The Hollow Heart Quotes

“Nirrim could have wondered about the truth of what she had lost for every moment of her little life, but she could not have named it, for it was compassion, and it remains the fate of all humans who lack compassion never to understand that they lack it.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“She smoothed flyaway hair off my brow. Yes, he imprisoned me, but I imprisoned him first. Do not worry, tadpole. He is mine, and I am his. Always.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“Never apologize for who you are or what you needed to do to be yourself.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“I am a practical person. You, on the other hand, are just like Kestrel and Arin. So much drama. Perhaps whatever has gone wrong between you and this girl could be solved with more honesty, and less wounded torment."
"Impossible.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“Sid the sly, they call me. As bad as a boy. Only now do I realize that I might not be this way if it hadn't always been clear that there would be no story for me, no tale wrapped like a present that gets to be opened again and again to reveal the kind of love my parents have, the kind that everyone sighs over, because it is forever. The kind that makes a family. Who would I be, how would I have acted, what might I have said to Nirrim, if I had ever believed that kind of story could be mine?”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“I breathe out slowly, my hands still pressed against my eyes and cheeks. "I am not like you."
"You must admit that you are, in a number of important ways."
"I have been with many women."
"You are a legend," he agrees.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“My serious little moonbeam, I called Nirrim when I saw her in a silver dress, but it wasn't just the dress that made me say it. It was her way of being: her gentleness, her touch as soft as moonlight. But also her intelligence, her unexpected strength. She lit up the night.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart

“what might I have said to Nirrim, if I had ever believed that kind of story could be mine?”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Hollow Heart