The Red Palace Quotes

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most. I would be nothing at all, if I could not be first.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Some dreams, I'd learned, were meant to fade away. And to let go of them didn't mean to let go of myself, but to release the life I'd imagined I wanted. The loss had grieved me at first, but in its fading away-slowly, very slowly-a new dream had bloomed.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“When we’re together … it’s as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine. And when we are silent”—a faint smile tugged at his lips—“I forget you are even there sometimes.”

“I’m flattered, nauri,” I said drily.

“It is the greatest compliment. I dislike being around people for too long. But when I am with you … I never feel the need to be someone I am not.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“He moved my hand into his, and as our fingers intertwined, it occurred to me that love wasn’t all that I’d feared it to be. I had imagined that it was a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path. Instead, it felt as ordinary and extraordinary as waking up to a new day.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Everyone must choose the paths they will walk on. And when you choose, remember to count the cost.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“When the time comes

You watch out for me. And I will always watch out for you.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“We are women,” she continued, “and nothing short of death stops us from doing precisely what we wish to do. That is what the laws and restrictions binding our lives breed: determination and cunning. The likes of you will not obey me. You will tell me that you intend to be as still as a rock, and yet I know you will dart from shadow to shadow like a fish.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Revenge begets revenge; the anger is unquenchable. We become the monsters we are trying to punish. Justice, however, brings closure, and that is what I want. It can only be achieved by remaining sober-minded and rational. And, in the end, it is not my place to punish the prince. It is the king’s, and only the king’s. All I can do is find enough evidence to make the truth undeniable.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Everyone must choose the paths they will walk. And when you choose, remember to count the cost. Do not live with regrets.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“There is a saying among us who work there: Palace secrets must never get out, or else inevitably there will be blood.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“When we're together... it's as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“There is only you.” His words caressed me, winding themselves around my soul. “There will only ever be you. I promise, Hyeon-ah.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I realized that everything we hold dear can be taken from us, except for one thing: the lessons learned. The things Father has taught me.” A pause. “Before he died, he told me to seek justice—not revenge.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“The more urgent a circumstance,” I said quietly, repeating Nurse Jeongsu’s words, “the calmer we must be.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“He stared, a line forming between his brows. Then with a shake of his head, he murmured, “You must have been a general in your past life. A most irritatingly stubborn one.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I say with utmost respect,” Eojin said slowly, and I cast him a nervous glance. “But sometimes too much mercy is as detrimental as too little.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Revenge begets revenge; the anger is unquenchable. We become the monsters we are trying to punish. Justice, however, brings closure, and that is what I want. It can only be achieved by remaining sober-minded and rational.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I was suddenly filled with the urge to burst into laughter. Laughter over the terrifyingly ridiculous situation I’d found myself, and from the sheer sense of wonder that the darkest time had brought a friend into my life.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“The first time I met you, I don't think I quite knew," he said softly, looking back at me, "what a surprise you would become to me.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“To be a boy opened doors that would never open for me, shielded him in a way where my own status as a woman had stripped me naked.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I wanted to love and be loved. I wanted to be known. I wanted to be understood and accepted.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“If you don’t want your life ruined, I had better not see you lurking around a crime scene again.”
A frown drifted across my brows. I wasn’t sure what he meant.
“Of course,” I whispered back. “I highly doubt our paths will ever cross again.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“it occurred to me that love wasn’t all that I’d feared it to be. I had imagined that it was a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path. Instead, it felt as ordinary and extraordinary as waking up to a new day.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“If you enter the palace, you either die or you survive and become another monster within its walls…”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Revenge begets revenge; the anger is unquenchable. We become the monsters we are trying to punish.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“The more urgent a circumstance," I said quietly, repeating Nurse Jeongsu's words, "the calmer we must be”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I wanted to love and be loved. I wanted to be
known.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most.

I would be nothing at all, if I could not be first.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“Lies are the only defenses the lowly have against the powerful.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace