Quotes from Sarah Dunant

a voice yelled after me but it was wayward and might have been a cry out of someone's nightmare.

Man is not born to be happy.

Venice the peaceful demands Venice the just.

it is not what you do or don't do, but how convincingly you can be accused of it.

Interesting, I thought, how quickly history becomes stories rather than reality; one step already from the truth.

fire consumes more than it warms. In the end there will be only ashes

They say the bottles lined up along her shelves contain aphrodisiacs, poisons and perfumes, but that only she knows which ones are safe and which lethal, for they carry no labels, and that when she starts to prepare death for someone, the man or woman for whom it is intended feels a terrible shiver run through them, as if they have already been touched by the clammy cold of the grave. Or so they say. They say a great many things about Caterina Sforza. But though there is

nevertheless there is a kind of comfort to be gained from the passing of time; hour upon hour, day upon day, time falling like thick flakes of snow, the next laid upon the last, again and again, until what has been is gradually covered over, its original shape and colour hidden under the blanket of what is now.

Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" And she had tried, truly and honestly, tried so hard that sometimes, despite the nun's kindness and patience, she thought she might go mad with the effort.

Leave the wonder of a bird wing or the simplicity of the blade of grass to the saints and the hermits. Most men need to be overwhelmed in order to appreciate the divine.

When there is fear about the future, it is comforting to take it out on outsiders who can be blamed for the past.

A young woman seeks sanctuary with us. It is not for us to deny her that right. Tell His Holiness that we will protect her with our lives and care for her until she is ready to leave." Not even Alexander VI can storm a convent and get away with it. The

How do ugly men make their way through life? He thinks of Michelotto. When he walks down the street men take half a step back from him. But he, Cesare, wields a different power. His face has always been his first weapon. Look at me, it says. I am what you see: easy on the eye, strong to the taste, a man with substance, someone to admire, for how can beauty this natural lie?

To appreciate quiet one must accept less excitement.

there is a kind of comfort to be gained from the passing of time, hour upon hour, day upon day, time falling like thick flakes of snow, the next laid upon the last, again and again, until what has been is gradually covered over, its original shape and colour hidden under a blanket of what is now.

There have been none like us before. And there will be none afterwards. Be careful what you write.

The Devil may take the reckless, but the good will surely die of boredom. Boredom and frustration.

Missing rubs the soul raw.

Someone told me much later that you always know the people who are going to make a difference in your life, from the very first time you set eyes on them, even if you do not like them at all. And I had noticed him, as he had me. God help us.

If grace belongs to God, there are those who say that luck belongs to the Devil and that he looks after his own.

But anyone who has been that young knows that the great grief of love is that your body feels the most when it knows the least.

Family. The greatest loyalty after God in the world.

Any man in love with Cesare is already half in love with his sister. Now, when [Pedro Calderon] shuts his eyes, he cannot see anything else.

One enemy at the time.