C.W. Gortner Quotes

You may come as a proud prince today young Habsburg. But you shall travel many more roads in Castile in death than you ever will in life

I unlocked her cage, but you, my thieving friend, aim to set her free. Be careful with what you do. Wild things are never tamed." Boy's

Youth is no protection; in the end, life scars us all.

I fear I lose myself among books. I forget everything.

There comes an inevitable time in every life when we must cross a threshold and encounter that invisible divider between who we are and who we must become. Sometimes, the passage is evident - a sudden catastrophe that tests our mettle, a tragic loss that opens our eyes to the bane of our mortality, or a personal triumph that instills in us the confidence we need to cast aside our fears. Other times, our passage is obscured by the minutiae of an overcrowded life until we catch it in a glimpse of forbidden desire; in an inexplicable sense of melancholic emptiness or a craving for more, always more, than what we already possess.

Sometimes we embrace the chance to embark on our passage, welcoming it as a chance to finally shed the adolescent skin and prove our worth against the incessant vagaries of fate. Other times, we rail against its unexpected cruelty, against the sharp thrust into a world we're not ready to explore, one we do not know or trust. For us, the past is a haven that we are loathe to depart, lest the future corrupt our soul.

Better not to change at all, rather than become someone we will not recognize.

Sometimes it's the simplest things we should most long for.

What we do not earn ourselves," he said, "is never truly ours. It can always be taken away. But even if we lose everything we work for, the achievement is ours forever.

And opportunities are like stories in books," I retorted. "All we need do is pick one.

Simplicity," I said, "is true elegance. A woman is closest to being naked when she is well dressed. Her clothing should be seen only after she herself is.

I turned on my heel and left her, exasperated that even as I worked my fingers to the bone to liberate women from our cloth chains, our minds remained as closed as ever to the possibility that we might deserve more than a husband, children, and growing old cooking sausage.

And I vowed that were it ever within my power, I would see to it that he had his voyage.

having someone I could belong to was a lure I'd always both fought against and gravitated to. I did not like the idea of being owned,

But we are each created in God's image and must be allowed to seek our path to Him in our own way.

Though I strived for spiritual and physical unity in all of Spain, I believed a truly great country, one that would endure for centuries, must be built on the foundation of a literate and well-rounded society.

There are moments that define our existence, moments that, if we recognize them, become pivotal turning points in our life.

I admire you. You have learned to rise with the wind, rather than fight it. Too many people struggle to become what is expected of them, when, as we both know, what is expected of us is rarely what we desire.

The truth is, not one of is innocent. We all have sins to confess.

No truth can be determined that concerns the future.

The world is only as small as we see it, my lady. Imagination knows no limits.

Everyone has secret.
Like the oyster with its grain of sand, we bury it deep within, coating it with opalescent layers, as if that could heal our mortal wound. Some of us devote our entire lives to keeping our secret hidden, safe from those who might pry it from us, hoarding it like the pearl, only to discover that it escapes us when we least expect it. revealed by a flash of fear in our eyes when caught unawares, by a sudden pain, a rage or hatred, or an all-consuming shame.

Love is a treacherous emotion. You will fare better without it. We Medici always have.

Where was it written that I, child of no one, deserved such joy? It only happened at night, this abyss of dread, never during the day. Only in the empty hours between today and yesterday, when I was alone with my sleeping lover and the weight of the past crept upon me like a reproachful ghost.

Nothing is the same afterward, is it? We carry on, as indeed we must, but we are never who we were." He

Since fortune was dragging its heels, I would lure it out with my hard work.

Even a bad review is still a review. It means someone cared enough to take the time to say: Hey, this sucks. Don't bother. Buy a DVD instead ... Yes, someone cared. And isn't that what every writer dreams of? ... So, how did I deal with bad reviews? How else? I cry. I get mad. I pretend not to care. Then I pour myself a glass of wine and call a friend to complain.

There are many ways to obtain our desires, ma petite. Remember that, for it will serve you well.