Quotes from Darren Shan

Failure is always a bitter pill to swallow, Mr. Crepsley said.

It helps to know where you are going before you set out.

The easy way is not always the right way.

Our eyes were on the Other-world, the stars, the gods. We didn't keep watch on the world around us. And when we eventually lowered our heads and studied the waters closer to home, it was too late.

Her fear was infectious, and though I was too young to truly know terror, I felt it in my heart and trembled.

A true dreamer must be prepared to make any sacrifice for his dream. Even if it means sacrificing himself. The dream must be everything. (The Cardinal to Capac Raimi)

You don't recognise the good times in life until it all goes bad and you look back and see how lucky you were, how easy you had things.

As Jebel tried in vain to fall asleep, he became aware of a small clicking noise. He turned and looked at the woman. Her robe was raised above her knees and she was scratching at a wound on her thigh. She had worked her way through to the bone and was picking at it with her nails.

War , Beranabus murmurs, face crinkling. Most humans know nothing of true warfare. They wage their silly territorial battles, kill each other ruthlessly and freely, and consider themselves experts on war and suffering. But the real war has always been ahead of them, unseen, unimagined. Enemies who can't be killed by normal weapons, who have their base in an alternate universe, who are interested only in slaughtering every living being on the face of the planet.

You have to ignore risks, put your brain on hold and follow your instincts, even when your head insists you do otherwise. Sometimes you got burned. I've signed many times. Roasted once or twice. You have to live with the fire. Because if you start thinking too much or playing safe, you're lost to its wondrous charms forever. You become part of the real world again, the mundane, the ordinary, from where there's no escape. (The Cardinal to Capac Raimi)

Shaking my head, unable to think clearly, I mouthed the same word over and over: "Fire! Fire! Fire!" I was still mouthing it when they lifted me onto a stretcher and carted me from the Hall.

Nightmares. The world on fire. Running. Burning. Screaming. Calling for help. Everybody else on fire too. Jolt awake. Vampires around me. Nightmare still playing at the back of my mind. Convinced the cell's on fire. I try to break free. They hold me down. I curse them. Struggle. Pain gushes through me. Wince. Relax. Return to fire-plagued dreams.

You know your problem?" I snap at Shark. "You use too many metaphors. Ants, fish, and rabbits, all in the same breath. That's an abuse of the language." Shark smiles. "I never

My advice, he added in a whisper, would be to make your peace with the gods, for I fear you will face them shortly.

Bill-E his knife. He grimaces and tries to wipe the muck off on his

Harkat delayed for another frustrating moment, then nodded gruffly. OK. But if they kill us on...our way out, I'll never speak...to you again.

What sort of a world is it where evil is born of an act of goodness? -Vancha March

Why do you want to be a vampire?" he asked. "It is not much fun. We can only come out at night. Humans despise us. We have to sleep in dirty old places like this. We can never marry or have children or settle down. It is a horrible life.

We all have to do things we don't like in life.

It had been a dangerous gamble — and unfair to the Hemlocks, who knew nothing of their role in the deadly game — but sometimes you have to take chances. Was it wise to risk five lives for the sake of one? Probably not. But it was human . If I'd learned one thing from my one encounter with the crazy vampaneze, it was that even the undead could be human. We had to be — without a touch of humanity, we'd be like Murlough, nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters of the night.

Herbs can't fix broken bones, Sam said. He was now standing beside Evra. They sure can't, The stranger agreed, but they can elevate you to planes of consciousness where worldly concerns like broken bones are nothing but minor blips on the cosmic map. He paused and stroked his beard. Of course, they burn out your brain cells, too...

and when I finish with your toes and fingers, I'll move on to your nose and ears! Steve yelled. But first I'll cut your eyelids off, so you can see everything that I'm gonna do. After that I'll— Steve, I wheezed, stopping him midflow. Want to know the secret of winning a fight like this? Less talking — more stabbing.

I do not agree with Kurda's views on the righting ways of vampires — he is a pacifist, which runs contrary to our nature — but he is correct when he says that sometimes it is better not to fight. When a situation is hopeless, and there is nothing at stake, only a fool battles on.

If the souls of the dead could speak, they'd scream for release. Not just release from the Lake, but from their memories. Memories gnaw away at me relentlessly. I remember so much of my past, all the times where I failed or could have done better. With nothing else to do, I'm forced to review my life, over and over. Even my most minor errors become supreme lapses of judgement.