N. K. Jemisin

Quotes

1. The child in her wanted to do as she pleased, cling to impossible hopes. The woman in her wanted to make sound decisions, succeed even if it meant sacrifice. The woman would win; that was inevitable. But the child would not go quietly.

   p. 173

2. 

   Well. Adolescence is all about making mistakes.

   p. 200

3. 

   “We will continue to serve you, Lady, whether you’re here or not. What prayers shall we say for you at the dawn and twilight hour?”

   She threw me an odd look, as if checking to see if I was joking. I wasn’t This seemed to surprise and unnerve her; she laughed, though it sounded a bit forced.

   “Say whatever you want,” she said finally. “Someone might be listening, but it won’t be me. I have better things to do.”

   She vanished.

   p. 571

4. 

   I knew what it was at last—the visible manifestation of my will. My power, inherited from my god ancestors and distilled through generations of humanity, given shape and energy and potential. That was all magic was, really, in the end. Possibility. With it I could create anything, provided I believed.

   p. 349

5. 

   It was the oldest of tricks, to sow dissension between groups that had common interests. Good for deflecting attention from greater mischief, too.

   p. 301

6. 

   They live forever, but many of them are even more lonely and miserable than we are. Why do you think they bother with us? We teach them life’s value.

   p. 309

7. 

   Funny thing, employment. If you keep doing it, you keep getting paid.

   p. 308

8. 

   Good intentions are pointless without the will to implement them.

   p. 281

9. 

   I had never been able to truly hate anyone who’d suffered, no matter what evils they’d done in the aftermath.

   p. 378

10. 

    But though I repeated my plea, and waited on my knees for nearly an hour, there was no answer.

    p. 181

11. 

    Love betrayed has an entirely different sound from hatred outright.

    p. 58

12. 

    “Well, isn’t that what fathers do?” He had no idea what fathers did. “Love you, even if you don’t love them? Miss you when you go away?”

    p. 19