Quotes from Jim Butcher

Tavi nodded and stepped up onto the raised platform at the head of the conference room. Though the visiting dignitaries had departed, the room was still crowded, this time with the officers of both Legions of the Senatorial Guard and the First Aleran. Except for Max, Crassus, and one or two of the other Tribunes in the First Aleran, Tavi was by far the youngest man in the room

terrified. What it does to you to see the power of darkness

I'm aware of my limits. That isn't the same as liking them. (Karrin Murphy)

The place didn't look much like a family dwelling, really. It looked like a rich man's love nest, a secluded little getaway nestled back in the trees of the peninsula and safe from spying eyes. Or an ideal location for a novice sorcerer to come to try out his fledgling abilities, safe from interruptions. A good place for Victor Sells to set up shop and practice

My heart suddenly overflowed with excitement, my thoughts with hope, confidence, and eager anticipation, and if I had a personal soundtrack to my life it would have been playing Ode to Joy while a stadium of Harry fans did the wave.

Body or mind, heart or soul, we're all human, and we're supposed to feel pain. You cut yourself off from it at your own risk.

But hardly old. Went silver early, I'd say. That's always attractive in a man. It means he has both power enough to have responsibilities and conscience enough to worry over them.

Let me tell you something, Morty. When I come into a place and don't say a thing except, 'Let's talk,' and the first thing I hear is 'I didn't do it,' it makes me think that the person I'm talking to must have done something. You know what I'm saying?

The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom," he said, and turned for the door.

Don't be a moron, Harry," I said. "You came for the kid. He's safe. That's all you were obligated to do. Let it g—oh who am I kidding. There's a girl.

I roared at him. "Don't mess with a wizard when he's wizarding!

You'll never value information that comes to you easily.

Yes," Aquitaine said quietly. "The Legions will pay a terrible price so that the residents of Riva can flee. But if they do not, the city will fall into chaos, and the civilians will die." He shook his head. "This way, perhaps half of the legionares will survive the retreat. Even odds. If we are forced to defend the city to our last man, they will all die, Countess. For nothing. And they know it." He nodded. "They'll fight.

I'm not saying pain is what defines us as human beings. But it is, in many ways, what unites us. We all recognize other people in pain.

And then the vast flaming axe crashed down into the ceiling above us and shattered the world.

Bob," I said. "You can't just go around killing people." "I know. That's why you should do it." "No, no. I can't go around killing people, either." "Why not? You've done it before. And you've got a new gun and everything.

There's no way to know what's going to happen, Folly. But we'll blood well be on our feet when it does.

Mab glanced at me wearily. "You know what it is," she said, "to sell pieces of your soul so that someone who will never know your name will have another chance at life.

I closed the door behind me, while life went on.

Sometimes it scares me how easy it is to get people to do what you want them to do, if you know something about them.

The desk sergeant wasn't the usual mustached old warhorse who I had run into before, but a greying matron with steely eyes who disapproved of me and my lifestyle in a single glance

Then I drew in a breath, and my renewed will with it, lifted the rod in my right hand, murmured a phrase in a language I didn't know, and blew the tires off his fucking truck.

I've got it buttoned down," I said, and started driving. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let it make me . . . take anything away from you." Molly folded her hands in her lap, looked down at them, and said in a small voice, "If it's given, freely offered, you can't really take it away. All you're doing is accepting a gift.

That was black magic, and it was easy to use. Easy and fun. Like Legos.