The Library of the Unwritten Quotes

“Claire lived by the firm moral philosophy that one could never have too many pockets, too many books, or too much tea.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Stories can die. Of course they can. Ask any author who's had an idea wither in their head, fail to thrive and bear fruit. Or a book that spoke to you as a child but upon revisiting it was silent and empty. Stories can die from neglect, from abuse, from rot. Even war, as Shakespeare warned, can turn books to graves.
We seek to preserve the books, of course. But we forget the flip side of that duty: treasure what we have. Honor the stories that speak to you, that give you something you need to keep going. Cherish stories while they are here.
There's a reason the unwritten live on something as fragile as paper.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Forgiven doesn't mean no regret. We'll always regret the wrongs we've done. It just means you're not punishing yourself for it.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“The pain in death isn't the dying. It's the wounds we leave in our wake.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“How much easier it would be if everyone knew their role: the hero, the sidekick, the villain. Our books would be neater and our souls less frayed. But whether you have blood or ink, no one's story is that simple.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“The trouble with reading is it goes to your head. Read too many books and you get savvy. You begin to think you know which kind of story you’re in. Then some stupid git with a cosmic quill fucks you over.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“We think stories are contained things, but they’re not. Ask the muses. Humans, stories, tragedies, and wishes—everything leaves ripples in the world. Nothing we do is not felt; that’s a comfort. Nothing we do is not felt; that’s a curse.
Librarian Poppaea Julia, 50 BCE”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“We have a choice, all of us, in seeing the world and system we participate in. At some point, we are confronted with the cost. What suffers for happiness. What dies for life. Even Caesar couldn't keep such a thing hidden, the blood that waters an empire's soil. You have a choice. You can choose to close your eyes and enjoy your lucky position on the good earth. You can choose to walk away.

Or you can choose to rebel.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“The best stories are bled.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Stories are, at the most basic level, how we make sense of the world. It doesn’t do to forget that sometimes heroes fail you when you need them the most. Sometimes you throw your lot in with villains.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“A lie. A dream. Good stories are both.”
― a.j. hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Nothing burns up humanity as thoroughly as eternity.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“It is a story’s natural ambition to wake up and start telling itself to the world.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“He said something about... ah, you know who," Leto said. "
"Lucifer's our ruler, not a dark wizard, Leto. You can say his name," Claire muttered.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Stories are, at the most basic level, how we make sense of the world.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Books are knowledge weaponized. And what weapons you cannot steal, you must burn. Librarian Gregor Henry, 1986 CE”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“War has always followed libraries, my apprentice. History has made no effort to hide that truth from us. Look at Rome; look at the Crusades. Vanquishing an enemy and taking his books was just as strategic as taking his cannons. Books are knowledge weaponized. And what weapons you cannot steal, you must burn.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“You can care and still cause harm. Feeling, caring, for someone else is the worst kind of weapon, in my experience. It allows you to do things you never through you could do and things you never thought you would do. All for the love of someone else.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“It’s easy to be brave on a leash.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Creatures of Hell, on general principle, took to following orders as well as one might expect. Which is to say, not at all and with liberal interpretation.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Two different beasts: deception and secrets. Deceptions are when you lie to others; secrets are when you lie to yourself.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“No story is insignificant. That’s what the existence of the Unwritten Wing teaches us. No escapist fantasy, no far-off dream, no remembered suffering. Every story has meaning, has power. Every story has the power to sustain, the power to destroy, the power to create. Stories shape time, for Pete’s sake. Once upon a time. Long, long ago. Someday. And then what happened? Living author or dead, written or not, your story shakes the world. That’s common sense to a muse, and the idea librarians are supposed to honor. That every story, every human, matters. The hard part is convincing ourselves first.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“It was like when she’d been alive. Whenever she read a book in a binge, cover to cover in a day with little break, she always found it stuck in her brain like a haze. The narrative voice stuck with her, and for a bit after, it was always like a waking dream, living someone else’s thoughts. The book haunted like a ghost in her head, coloring moods until she shook herself from it.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“HELL WAS A SERIES of hallways.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“A lie. A dream. Good stories are both,” Claire dismissed. “Is it so bad? He’ll remember the story, turn it over carefully in the back of his mind, feel the edges of it like he would a lucky coin. A story will change him if he lets it. The shape and the spirit of it. Change how he acts, what dreams he chooses to believe in. We all need our stories; I just fed him a good one.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“We think stories are contained things, but they’re not. Ask the muses. Human, stories, tragedies, and wishes—everything leaves ripples in the world.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“And what part of that doesn’t scream ‘terrible trap’?” Claire ceded that point. “You’re awfully cautious for a hero sometimes.” “The living ones usually are.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Build good fences, make good friends, and keep your laundry indoors.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“Stories can die. Of course they can. Ask any author who's had an idea wither in their head, fail to thrive and bear fruit. Or a book that spoke to you as a child but upon revisiting it was silent and empty.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

“The spoken word was the first kind of library, after all.”
― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten