Quotes from Libba Bray

Beggin' your pardon, miss, but I was told you be the one to help me cross on to the next world. Who told you this? His eyes widen. A fearsome creature with a head full of snakes! You musn't fear her, I say, taking the man's hand and leading his toward the river. She's as tame as a pussycat. She'd probably lick your hand given the chance. Didn't seem harmless, he whispers, shuddering. Yes, well, things are not always as they appear, sir, and we must learn to judge for ourselves.

I knew it. You're an alien," said her former best friend, the pale, bespectacled creature with the spectacular cleavage. "Yes, I'm an alien and I still made cheerleader. And now I'm going to steal your boyfriend to prove girls can't really be friends." "I sat back timidly when you torched my house, killed my parents, and ate my dog. But now you're stealing my boyfriend? That's a step too far!

All the small, simple, conscious acts of living a sudden defense against the dying we do every day.

It is how it has always been. We will accept the legacy of our ancestors,' Asha says, smiling, and in her smile I do not see warmth or wisdom; I see fear. You're afraid of losing your hold on them,' I say coolly. I? I have no power.' Don't you? If you keep them from the magic, they will never know what their lives could be.' They will remain protected,' Asha insists. No,' I say. 'Only untested' -page 569

I will never, ever drink whiskey again. From now on, it's strictly sherry.

I told myself it was the snow—she couldn't possibly get to Philadelphia on the roads. I told myself a hundred lies. Children do that. It's amazing the sorts of things you'll make yourself believe.

People you loved could be gone in a breath. So why didn't knowing that make it any easier to be vulnerable? To tell people that you loved them, that you were hurting, that you were afraid, or that, sometimes, at five in the morning, you were so alone in your own skin that you watched the weak light play across the ceiling, willing it toward dawn?

Retribution is a dog chasing its tail.

Evie was still crying and so didn't know what Sam whispered to Theta over the top of her head. She only knew that now there were two sets of arms around her, holding her close, holding her up. She only knew that she had family after all.

The rules of magic, my dear, are best not discussed. For once we understand the illusion, we no longer believe in it.

Everyone seems to want more form me. I am a thoroughly disappointing girl around. I shall wear a scarlet 'D' upon my bosom for all to see so that they will know not to raise their expectations.

Could you look again, please?" the woman asked in a clipped, slightly British accent. "It was sent parcel post two weeks ago from Miss Felicity Worthington and addressed to Mrs. Rao, Mrs. Gemma Doyle Rao.

Did they find something wanting in you, Gemma, at the party? You didn't speak too freely or behave…strangely?" I grew claws and bayed at the moon. I confessed that I eat the hearts of small children. I told them I like the French.

There's a moment of profound sadness that can be dispelled only by summoning my anger.

Scoring well on tests is the sort of happy thing that gets the school district the greenbacks they crave. Understanding and appreciating the material are secondary.

I've been poked and prodded in places I'd always prided myself on keeping untouched for that one special doctor who gives me a ring and a promise someday.

There's an -or- in -whore- because you always have a choice to respect your body and say no.

Dead bodies are such trouble," Evie said with a little sigh, and Mabel had to turn her head away so as not to laugh.

I'm floating inside my skin. I could go on floating like this for days. Right now, the real world with its heartbreak and disappointments is just a pulse against the protective membrane we've drunk ourselves into. It's somewhere outside us, waiting. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Page 141, by

Just once I'd like to meet a fella who isn't a phony. Somebody who doesn't wanna buy me a fur so he can show me off to his boys.

When you peeled back the skin, you were dealing with bone and muscle, blood and nerve endings. It was all the same. She liked the beautiful logic of the circulatory system, the elegance of the neurological, and the fierce warrior spirit of the heart. The body had rules and it had quirks.

I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.-A Great and Terrible Beauty

I'll be counting the cats when I come over. There better be the same number each time.

Yes, go on. Leave. You're always coming and going. The rest of us are stuck here. Do you think he'd still love you if he knew who you are? He doesn't really care—only when it suits him.