Quotes from Michelle Sagara West

But this road, this road that I have walked, you, too, must walk, Sarillorn or no." "What road, Lady?" "The road between Dark and Light. And you, of the Light, must take that path, knowing that light casts its shadows, and that they lie at times in places that no eyes can see.

War is a mass of contradictions and carefully acknowledged truths.

poetry distils event, and prose expands on it.

Why will you not just accept what is? You have done as you will in my domain. I have exacted no price for actions that would be the death of any other. Why? I am your enemy here!

Why will you not just accept what is? You have done as you will in my domain. I have exacted no price for actions that would be the death of any other. Why? I am your enemy here! It does little harm.

I'm missing something, aren't I?" "Brains", he snapped. "And survival instinct. The Hawklord's been waiting for you for three hours." "Tell him I'm dead.

Is this some sort of test?" "Everything that doesn't kill you is." "Mind you," he added, "surviving doesn't always mean you passed.

The gods where like the weather; sometimes good, sometimes bad, and either way, always beyond her.

Success and failure are two edges of the same blade, two sides of the same coin. To fear one is to forever deny the possibility of the other.

Truth, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.

Generally, I like to appear smart. I don't admit being stupid when there's any hope I'm not.

History is not our guide, it is not our friend. It is a passing stranger, one which shadows legend, sprinkling it with the seeds of truth.

The look he gave her made her turn away for a moment. Sometimes you couldn't look too closely at another person's pain.

You'll be with me, won't you?" "indeed." "Then what could go wrong?" Lord Sanabalis visibly grimaced. "You clearly do not believe in angry gods.

I don't make the laws, I just enforce them." "Then remind me to introduce a new set of laws, since the ones we have clearly assume a level of common sense that's lacking.

Sanabalis never seemed to eat, and he deflected most of her questions about Dragon cuisine. Then again, he deflected most of her questions about Dragons, period. Which was annoying because he was one, and could in theory be authorative.

i'm never going to understand the Barrani." "You needn't sound so morose, Lord Kaylin. They are unlikely to understand you either." "Yes, but I'm unlikely to try to kill them for fun.

Stop judging your life only by the failures," he whispered. "What should I do?" she whispered. "I'm always going to fail." "We all do," he said softly, his voice closer now. "We all fail. But none of us fail all the time.

Not all of our heartless plans work as we intend; nor do all of our good intentions. We are where we are, and we can rarely predict where we will go, no matter how firm our beliefs.

You are an... animal? A talking animal?" Without missing a beat, Teela said, "Of course not. She's much, much harder to train.

Kill me now." "Nonsense. Dead, you will provide no relief from the interminable boredom." Everyone needed a purpose in life. Kaylin, however, wished fervently for a better one at this moment.

Manners,[...] are severely underappreciated in my opinion". "Oh?" "Where practiced well, they remove the probability that someone in my position will be forced to go through the effort of killing someone in yours. Believe that on occasion that much death can become tedious.

What would this have been, if it had more power to give?" "This may come as a surprise to you," he replied dryly, "But I am not an Ancient. Nor am I, human philosophy aside, a living construct." "Which means you don't know." "Which means, as you so succinctly put it, I do not know." - Kaylin & Tiamaris

Can you hold off on the whole war thing until after I'm dead?