Quotes from Diana Gabaldon

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! -Claire

I'll leave it to you, Sassenach, he said dryly, to imagine what it feels like to arrive unexpectedly in the midst of a brothel, in possession of a verra large sausage.

My own eyes went to Jamie, who had come to join Fergus and Ian by the sideboard. Still here, thank God. Tall and graceful, the soft light making shadows in the folds of his shirt as he moved, a fugitive gleam from the long straight bridge of his nose, the auburn wave of his hair. Still mine. Thank God.

Are some people destined for a great fate, or to do great things? Or is it only that they're born somehow with that great passion -- and if they find themselves in the right circumstances, then things happen? It's the sort of thing you wonder...

What possessed ye, woman, to hit me in the heid wi' a fish whilst I was fighting for my life?

Do ye dare to draw arms against the justice of God? snapped the tubby little judge. Jamie drew the sword completely, with a flash of steel, then thrust it point-first into the ground, leaving the hilt quivering with the force of the blow. I draw it in defense of this women, and the truth, he said If any here be against those two they'll answer to me, and then God, in that order.

Why d'ye talk to yourself?' 'It assures me of a good listener.

There comes a turning point in intense physical struggle where one abandons oneself to a profligate usage of strength and bodily resources, ignoring the cost until the struggle is over. Women find this point in childbirth; Men in Battle. Past a certain point, you lose all fear of pain or injury. Life becomes very simple at that point; you will do what you are trying to do, or die in the attempt...

Between hell now, and hell later, Sassenach, he said, his speech measured and precise, I will take later, every time.

And when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours, Claire--- I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you. --Jamie

Well I am still not drunk I straightened up against the pillows as best I could. You told me once that if you could still stand up, you weren't drunk. You aren't standing up. he point out. You are.

He kissed my forehead gently. Loving you has put me through hell more than once, Sassenach; I'll risk it again, if need be. Bah, I said. And you think loving you has been a bed of roses, do you? This time he laughed out loud. No, he said, but you'll maybe keep doing it? Maybe I will, at that. You're a verra stubborn woman, he said, the smile clear in his voice.

If I die before I say 'I love you' it's because I didn't have the time.

Our lovemaking was always risk and promise-for if he held my life in his hands when he lay with me, I held his soul, and knew it.

It was in a way a comforting idea; if there was all the time in the world, then the happenings of a given moment became less important.

Then the room relaxed in cheers and babbling, and she turned in his arms to kiss him hard and cling to him, and he thought perhaps it didn't matter that they faced in opposite directions - so long as they faced each other.' Roger Wakefield {Drums Of Autumn}

There was a feeling, not sudden, but complete, as though I had been given a small object to hold unseen in my hands. Precious as opal, smooth as jade, weighty as a river stone, more fragile than a bird's egg. Infinitely still, live as the root of Creation. Not a gift, but a trust. Fiercely to cherish, softly to guard. The words spoke themselves and disappeared into the groined shadows of the roof.

He splayed a hand out over the photographs, trembling fingers not quite touching the shiny surface, and then he turned and leaned toward me, slowly, with the improbable grace of a tall tree falling. He buried his face in my shoulder and went very quietly and thoroughly to pieces.

For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest. His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me. Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.

Damn you, Sassenach! his voice said, from a very great distance. His voice was choked with passion. Dam you! I swear if ye die on me, I'll kill you!

Then let amorous kisses dwell On our lips, begin and tell A Thousand and a Hundred score A Hundred, and a Thousand more.

And Finally I put down the last and the best advice I knew, on growing older. 'Stand up straight and try not to get fat.

Oh, Lord! This must be what it's like to make love in Hell, he whispered. With a burning she-devil.

He was dead. However, his nose throbbed painfully, which he thought odd in the circumstances.