is difficult is a meaningful death.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“I looked out at the expanse and knew where he had gone.

He had sunk into the sea of rebirth, into the rushing of ten thousand rivers. Closing my eyes, I prayed to the heavens that in his next life, orabeoni would be surrounded by people whose hearts brimmed with kindness. And I would brim with kindness to those around me, because my brother could be anywhere. His life could be hidden in the form of a child, an ant, or a blind turtle adrift in the waters.

Perhaps, if I listened closely, I might even hear his heartbeat come from the depth of the sea.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“This is the consequence of the clash of old and new. We must prepare our hearts, all of us. No matter which side wins, we will all be heartbroken.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Everyone here in the bureau is too quick to judge, and it will end in the death of someone innocent. But you, you are an eavesdropper. The only person in this bureau who truly listens.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Sometimes we must cease feeling and think instead.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“I pray many blessings over your life.
Wherever you go, may you be shown kindness after kindness.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Opening each door, I discovered porcelain pots of color, hair ornaments, and a brush with strands of hair in it. Lady O's hair. I reached for one and the moment I pulled a strand free, it struck me how transient life was -- one night a woman was brushing her hair, the next night she was dead.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Never had I thought of the dead Lady O as someone who had been precious, as my own family was precious to me.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“This investigation is nothing more to you than a mere crime among the multitude." Matron Kim's upper lip curled slightly. "My daughter died on her birthday. I made a jeogori jacket for her as a gift, sewed the silk pieces together myself, and I knew the length and circumference of her arms, the length and breadth of her torso, all measured meticulously. I knew her. She was my daughter. And from the day of her death, all you saw was a crime to be solved. From that day, you disrespected my affection for my daughter, and even now, you speak to me with a cruel, impatient look in your eyes.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“The letters within, they are his heart, and he has never been good at sharing his innermost being.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“If there was one thing Officer Kyŏn had taught me, it was that brute strength was not a measure of a man’s courage. He could have muscles made of steel and yet a backbone made of mother’s milk—the only thing occupying his heart was love for no one other than himself.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“And it did occur to me, as I gazed up at the jagged shadows of Mount Yongma's peak, that I might not survive the icy journey if I followed.

Still, my feet moved forward, one step after the next.

Not because of fearlessness -- no, my stomach ached with terror. I followed the officers because the moment I'd grabbed onto Woorim's hand, trying to pull her out of danger, her destiny had bound itself to mine. I had seen desperation gleam in her eyes and I had touched her wound.

How could I forget? How could I turn away?”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“I realized that my jaws were locked, teeth clenched, my eyes wide, and from the light-headedness, I imagined I must look frightfully pale. And I was holding my breath, resisting life so I could resist change from happening.

I had so much fear in me.

Fear that in this change my home would disappear. I had grown up under the memory of my brother's stories of home, and in the twelve years that had passed without him, I realized that I had been waiting, that I had never truly left Heuksan Island. The home Brother had told me about, I had dreamed of arriving there one day. A home where there was no more sorrow or tears, no more deaths or farewells.

A place of togetherness.

But now this place would change into a haunted mansion full of strangers and ghosts. How could I embrace them? What did family mean when family had gone away and returned, scarred to the point of being unrecognizable? How could you embrace a stranger with haunted eyes that looked right through you?”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones

“Surely, whatever Lady O had hidden, it would peel off the skin of lies and reveal what lay within. I was tired of chasing after an elusive truth, tired of being surrounded by suspicion and speculations, tired of this investigation that seemed to choke up in smoke everything it touched.”
― June Hur, The Silence of Bones