Song of Silver, Flame Like Night Quotes

“Grief is for the survivors, and I think that, rather than living my life in pain, I would live it in laughter and love. To the fullest.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“In a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“What use are tears? Ying had murmured to her once, back when they had just crossed their twelfth cycle of life and the wounds of Lan’s losses still cut deep every night. The dead will neither feel them nor be called by them. Grief is for the survivors, and I think that, rather than living my life in pain, I would
live it in laughter and love. To the fullest.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Power is always borrowed, never created.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“A sword's purpose may be determined by its wielder, but take the weapon away entirely, and neither the merciful nor the cruel may draw blood with it.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“It is the duty of those with power to protect those without.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Choices are for those with privilege.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“But you must remember that, should you choose to live, you do not live only for yourself.” He made a gesture as though to touch his heart. “You live for those you have lost. You carry their legacies inside you. You see, the Elantians destroyed everything that made the roots of our kingdom: our culture, our education, our families and principles. They wish to take us out on our knees, to subdue us so that we will never lift our heads again.
“But what they do not know is that, so long as we live on, we carry inside us all that they have destroyed. And that is our triumph; that is our rebellion.” Rain clung to his lashes as neither of them broke their gaze. “Do not let them win today.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“I wish for you to not go anywhere without me. In this world and the next. I wish for you to choose me.” A pause, and softer: “That is, if you would wish it.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“But in rare moments like this, when the sun hung ripe and swollen as a mandarin over the glittering sea, there was still a shattered-glass beauty to be found in the remnants of a conquered land.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“But you must remember that, should you choose to live, you do not live only for yourself. You live for those you have lost. You carry their legacies inside you.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Yin and yang, good and evil, great and terrible, kings and tyrants and heroes and villains. The tropes in the classics of old are but a matter of perspective. Really, they are two sides of the same coin. He who lives to tell the tale decides which side to pick.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“And the Old Matchmaker of the Moon said to the lovers, 'This red thread I bestow upon you. It may stretch and it may tangle, but it will never break. Across cycles and worlds and lifetimes, your souls are now destined.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Live not for those whose souls rest in eternal slumber in the next world…but for those still struggling to find that peace in this one.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“He who rushes into battle unprepared is already accepting a loss.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“No matter how luxurious a life the caged bird leads, it remains at the mercy of its master.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“There is no peace without violence, no harmony without sacrifice, no unity without the loss of individuality.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Life results in death, and death gives way to life; day turns to night, and night will always yield to day. Sun and moon, summer and winter—both are eternally present in this world.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“They remained like that, lying side by side, gazing at each other and marveling at the small miracle of two lives having crossed, two souls having found each other in this vast world.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“What use are tears? Ying had murmured to her once, back when they had
just crossed their twelfth cycle of life and the wounds of Lan’s losses still cut
deep every night. The dead will neither feel them nor be called by them. Grief
is for the survivors, and I think that, rather than living my life in pain, I would
live it in laughter and love. To the fullest.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“But what they do not know is that, so long as we live on, we carry inside us all they have destroyed. And that is our triumph; that is our rebellion.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“she could see the conflict on his face, emotions warring with the guard he always put up. Then, without warning, all the layers of defensiveness and distance in his eyes thawed. In that moment, he spoke the words that utterly surrendered himself. “I wish for you to not go anywhere without me. In this world and the next. I wish for you to choose me.” A pause, and softer: “That is, if you would wish it.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“How did you destroy a people? You began by cutting off their roots.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Unfortunately, too many before us have been seduced by the aspect of power and lost their way.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“A battle is not won without knowing oneself and one’s opponent.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“The desperate have no choice as to the type of power they use.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“I wish for you to not go anywhere without me. In this world and the next. I wish for you to choose me.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“The cleverest man underestimates his own abilities and overestimates his opponent's.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“The more power we wield, the more restraint we must have.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“The dead will neither feel them nor be called by them. Grief is for the survivors, and I think that, rather than living my life in pain, I would live it in laughter and love. To the fullest.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night