The Death of Jane Lawrence Quotes

“A magician gets what she asks for, whether she meant to ask for it or not.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“It was not so hard, to pretend for a fixed duration; it was only eternity that she could not bear”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“What could he have been, if he’d hadn’t confused self-loathing with humility?”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“The paradox of medicine: pain and relief, life and death.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“Slowly, Jane peeled herself from the sitting room, leaving behind the stale scent of old cologne, of spilled brandy, of what might have been a pleasant night except in the particulars.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“But the logic is circular. Because the ghosts exist, you’ve proven Augustine can work magic. Because he can work magic, he is the reason for the ghosts. What if it’s something else?”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“If the practitioner knows that magic is possible, then the practitioner can change the rules by which the world functions. But that knowing extends beyond belief, extends beyond mere acceptance. Magic must be a part of the practitioner’s every waking moment. It is an altered state of being.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“It terrifies me. But you don’t, and I can’t leave the thought of you alone.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“Then a magician—one with proven ability to do things beyond what their fellow humans can—is somebody who has a particularly focused kind of madness. Does that sit better with you? Their belief in an impossible thing is so strong that if they turn their will on a question, they can change the answer for other people without ever telling those other people what they did. It changes how those around them perceive the world, even if the underlying fabric of the world remains the same.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“Open up to the positive emotions. Focus on them,” he said. “This is the best part. It’s like having a sun inside you. Let it light you up.” “What did you call it? Feeling alive?” He stood. “Alive, yes. It thrives off itself. You’re alive, and they’re alive, and so you feel them being alive as if it were yourself, and it doubles. It’s intoxicating.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“The premise of the working of magic,” Dr. Nizamiev said, “is first and foremost that the practitioner believes—that she knows—that it is possible.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“I can think of little else,” he said, finally taking the ring from her and gently, so gently, slipping it onto her finger. “After a just a few days, I find I’ve completely lost my mind over you.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“I’ll remain,”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“Life was worth more than a sum on a page, and yet it was only worth a sum on a page.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“The lights guttered out.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“But for just a moment, her reflection looked short, hunched perhaps, and Jane frowned, stepping closer. Her reflection had red eyes.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“What little religion did remain in the civil ceremony mirrored what remained among the citizenry: a half-grudging, half-panicked belief in spirits and the movements of the heavens, and a deep, abiding fear of chaos and conflict.”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“A proof. Rituals are like mathematical proofs,”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

“but how many times, in the past, had she woken up disoriented and anxious, with her thoughts tumbling with numbers, sums that made no sense and ledgers that rearranged themselves?”
― Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence