Quotes from Holly Black

The more powerful you become, the more others will find ways to master you. They'll do it through those you love and those you hate. They will find the bit and the bridle that fits your mouth and will make you yield.

She's my wife," Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. "The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile.

It's ridiculous the way everyone acts like killing a king is going to make someone better at being one," Vivi says. "Imagine if, in the mortal world, a lawyer passed the bar by killing another lawyer.

The only way to end grief was to go through it.

But if you didn't believe in monsters, then how were you going to be able to keep safe from them?

They wore their strange beauty like war paint.

You can break a thing, but you cannot always guide it afterward into the shape you want.

I can learn to live with guilt. I don't care about being good.

No," said Luis, "You can't date the Lord of the Night Court." "Well, I'm not, he dumped me." "You can't get dumped by the lord of the night court." "Oh, yes, you can. You so completely can.

But no one chooses a future. You choose a path without being certain where it leads.

Go ahead. Insult me." His eyebrows go up. "I don't take commands from mortals," he says with his customary cruel smile. "So you're going to say something nice? I don't think so. Faeries can't lie.

I would remain nearer you for what time there is." "Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted. Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.

Nicasia said that as mortal power grows, land and sea ought to be united. And that they would be, either in the way she hoped or the way I should fear." "Ominous," I say. "It seems I have a singular taste for women who threaten me.

That's family for you. Can't live with them, can't murder them.

This is the part in the movie where that guy says, "Zombies? What zombies?" just before they eat his brains. I don't want to be that guy.

Vivi blows a noisemaker. "Here," she says, passing out paper crowns for us to wear. "This is ridiculous," I complain, but put mine on. Cardan looks at his reflection in the door of the microwave and adjusts his crown so it's at an angle. I roll my eyes, and he gives me a quick grin.

They say that nameless things change constantly—that names fix them in place like pins.

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill monsters and feel quite proud of themselves.

You didn't hear the story I told," he goes on. "A shame. It featured a handsome boy with a heart of stone and a natural aptitude for villainy. Everything you could like.

I like for things to happen, for stories to unfold. And if I can't find a good enough story, I make one.

Pet the cat dude," says Sam. "She brought you a present. She wants you to tell her how badass she is." "You are a tiny tiny killing machine." Daneca coos. "What's she doing?" I ask. "Purring!" says Daneca. She sounds delighted. "Good kitty. Who's an amazing killing machine? That's right. You are! You are a brutal brutal tiny lion! Yes, you are.

Tana. In all my long life, though there were many times I prayed for it, no one has ever saved me. No one but you.

All power is cursed," I say. "The most terrible among us will do anything to get it, and those who'd wield power best don't want it thrust upon them. But that doesn't mean they can avoid their responsibilities forever.

Mortals are fragile," I say. "Not you," he says in a way that sounds a little like a lament. "You never break." Which is ridiculous, as hurt as I am. I feel like a constellation of wounds, held together with string and stubbornness. Still, I like hearing it. I like everything he's saying all too well. That boy is your weakness.