c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
I don’t need immortality. The fear of death keeps a girl sharp. It helps us remember that what we do here, now, matters. What good is immortality, if you’re just a dirty little despot in some shitty corner of the world?
— C.M.  Hayden, The Stars That Form Us
I was drowning, but all I needed to do was breathe.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
When you say fair, Samantha,” said Mr Green through a peculiar smile, “do you mean one of those travelling fleets of vehicles that arrive and set up things like spinning Waltzers and Big Wheels and all manner of machines that whizz people around in circles and up and down and from side to side? Machines that could...” Mr Green turned away and his unnatural smile became even more unsettling... “easily go wrong!
— Mark Gorton, The Utterly Amazing BUMBLING-BOY VS. THE GREEN BOGEY: To bee or not to bee, that is the question
What is across there? Lykos said.Death, whatever that is. Said Calidus.
— John Gwynne
The Imagination of the Mind is the Treasury that although liable to theft, never ceases to grow.
— TheSleepingSorcerer
Here the clouds constantly adjusted like obedient phantoms, so that shadows never lengthened or shortened. At any point in space, Limbo never became any darker or lighter than the moment before.
— L.E. Henderson, Thief of Hades
In this he saw that Ogion had been right: the shadow could not draw on his power, so long as he was turned against it.
— Ursula K. Le Guin
You don't need magic to be invisible in a town like this. Being poor works just the same.
— C.M.  Hayden, The Reach Between Worlds
I don’t need immortality. The fear of death keeps a girl sharp. It helps us remember that what we do here, now, matters. What good is immortality if you’re just a dirty little despot in some shitty corner of the world?
— C.M.  Hayden, The Stars That Form Us
True courage is knowing not when to take a life, but to save one.
— J.R.R. Tolkien
The horrifying sound of breaking glass, and a thunderous tirade of splintering pieces hitting the floor, stunned them all. Tobin spun around in shock. The massive Travelling Mirror, through which Tobin and Murphy had so recently arrived, shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, cascading down the wall, and onto the floor in an enormous pile of jagged edges. The hall was still as everyone stared at the shattered mirror in shocked silence. “Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear,” whispered Elbert.
— R.S. Mollison-Read, Magician's Mayhem
Shaking his head, Tobin turned back to his picnic spread, and there, sitting on the end of the checkered cloth, and helping himself to one of Tobin’s cupcakes, was a tiny brown squirrel.Tobin blinked in surprise.The squirrel was exceptionally bold. He made absolutely no move to leave, despite Tobin’s frown, and merely stuffed more pink icing into his mouth with one tiny paw. His ears were tufted into small points, and he tilted his head to the side as he surveyed Tobin with bright, inquisitive eyes.Tobin had to laugh. “Well, I suppose I don’t mind sharing with you, little guy, even if you did eat one of my cupcakes,” Tobin chuckled to himself.“I should hope so. Frankly, I’m surprised that you thought you could even eat five cupcakes all by yourself,” the squirrel replied airily.
— R.S. Mollison-Read, Magician's Mastery
Maven Gustav, what is that awful noise?” Tobin bellowed, holding his hands over his ears.“Why, it’s my very own creation!” Gustav replied, beaming with pride. “I made this spell to be activated in the event of a castle emergency. In all my tests, it never failed to wake everyone,” he noted, proudly.“Yes, Gustav. It’s fantastically loud. Well done. But what is the emergency, and how do we turn the alarm off?
— R.S. Mollison-Read, Magician's Mastery
The blue foam spread quickly, and had almost entirely enveloped the room, moving rapidly towards the last clear door, when suddenly the door burst open, and Simon, looking flushed, and panting heavily, stepped into the room.“Nooooooo!” shrieked Maven Ellie; a shocking sound out of the usually calm and cheerful magician. But it was too late.The foam, already covering most of the room, seemed to stiffen for a moment, before a molten red glow began to take over. The foam hissed, as though in anger, and at an alarmingly fast rate, it raced towards Simon, who had frozen obligingly, the moment Maven Ellie had screamed.A look of terror crept over his face at the sight of the crimson foam racing towards him. Desperately, he tried to move away, but the foam had already reached his feet, and he was stuck fast. Maven Thom, in a rather stunning display of athleticism for a man of his age, made a running leap for the small space that remained between Simon and the door, just barely clearing the approaching foam. The foam continued to climb up Simon’s legs and chest, covering his neck and face in seconds, until he was completely encased in the hardened foam.
— R.S. Mollison-Read, Magician's Mirrors
There was a moment of hesitation, and then her mouth opened against his, and her tongue slid into his mouth, and he was, under the strange stars, utterly, irrevocably lost.
— Neil Gaiman, Stardust
People lose a lot of time being afraid... People lose a lot of time in hating others, and there's no fun in it at all.
— L. Frank Baum, The Sea Fairies
It was 5:45pm when I decided my future. By 9:43 I was well on my way to making it all come true. At 11:16 I took the first step to make it a reality. At 11:17 I fell and found peace.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
The day I let all that fear and worry consume me was the day it all changed. I slipped off that bridge and fell into the void I’d always dreamt about. The thing was, that was also that day I started to live.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone.
— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I looked around I realized I was standing on the edge of the muddy bank with tall trees in the distance. I could see the sun rising over the water just as the sky glistened a beautiful rose gold with ombre shades of purple and blue––just like in my dream. But this wasn’t my dream or was it? I can openly admit I have been mentally lost for months, but now as I sit here with an irate otter yelling at me, the idea of lost took on a whole new meaning.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
I’m not broken. Not really,” I sighed. “My name is Novaleigh. Novaleigh Darrow.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
Trust and faith have left you.” “He will help guide you back to them.” “Blessings to you on your journey.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
Oliver reached up for my hand and led me back into the living room area. “Can we try something?” I rolled my eyes. “Do I really have a choice?”“You always have a choice, Novi,” Oliver said.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
I fell into the water with a large splash and sunk like a stone. My feet guided the way as I drifted further into the murky depths. Down. Down. Down.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
I will do anything to saveLaurana, he swore beneath his breath, clenching his fist. Anything! If it means sacrificing myself or—He stopped. Would he really give up Berem? Would he really trade the Everman to the Dark Queen,perhaps plunge the world into a darkness so vast it would never see light again?No, Tanis told himself firmly. Laurana would die before she would be part of such a bargain.
— Margaret Weis, Dragons of Spring Dawning
If the future was bared before you, would it still be yours? If the past could chase you, would you run from it? If the world crumbled tonight, would you carve your own?
— Nicholas Rinth, The Drowned Tower
Galloway pursed his lips and then gave a sly smirk. “I’ll admit I didn’t foresee this. You have become a prominent foe. I apologize for ridiculing you.”“I accept your apology.”“Good. Now it’s time to die.” “Are you ready old man?”Galloway sputtered out a laugh. “Oh yes.”“Then let’s end this.
— T.C. Harrison, Orniainthi
Now wasn’t the time for freaking out, I needed to know what the hell I’m dealing with. I took another breath and turned. Facing me was my former friend, their loyal sidekick, and the unwilling participant. “I’m insulted.” Devin’s eyebrow arched. “Excuse me?” “You heard me. Since I’ve been on this expedition, you’ve treated me as less than. You’ve insulted my intelligence, and not just mine but Mr. Chowdhry’s as well.”Devin rose from their chair and approached the tube. “I apologize Vee, I didn’t mean-”“I’m talking Dr. Strucker.” Devin returned to their seat. “If I’m one of the best scientists as you’ve claimed, then why haven’t you treat me that way? I want answers, real hardcore answers. Enough with the bullshit.”Marahi burst into applause as Nurse Hughes stared in disapproval. “What?” He inquired. Devin shook their head. “I said what I said Devin. I’ve been threatened, transformed into what I'm not sure, and you’ve kept me in the dark this whole time. It ends now.”Devin stood again and replied, “You’re right Dr. Foy. I haven’t given you the respect you deserve. For that I’m sorry.” They then turned to Marahi. “I also apologize to you Mr. Chowdhry.”Marahi grunted in acknowledgment. “I accept your apology. Now get to the facts.
— T.C. Harrison, Orniainthi
What's the point of being old if you can't beleaguer the young with your vast stores of wisdom?And what's the point of being young if you can't ignore all advice?
— Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer
Let my sight end. Let the dark tides of Nyx ebb away beneath the white sands of null. Let our pale mother spread once more!
— H.S. Crow, Lunora and the Monster King
She's your mate, Amren bit at me, not your spy go get her. She is my mate and my spy, I said too quietly. And she is the high lady of the night court. Not a consort,not wife. Feyre is high lady of the night court, my equal in every way.
— Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury
Men who are certain of everything - well perhaps they are not men at all.
— Mark Lawrence, Emperor of Thorns
If I rolled the dice carved out of my weathered boneAnd offered of my blood the libation to the faneWhen even the reaper’s mockery forsakes me aloneMy own clangorous thoughts are the last to remain
— T. M. Lakomy
All your questions can be answered, if that is what you want. But once you learn your answers, you can never unlearn them.
— Neil Gaiman, American Gods
People search in vain forever to find what we've got. I don't know shit about anything, Jenna, and I might be inexperienced, but I know you'll never love anyone like you love me.''I won't she,' she whispered.'And yet you can leave me so easily for a baby you don't have and a husband you've never met. I'm here, I'm real, and I just lost to a goddamn fantasy. I must've never really had you at all.
— Tia Williams, The Perfect Find
And so life went on, as it always will.It had taken an awful lot to get there, for no victory comes without hardship and sacrifice.But then, those whom we hold so dear, that we fight so hard to protect, and suffer so greatly for, are always worth it in the end.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
She looked at him. Amazed by his certainty that this would all turn outfine. Humbled that he had any faith in Her after years of abuse at herhand. Perplexed by the love her mistreatment didn't destroy.~ Angels Unaware
— D.H. Barbara
Racism is a virus which can only be spread by us!
— Simon Rumney, Another Tribe
You cannot blame our decisions on anyone, Moriah. They were all made byyou, alone.Clarion, to MoriahAngels Unaware
— D.H. Barbara
You totally ruined my life, you know that?' said Rincewind hotly. 'I could have really made it as a wizard if you hadn't decided to use me as a sort of portable spellbook. I can't remember any other spells, they're all too frightened to stay in the same head as you!
— Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic
Rincewind sighed, and padded around the base of the tower toward the Library.Towards where the Library had been. There was the arch of the doorway, and most of the walls were still standing, but a lot of the roof had fallen in and everything was blackened by soot.Rincewind stood and stared for a long time. Then he dropped the carpet and ran, stumbling and sliding through the rubble that half-blocked the doorway. The stones were still warm underfoot. Here and there the wreckage of bookcase still smouldered. Anyone watching would have seen Rincewind dart backward and forward across the shimmering heaps, scrabbling desperately among them, throwing aside charred furniture, pulling aside lumps of fallen roof with less than superhuman strength. They would have seen him pause once or twice to get his breath back, then dive in again, cutting his hands on shards of half molten glass from the dome of the roof. They would have noticed that he seemed to be sobbing.Eventually his questing fingers touched something warm and soft. The frantic wizard heaved a charred roof beam aside, scrabbled through a drift of fallen tiles and peered down. There, half squashed by the beam and baked brown by the fire, was a large bunch of overripe, squashy bananas. He picked one up, very carefully, and sat and watched it for some time until the end fell off.Then he ate it.
— Terry Pratchett, Sourcery
She despised weakness, especially her own. She'd seared most of heremotional needs with the white-hit iron of self-reliance andindependence years before.~Angels Unaware
— D.H. Barbara
I am living on the moon, I told myself, I have little house all by myself on the moon.
— Shirley Jackson
For magic consists in this, the true naming of a thing.
— Ursula LeGuin
And so shall honor Morgant," Gwydion said, "for what he used to be, and Ellidyr Prince of Pen-Llarcau for what he became.
— Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron
I named you once, I think," he said, and then strode to his house and entered, bearing the bird still on his wrist.
— Ursula LeGuin
Kumquats?I've had a few.But then again, tofu dementia.
— Robert Leland Taylor, Holy Toledo and the Virgin Shirley
I can’t believe it.’ I whispered.‘You can’t let him lure you back in, Felicia. He’s wrong. He’s wrong!’ Vanian pleaded, I could feel the quiver of his magic, the wisps that were fighting against the iron burning into his wrists, I could feel the crackle as it fought in the air, against his emotions, against his pain. I shook my head, was about to speak but Adam grabbed him by the front of his shirt; as if a few more tears and shreds couldn’t go amiss. The tightness of his grip paled the Faerie’s cheeks, caused the blood to trickle down faster, dropping to the floor.‘My wife.’ He yelled, ‘She’s my wife, silverblood.’ With each growl of a syllable he accented it with a punch to Vanian’s face.I couldn’t take much more. I jumped over and pulled at Adam’s shoulders, fingertips driving into the nook of his collarbone, pressing down with as much as I had in me, anything to break his hold. He recoiled and rose his hand to me, at first I flinched but I stopped. He wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t.
— Charlotte Munro, Requiem City: The Butcher
And Mother does not hate her; actually, she fears Damaya. Is there a difference? Maybe.
— N. K. Jemisin
...she wonders why a part of her is trying to find value in degradation.
— N. K. Jemisin
Can I borrow a cup of your face...?!
— Jim Dyar, The Zeus Gambit
Thinking and planning is one side of life
—  doing is another. A man cannot bedoing all the time.
Death is the only fantasy that becomes real for all humans.
— Zaman Ali, Humanity
I love Carlos like the weird, half-dead son I never particularly wanted
— Daniel José Older, Midnight Taxi Tango
Thank you,” I whisper. Words I never thought I would say to her. They unsettle us both.”“You want to thank me, Barrow?” she mutters, kicking away the last of my bindings. “Then keep your word. And let this fucking place burn.” (300)
— Victoria Aveyard, King's Cage
Wake early, take more!
— Julie Elise Landry, Bless the Skies
I walk around engrossed in my stories and worlds, and I love losing myself in them!
— Samuel Colbran, Lake Merrin
Then perhaps you don’t need it. I think the scar gives you character, even if it does mar those pretty tattoos. Would make for great tavern stories if you didn’t cover it.” 	Neferre laughed flatly and stuck her hands in her pockets. “There’s nothing great about getting mugged, Ziro.” 	Ziro laughed, her deep voice jiggling her second chin. “Oh, aye. But no one said you had to tell the truth now, did they?
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
Return me safely to my home,” the princess said, “and I shall reward you with your weight in eggs.”	Olorun snorted derisively. “You’re joking, right?”	The woman’s eyes flitted in embarrassment. 	“Now wait a minute,” said Helianthus. “We’re talkin’ eggs here. What sort of eggs? Ostrich eggs?”	Neferre made an impatient noise. “Hel! She doesn’t have any eggs! Unless they’re hidden in a very . . . delicate place.” Neferre grinned at the princess. “Tell me your eggs are hidden where I think they’re hidden.
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
Kimaria smirked and placed her hands behind her back. “Come now. It doesn’t have to come to that. Violence is so beneath us.” “No, it isn’t,” said Helianthus at once.“Well . . . it is beneath me,” the high queen said and touched a hand to her chest. “Unlike you, I am civilized. I wear shoes and I have a last name.” They watched as she eased into a chair. She crossed one leg over the other, folded her arms, and regarded them calmly. “Aren’t you the least bit curious as to how I snatched the famed Nineveh Atvaris from our dark past? You can’t be that boring.
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
Verne frowned. “Calm down. Don’t exert yourself in your condition.”	Salen looked at Verne in amazement. “Don’t exert --! My dear woman, we are all about to die! I don’t think it damn well matters if I shit my pants at this point --
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
Helianthus snorted. “Olorun is like his mother: he will only change as the face of a rock changes. But . . . I think he missed you.
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
Excavating miracles was his calling.
— C.J. Milbrandt, Harrow
The children around our house have a saying that everything is either true, not true, or one of Mother's delusions. Now, I don't know about the true things or the not-true things, because there seem to be so many of them, but I do know about Mother's delusions, and they're solid. They range from the conviction that the waffle iron, unless watched, is going to strangle the toaster, to the delusion that electricity pours out of an empty socket onto your head, and nothing is going to change any one of them.The very nicest thing about being a writer is that you can afford to indulge yourself endlessly with oddness, and nobody can really do anything about it, as long as you keep writing and kind of using it up, as it were. I am, this morning, endeavoring to persuade you to join me in my deluded world; it is a happy, irrational, rich world, full of fairies and ghosts and free electricity and dragons, and a world beyond all others fun to walk around in. All you have to do---and watch this carefully please--is keep writing. As long as you write it away regularly, nothing can really hurt you.
— Shirley Jackson, Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings
My child will bear those scars forever,” Tilv said angrily.	“And if he isn’t a fool, perhaps your child will learn from them,” Neferre returned calmly.
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
In the middle of all the world's incessant noise, her message was music, and music was a thing that I'd mostly lived my life without. In the ten years since I'd last seen Miranda she'd come to somehow stand in for all the things I didn't have in life that were thought to make us human, all the absent music and touch and sympathy; in my mind she lived a separate life apart from her real one, and there she grew more pure and perfect with each passing day . . . In my mind Miranda had become a miracle.
— Dexter Palmer, The Dream of Perpetual Motion
Sometimes death is just the beginning
— Nora  Jones, Familiarus: Light and Dark
When I was a child, I believed that those stars were knights in silver armor protecting the universe against darkness.
— M.B. Mohan, Our Different Paths
Neferre swallowed hard. “The elder used to tell stories of dark places in dark times,” she said, picking the needle through with black nails, “when the winters were endless and the sun fell cold across the land. When beasts far worse than the crags prowled the shadows. And there were no humans. Only elvkarin and the night. We knew the bitter sting of winter’s breath and it never ended as it ends now. We called it Isaria on Evile. A Time of Darkness.
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
The decision of their fates lay elsewhere, and the thought of that alone was utterly terrifying.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
Why does everything want to eat children?!”Neferre smiled. “Because you taste like candy. Stinky socks would mask your delicious scent from the aziza. We must get you stinky socks. So they do not eat you.”“That’s not much of a bedtime story! You really haven’t done this before!
— Ash Gray, Time's Arrow
I did wonder if there really was such a person as Aslan: but then sometimes I wondered if there were really people like you. Yet there you are.
— C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian
It is a very difficult thing, to love another.To some it comes easily, naturally even. Whilst for others, the road to such things is long and arduous and fraught with danger.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
My thoughts became demons and made my mind evil.
— M.B. Mohan, Our Different Paths
All that is gold does not glitter,Not all those who wander are lost;The old that is strong does not wither,Deep roots are not reached by the frost.J.R.R. Tolkien
— J.R.R. Tolkien
Do you believe in eternal love, Vane?"He nodded. "When you live for hundreds of years, you see all kinds of things.""How does someone know the difference between that and infatuation?"He sat up between her legs, then pulled her into his lap to cuddle. "I don't think there is a difference. Ithink infatuation is like a garden. If tended and cared for, it grows into love. If neglected or abused itdies. The only way to have eternal love is to never let your heart forget what it's like to live without it.
— Sherrilyn Kenyon, Night Play
Lucifer had been ranting his endless laundry list of complaints for forty-five minutes now, and Louhi still didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to apologize for. There was something about her plant having eaten his cape while he had been waiting, as for the rest… She wished she could read an immortal’s thoughts, but their brains were constructs, simulations… Which actually explained a lot.
— Gabriele Russo, Incompetent Gods
Only this time, now that she knew what it felt like to kiss him, she didn’t want to slap that look off his face, she wanted to kiss it off.
— Mairead Falcon, Not By Blood
:No,: Wareska said at once, :we should go back.: She heard the horse laugh softly into her mind. :Wareska,: he said in amusement, :it is not like you to ever look back.::I look back when sense dictates.::It is hard for horses to look back. We don’t really have shoulders. I guess we look back over our butt?:
— Ash Gray, The Seaglass Stair
But some, a very come to the gods all on their own They find their way—long and far it is, sometimes—and they wander up to the altars, shy and clumsy and embarrassed and alone, and when they can get the words out, they say, 'Well. Here I am
— Peter S. Beagle
She crossed her legs and kicked out her feet, clad in thick wool socks and boots big enough to house a little old lady.
— Drew Magary, The Hike
Yes. The elven magi are very old, but not old enough to remember that all of this has happened before.” Parmida frowned. “Just how old are you?”“I am older than a thousand of your suns,” the unicorn answered.“. . . and that means?
— Ash Gray, Tales of Talithia
Is there n-nothing you can do?” Parmida asked, wiping her tears away with the heel of her hand.	The unicorn laughed softly. “She asks for a boon after shooting me in the ass.
— Ash Gray, Tales of Talithia
You must be a rich human,” went on Holonie. “You could have come here with bodyguards, dogs, something. But you came here alone. Very risky. Nearly insane. Completely stupid.”Elbryn laughed his flat, humorless laugh. “Thanks?
— Ash Gray, Tales of Talithia
When a dream of dying actually becomes a chance to live. All you have to do is fall.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
I'm in love with you.""Good grief." She kept walking.
— Tahereh Mafi
:The way to the Seaglass Stair will be long and arduous. There will be those who wish to stop you. They will kill you to keep you from succeeding.:	:Why? That’s insane.:	:As if insanity were some fabrication, some dark tale Hemfra told you one night when you were a child and refused to sleep. There will always be resistance to anything and everything, defying all logic, all natural sense of self-preservation. There will be those who wish for you to simply let the world fade away. It is the way of humans to be illogical for the sake of personal conviction and made up nonsense.:
— Ash Gray, The Seaglass Stair
Sometimes we need to step away from our current reality in order to truly appreciate it.
— L.E. Horn
The creature was there, a curiously shaped creature no doubt, but all loathing had vanished clean out of his mind, so that neither then nor at any other time could he remember it, nor ever understand again why one should quarrel with an animal for having more legs or eyes than oneself.
— C.S. Lewis
It is often said that things must get worse before they can get better, and there is truth in that.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
I could kill him for her," Fury offered.Vane cleared his throat."Well, he could have an accident," Fury tried again. "Humans have those all the time.
— Sherrilyon Kenyon
Vane passed the mashed potatoes across Bride to Fury, who stared at them with a fierce frown. "Whatare these?" he asked."Potatoes," Vane told him."What did they do to them?""Just eat them, Fury," Vane said. "You'll like them, trust me."Patrick snorted. "Where are you from that you've never seen mashed potatoes before?""Mars," Fury said as he frowned at the way the potatoes clung to the spoon.
— Sherrilyon Kenyon
I think you're a fairy tale. I think you're magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story.
— Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer
A bad conscience makes a very good ghost.
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
There had always been something rather brutal about (..._) common sense.
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
A false image is, of course, a work of art, an idol. And a lie. A narcissist identifies with this image, not his true inner self. So, all he cares about is his image, not what kind of person he really is. Indeed, the latter has no real existence in his world.In identifying with his image, he's identifying with an ephemeral figment that has but virtual reality, a purely immanent existence as a reflection in the attention shone on him by others. No attention, no image. No image, no self!
— Kathy Krajco, What Makes Narcissists Tick: Understanding Narcissistic Personality Disorder
But these are sad times, the 'prentices wanting to be masters, and every little tradesman wanting to be a Senator, and every dirty little urchin thinking he can giveimpudence to his betters!
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
Obedient to her captain's will, The Black Pearl followed her dark angel over the azure water; as fast as the wind, as free as the men who sailed her. it was almost as though she knew she was a legend in the making, destined for adventures both great and terrible...
— A.C. Crispin, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom
Enjoyed the ride?' Janis asked, sarcasm in her voice. 'I never thought you'd actually be scared of flying.''Well, it's not everyday I ride unicorns to parallel worlds,' I muttered.
— Deepika Kumaaraguru, Ethereal: The Dawn of the Blue
Let mental suffering be intense enough, and it becomes a sort of carminative.
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
Today was “ananthropomorphic day”: once a month, the gods got to take a holiday from humdrum humanoid shapes and look any way they wanted. Since most gods are versatile shape-shifters and/or have god-awful taste in clothing, this meant that temporary blindness or at least a good headache was lurking around every corner. It was meant to boost morale. It usually sank his.
— Gabriele Russo, Incompetent Gods
Death, child. It’s beckoning us both, my brother and I.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
. . . I could't get lost in the story, not the way you need to be, to become somebody else.
— Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures
As if the president gives a crap about demons and what they go through just because her father’s got horns?” Morganith returned. “She never opens her coward mouth about the quiet oppression the demons -- your people -- face every single day --!” “Our people,” Hari calmly corrected.	“No,” said Morganith at once. “Halflings have never been anyone’s people.
— Ash Gray, The Thieves of Nottica
he said this turning his strong body to face the beautiful, stunning, breathtaking, astonishing, bewildering girl who was a princess and his one true love, Eodwyn. she had hair like raven wings and skin like snow that the dogs haven’t peed on yet and cheeks like cherry blossoms and eyes like a magnificent summer sky.
— J.K. Ashton
It had been a long, dull day at Jackson without Hurrican Lena, and I was starting to wonder how I ever got through eight periods without all the trouble she caused me. Without all the trouble she made me want to cause myself.
— Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures
Cruelty had been his weapon. But such a tool is dangerous and can spread further than you intend.
— Ross  Turner, Midnight
The weather had changed, all right. Gatlin had never seen a storm like this. And she probably didn't even know it was raining.
— Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures
Sentimentality is a quality that rarely has the slightest influence on action.
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
Mad folks are often as dangerous as bad ones.
— Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
Further, deeper still, those whose true names are for ever hidden from the world picked up the pattern of vibrations in the ether, and something akin to joy stirred in their fathomless minds. Perhaps soon they would be called upon to feed.
— Marc Gascoigne, Shadowmaster
So self-assured were they all by nature that it never occurred to me to doubt that their perfection was predetermined by forces I did not understand. They were all royalty. They were all gods. They were all broken.
— Chelsey Philpot, Even in Paradise
It's a wonderful fantasy, but it's not real. It's just watermelon magic.
— Hope Ramsay, Last Chance Beauty Queen
Upward and Onward
— Stephen Zimmer, Heart of a Lion
Two hundred generations of European Jews. All gone, just as if they'd never been. It was the first time it was really real for me--just as if I were standing at the top of a ladder and somebody yanked the ladder away--and I was still standing there, only now it was *possible* to fall, because all my connections had been cut away, and there I was looking down into empty space, thinking about how I'd come this close to just not existing at all.
— Rosemary Edghill, The Sword of Maiden's Tears
Sometimes you must slow down to see that the world isnt spinning, rather its your own mind which makes things turn
— Sedrie Danielle, Knights of Enmity: The Barons Have Fallen
Wells is teaching us to think. Burroughs and his lesser imitators are teaching us not to think. Of course, Burroughs is teaching us to wonder. The sense of wonder is in essence a religious state, blanketing out criticism. Wells was always a critic, even in his most wondrous and romantic tales.And there, I believe, the two poles of modern fantasy stand defined. At one pole wait Wells and his honorable predecessors such as Swift; at the other, Burroughs and the commercial producers, such as Otis Adelbart Kline, and the weirdies, and horror merchants such as H.P. Lovecraft, and so all the way past Tolkien to today's non-stop fantasy worlders. Mary Shelley stands somewhere at the equator of this metaphor.
— Brian W. Aldiss, Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction
:Do you trust me?: Wareska quietly linked.:To stay alive? No. You and the monster will get lost in riddles and philosophizing. Then you will make some grand, heroic gesture, poorly thought-out and overestimating your own strength, and when the creature has roasted you alive, I will be the one sweeping up the ashes – figuratively speaking, of course. Lest we forget, I do not have hands.:
— Ash Gray, The Seaglass Stair
When shrouded meanings and grim intentions are nicely polished up and pokerfaced personae are generously palming off their fantasy constructs, caution is the watchword, since rimpling water on the well of truth swiftly obscures our vision and perception. ("Trompe le pied.")
— Erik Pevernagie
Love can be a poison.
— Sarah J. Maas
I never tolerate disrespect or betrayal
— S.R. Crawford, Bloodstained Betrayal
Trust the Oak,” said she; “trust the Oak, and the Elm, and the great Beech. Take care of the Birch, for though she is honest, she is too young not to be changeable. But shun the Ash and the Alder; for the Ash is an ogre,—you will know him by his thick fingers; and the Alder will smother you with her web of hair, if you let her near you at night.
— George MacDonald, Phantastes
Why do the birds return?”	“What d’you mean?” Brandon looked lost all of a sudden.	“I mean, they could go anywhere. They’re free…so why do they return to this place?” 	Brandon grinned. “Cause home’s home no matter how bleak.
— S.R. Crawford, Bloodstained Betrayal
I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.
— Dr. Seuss
What was once your crown will now be your collar, and you will wear it until you learn what it is to submit.
— Ava Sinclair, Conquering the Queen
They call us monsters because it makes it easier to hurt us. Bus monsters are people too.
— Kippa
If you never lie, you don't have to remember what you said.
— R.S. Sexton, Samuel Parker and the New Templars
Time is but a destination.
— Kathryn Hills, Haunting Highland House
Then I guess we have a problem…because this man, Luhan Kane, is under arrest by decree of the Elders’ Circle. My authority outweighs yours.
— S.R. Crawford, Bloodstained Betrayal
Believing in unknown future, destiny, predestination without working hard to see it through is a mere fantasy
— ETC Wanyanwu
She felt hot tears soaking his shirt as she began to sob. “Forgive you? What king asks forgiveness of a slave?”“Avin…” he gently pushed her away. “I have wronged you. Terribly.”“Yes,” she said sadly. “But we both know it cannot be reversed. Not now. To do so will only throw Windbourne back in turmoil.” She wiped away tears with the back of her hand and looked towards the window. “I can no longer love these people after what they did, but I can acknowledge that they have suffered enough. The long winter was not their fault, but neither was the lie that made them angry. And now simple people have been promised a humbled queen, and you must deliver.”He sighed. “It is too much to ask,” he said.“Then don’t.” Avin gave him the smallest, and saddest of smiles.“You are the king,” she said. “So train me.” The tears came then, and she softened in his arms. “Save me, Xander, lest I never feel again.”“I am sorry,” he said into her hair. “I am sorry I didn’t come. I am sorry I was not the one to kill your father for the hurt he caused you. I am sorry that I caused you even more. I should have known better. I should have never believed the worst.” He put his forehead against hers. “Let me make it better, my love.
— Ava Sinclair, Conquering the Queen
You don’t even know me, or what I am capable of, boy.
— S.R. Crawford, No Secrets: Remastered
I’m scared that you’ll make me love you…and then you’ll leave me.
— S.R. Crawford, No Secrets: Remastered
Relationships take work. It isn’t true love if things go smoothly.
— S.R. Crawford, No Secrets: Remastered
You are a blue rose, Letti. It’s almost impossible that you exist amongst the other roses but you do. You bring wonder to those who are lucky enough to find you. The blue rose is lonely, lost and awaits someone special to believe in them; the same feeling I got from you the day we met. Blue roses are incomprehensible and mysterious. And so are you.
— S.R. Crawford, No Secrets: Remastered
I’m trying to figure out if you know something that I don’t, or if you’re really this stupid. You might be older and therefore a lot stronger than I am, Sphinx, but I am a mother and a lot more pissed off than you.
— S.R. Crawford, No Secrets: Remastered
You’re the shield, and I’m the sword.
— Amanda Bouchet, Breath of Fire
I ate and read my book, this particular kind of fantasy novel that I secretly loved. It was my favorite thing to do– eat and read. The world just shut up for a while.
— Laure Eve, The Graces
I imagine some people, like some toys, are born defective - which I suppose makes us all broken toys, don't you think?
— Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Watcher in the Shadows
We were friends before.” Sort of. We never tried to kill each other.
— Amanda Bouchet, Breath of Fire
It would seem very silly to start a conversation with a common hedgehog. They are not at all like cats, who surely understand the human language.
— Erin Forbes, Fire & Ice: The Elementals
I turn back to Griffin. His expression is stony and unreadable, although if I had to take a wild guess, I’d say it was tending toward ominous.
— Amanda Bouchet, Breath of Fire
The villagers had removed their masks. They displayed their true faces. And they were dreadful, diabolic visages. Blasted skin hung from shrunken mouths and red veins burst from their skin, leaving pronounced contours akin to miniature rivers. Each throbbed and pulsed, at home on scabby foreheads.I balked. The eyes drew all attention.Silver coins replaced eyeballs. They glinted with the same alluring lustre as the ones I had coveted in the chests. Instantly, dreadfully, I knew they were one and the same – accursed treasure used for nefarious sight, a symbol of the damned. And yet, the more I stared, the more I coveted them.
— Tim Reed, The Eight Islands: Summons of the Majestic
Someday my prince will come,” she lamented softly, “too fast.
— Melinda DuChamp, Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland
I… I can’t. I wish I were a little bolder.”“What for?” the Hatter asked. “Being a small rock wouldn’t be much fun.
— Melinda DuChamp, Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland
Squeezing her eyes shut, hating every moment, the put a single finger in and moved it around.“There’s nothing,” she lamented.“Go deeper.”Alice did.“Deeper.”“There’s nothing,” she yelled, pulling out her hand in anger and humiliation.“Of course there is nothing,” the Hatter said. “Who ever heard of such a ridiculous thing?”“So why did you make me do it?” Alice demanded.“Because it was really hot,” he answered.
— Melinda DuChamp, Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland
Every blade of grass was carved from emerald, every drip of water turned to diamond.
— George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
enter the world of things as they are
— Neil Gaiman
Vila the White,Built a City up height,Not in the Heavens, not on the ground,But on the edge of a Cloud,Vila the White,Put defenses the bright:Gold defends the heights, Sun defends the gate,Moon defends the City when it's late,Vila the White,Stood with Sun at sight,Watching what comes from the bay,And saw Lightning and Thunder play,Vila the White,Wed her son on Moon at night,And gave her daughter to Gold, as bride,They have couple brothers, she's their brother's wife.
— Stanislaw Sielicki, Handsome Yeva: An Indo-European Tale: Reconstruction Based on Balto-Slavic Folklore and Parallels with Other Indo-European Myths
This book is a work of fiction.Actually, it is a work of fiction within a fiction, as the main characters, though real persons in a fictional world, are being depicted in a book which other fictional characters in the same world are reading. Any reference to historical events-- rather, historical events non-Marridonian, and also non-Sesternese-- real people—rather, people in our realm, not the persons I was referring to in the previous line-- or real places—places that are not Marridon, Sesterna, and any place on the Two Continents-- are used fictitiously, because this is a work of fiction, and is a fiction within a fiction, as was previously stated. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination—referring to the ultimate author, not the fictitious author who has written the book within the book-- and any resemblance to actual events, locales, persons, living, dead, or otherwise, is entirely coincidental, but any resemblance to actual persons or places in the Two Continents is intentional. Absolutely no parts of this book, text or art, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, whether electronically or mechanically, including photocopying—“By Myrellenos, are we here in the disclaimer again? This is the third time, I believe. And there are still no cups out. Where is the teapot?”“Here, boss.”“Oh, there is tea in this story? I might be more inclined to stay and hear this one. The others were dreadful slow. I must have some tea, if I am going to be made to sit and listen to a whole book. I am not Bartleby, who can sit at his desk and flump over his tomes until he moulders.”“He’s gonna hear you, boss.”“I should say not, Rannig. He is too busy with doing the edits. He found a mistake in one of the other books about us and demanded he perform the editing this time around. The author was very good to let him do as he likes. He is missing tea, however.”--audio recording, data retrieval, cloud storage, torrent, or streaming service. If you do decide to ignore this disclaimer and print or share this book illegally, I will have Bartleby come to your house with a sample from the Marridonian legal extracts, and he will read them to you until you promise never to do anything illegal again.
— Michelle Franklin, The Ship's Crew: A Marridon Novella
I have had as many names as there are years to time itself! roared the monster. I am Herne the Hunter! I am Cernunnos! I am the eternal Green Man!
— Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
This reminds Faron of those stupid dogs that people put in their cars, that when the car moves, the dogs frantically nod their heads, like some demented, freshly graduated psychologist, with their first patients.
— Gary Edward Gedall
No m’lord. It wouldn’t be a secret army if we had seen it. My squire, who has not had the opportunity to be clearly informed about the presence of a secret army, has been ignorant of its existence.
— Gary Edward Gedall
The raven – Asker – immediately cawed. It sounded suspiciously like laughter. “Not... be afraid of Asker.” The raven’s button eyes gleamed. “He only eats worms… you are not worm.
— Tim Reed, The Eight Islands: Summons of the Majestic
People weren't just angry about it. They were still afraid. Fear is a powerful, often irrational emotion, and mass fear... has the power to shake any society to its core. As long as the world remembered, they would live in fear of all cryptids-- regardless of whether or not any individual among us was truly dangerous.Of course, not everyone supported stripping cryptids of all right. But dissenters were few among a dangerous and violent many, and most ignored the problem. Submission was the only solution they could conceive of to fix my problem. But with the imprint of Clyde's fist still throbbing in my stomach I was less interested in fixing a problem than in becoming one.
— Rachel Vincent, Menagerie
But wanting something didn't give one the right to have it.
— Rachel Vincent, Menagerie
The well-intentioned mothers who don't want their children polluted by fairy tales would not only deny them their childhood, with its high creativity, but they would have them conform to the secular world, with its dirty devices. The world of fairy tale, fantasy, myth, is inimical to the secular world, and in total opposition to it, for it is interested not in limited laboratory proofs but in truth.
— Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Kaltain just squeezed Elide’s fingers. “You find Celaena Sardothien. Give her this. No one else. No one else. Tell her that you can open any door, if you have the key. And tell her to remember her promise to me—to punish them all. When she asks why, tell her I said that they would not let me bring the cloak she gave me, but I kept a piece of it. To remember that promise she made. To remember to repay her for a warm cloak in a cold dungeon.
— Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
To save the queen who held his heart in her scarred hands.
— Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
Oh, thank the gods. Now I can talk to someone about clothes without being asked how so-and-so would approve of it, or gobble down a box of chocolates without someone telling me I’d better watch my figure—tell me you like chocolates. You do, right? I remember stealing a box from your room once when you were out killing someone. They were delicious.” Aelin waved a hand toward the boxes of goodies on the table. “You brought chocolate—as far as I’m concerned, you’re my new favorite person.
— Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
I am not normal. I never will be.
— Kerrelyn Sparks, How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days
Thank you,” she said, tears leaking out of her eyes. “Thank you so much.”	A gentle and hesitant hand came down on her back. “Don’t cry, Treasure. You’ll get me all wet and then I’ll melt. I’m made of sugar, don’t you know.” (Jack Dandy And Finley)
— Kady Cross, The Girl in the Steel Corset
Perhaps great fiction is in reality, deep hidden truths.
— S.G. Savage
And when his head slumped forward into his book, she giggled, for she knew that he was hers.
— C. Robert Cargill, Dreams and Shadows
Valiant warriors of Ha-Ran-Fel–and brave and noble allies who have joined us–our hour has come! We stand at the threshold: For some, the threshold of eternity; for others, the threshold of a new era. The malignancy spawned in the east now snakes its tendrils across our land to bind us. . .to choke and extinguish us. . .and to replace our young with its own. It comes not with the conventional weapons of warfare, but with magic and devilry. It comes without honorable rules of engagement, for this is not a fair fight. We know nothing of witchcraft or conjuring demons. We cannot hope to defeat such evil with what we know. But some among us will find the way with what lives in their hearts. They will effect the enemy’s destruction. From them will victory spring! For those who fall, the light of heaven will shatter the darkness of death! Those who live will see the dawning of a new day, a glad day, a day of peace and freedom! They will multiply and grow mightier than any who ever lived before!”“WE FIGHT!!” King Ruelon’s final speech.
— Sandra Kopp, Warrior Queen of Ha-Ran-Fel
Puckett's Stacks was not the sort of bookshop one happened upon
—  it was the sort of bookshop for which one looked deliberately.
Neither in the deepest ocean Nor in the perpetual snowHeaven was on earth that dayFor some reason we are yet to know
— Sameer Kumar, The Origin Of Martin Krooger
Books open a realm to a world beyond our own, all one has to do is take a leap of faith, open one, and step through the gate, passed the veil of myth on into the unknown.
— Freedom Guardian
He stood taller, and straighter, and broader, and infinitely more human than anything else Marcii could possibly imagine.
— Ross  Turner, Reaper
Nice girl. Wears too much makeup.""Most chicks hate her.""Most chicks wish they looked like her. And they wish they had her money and boyfriend."I stop and regard her in disgust. "Burro Face?""Oh, please, Alex. Colin Adams is cute, he's the captain of the football team and Fairfield's hero. You're like Danny Zuko in Grease. You smoke, you're in a gang, and you've dated the hottest bad girls around. Brittany is like Sandy ... a Sandy who'll never show up to school in a black leather jacket with a ciggie hangin' from her mouth. Give up the fantasy.
— Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry
Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.
— Margaret Atwood