Jacqueline Carey Quotes

How do you want to die, Admiral? We are D'Angeline. At the hand of numbers, or dreams? ~ Jacqueline Carey

For the keeping of secrets from adults is oft the only power a child may hope to possess. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Without plenty, the wealthy lack compassion for the poor, hoarding without sharing. Without law, the strong bully the weak, stealing by force. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Yes my lord, but questions are dangerous, for they have answers ~ Jacqueline Carey

Pain redeems all. It is the awareness of life, a reminder of death. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Beauty is at its most poignant when the cold hand of Death holds poised to wither it imminently. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There are patterns which emerge in one's life, circling and returning anew, an endless variation of a theme ~ Jacqueline Carey

The world began in ending, and it will end in beginning. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Why is there ever this perverse cruelty in humankind, that makes us hurt most those we love best? ~ Jacqueline Carey

Happiness is the highest form of wisdom. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There are those who do not hold that there is any innate goodness to mankind. To them I say, had you lived my life, you would not believe it. I have known the depths to which mortals are capable of descending, and I have seen the heights. I have seen how kindness and compassion may grow in the unlikeliest of places, as the mountain flower forces its way through the stern rock. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It is all we can do to try. It is enough. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Stupid to speak of blame when the wills of the immortals are involved. ~ Jacqueline Carey

The gods use their chosen hard, but reveal little to them. ~ Jacqueline Carey

And in so doing, mayhap we reshaped the gods themselves. Now that was a thought made me shudder to the bone. I wondered if it were true, and if it were, what would happen when some deity bent out of true by mortal ambition returned to set the record straight. ~ Jacqueline Carey

To have a traitor for an ally is to have an enemy in waiting ~ Jacqueline Carey

If you will not die for us, you cannot ask us to die for you. ~ Jacqueline Carey

As often as not, we forge our own chains. And from those, not even Adonai Himself can free us. We must do it ourselves. ~ Jacqueline Carey

That was the problem ... with trusting to the written word ... We were human, mortal and fallible. We forgot, we made errors, argued ambiguities, and twisted meanings to suit our own ends.
And in doing so, mayhap we reshaped the gods themselves. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Profundity fails me." Father Ramon's gaze rested on Loup. "And perhaps that is fitting, since words have never been your strong suit, Loup Garron. I said once that you were neither a leader nor a follower. I think perhaps you're something more rare. A catalyst. A catalyst for change, hope, faith. This group of you, God willing the last of you, have been different. What does it mean to live without fear? What lessons are we to take from your presence among us?" He shook his head. "I don't know. I know only that in your own way, you inspire us. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I took a slice of melon and perched on the edge of a couch, watching them both, patently uncomfortable with the undefined nature of my role here. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I started a novel in the back of a notebook, and it was great because it looked like I was taking notes. And I just, I kept it up, it was sort of fantasy, it was part soap opera. It was utterly dreadful, but that's how I got hooked. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There would be love, and while it was mine, I could cling to it. I could rejoice
in life, in the existence of love. In the existence of people like Phedre and Joscelin. Although the standards they set were impossibly high, still, I could rejoice that such courage and compassion existed in the world. I could hope and aspire. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Pain obliterates everything else. In pain, there is only the eternal present. ~ Jacqueline Carey

By the way, if you're ever conversing with an actual vampire, do not refer to the House of Shadows as Twilight Manor. There's a reason vampires aren't known for their senses of humour.
If you accidentally do so, I'd say run, but it's probably already too late. ~ Jacqueline Carey

where power intersects with pleasure, there is danger. Adepts ~ Jacqueline Carey

I seek words of such surpassing beauty that they might melt the hardest heart of stone. ~ Jacqueline Carey

The fact that he might have other things to do with his time than spend it shepherding his master's head-strong, thousand-ducat-a-night anguisette through one of the most unsavory quarters of the City never crossed my mind. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I wondered if, by the time we'd been together as long as Phèdre and Joscelin, I'd be able to predict her reactions.
I wasn't sure I would.
I wasn't sure I wanted to, either. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Mercy and compassion are all the grace left to us. ~ Jacqueline Carey

What is fear but courage's shadow? ~ Jacqueline Carey

For every victory," Necthana whispered, her great dark eyes shining with a mother's tears, "there is a price. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Always, he whispered. The gods do not always answer, but they are always listening. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It is a comfort, in anguish, to be reminded of the scale of one's own troubles against the mighty breadth of the world. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Soon never comes soon enough to a young child. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life pass us by untasted. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I bid you to aid one another. Let the wealthy have charity for the poor. Let the strong have mercy on the weak. And I promise, if we are victorious, such a time shall never come again. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It was small consolation, but it would have to do. I squeezed his hand once more, in lieu of things unsaid. Come on. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I have always thought that the notion of a Republic is a noble one, dating back to the glory days of Hellas, which all D'Angelines regard fondly as the last Golden Era before the coming of Elua. Now, seeing it in action, I was not so sure. ~ Jacqueline Carey

A pretty sight; it would have surprised me, if my capacity for surprise wasn't flattened. ~ Jacqueline Carey

What you are witnessing is the face of war a great ruler seldom sees, my lady," Master Lo Feng said to her. Her veiled face turned his way, listening. "No matter how righteous the cause, no matter who wins, the commonfolk suffer. Without plenty, the wealthy lack compassion for the poor, hoarding without sharing. Without law, the strong bully the weak, stealing by force. People will go hungry. Some will starve. Men and women will be forced to choose between feeding their parents and their children. ~ Jacqueline Carey

For every victory there is a price. ~ Jacqueline Carey

To recongnize that the treachery of one member of a house does not taint all born within it ~ Jacqueline Carey

Garner knowledge, by any means possible ~ Jacqueline Carey

Sidonie, I know you don't remember it, but you once promised to trust me beyond all reason. And I swear to you that all that I am, all that I possess, including this gem-stone, is yours. I need you. I can't do this alone. Forget your memories. Look into your heart. And if you can find somewhere there, some lingering spark of trust that owes naught to reason, I beg you to speak the word written here. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Her always is mine ~ Jacqueline Carey

Never before had I used my service to escape any woes that troubled me, but I did that day. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Is the world so cruel, then, that that is all that is required to move a man to risk his life? Kindness? ~ Jacqueline Carey

By morning, Joscelin was resigned. "You know, betimes I think you are a little mad, Imriel no Montreve," he said to me in the courtyard outside the stable, holding the Bastard's reins.
"You never said that to Phedre," I reminded him.
"Ah, well." He grinned despite himself. "In her case, there is no question. ~ Jacqueline Carey

People believe what they are told. ~ Jacqueline Carey

super-size emotions had saved me. God knows, I'd spent enough time wrestling with them, but I'd never thought before about how much of what animates us as human beings - or semi-human beings - depends on our feelings. Without ~ Jacqueline Carey

And having once chosen, never to seek to return to the crossroads of that decision-for even if one chooses wrongly, the choice cannot be unmade. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It is human nature, to give in hope of getting. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There is as much deception in noise as there is in silence ~ Jacqueline Carey

We are meant to taste of life ... and drink the cup of it to the dregs, bitter and sweet alike. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is inexorable as the tides, and life and death alike follow in its wake. ~ Jacqueline Carey

But Quintilius Rousse's sailors grinned in the saddle, saluting, and rode out in a thunder, horses trampling their own long shadows as they set their heads to the east. ~ Jacqueline Carey

A small kindness, a confluence of compassion, had saved his life. Was that strength, or a weakness? ~ Jacqueline Carey

There is no folly like the folly of the wise. ~ Jacqueline Carey

When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity upon me ~ Jacqueline Carey

If I have one pride in my calling, it is that I have never judged a patron wrongly - and I have never failed to recognize a patron upon meeting. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There are those who hold that there is a pattern to all that is said and done in this world, that no thing happens without reason nor out of time. As to that, I cannot speak, for I have seen too many threads cut short to believe it, but of a surety, I have seen too the weft of my fate shuttled on the loom. If there is a pattern, I do not think there is anyone among us who can stand at a great enough distance to discern it; yet I will not say that it is not so. ~ Jacqueline Carey

All I could do was stare blankly at him.
"Look." He raised both hands, palms outward. "Daisy, I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"You had no idea you had a twin sister?"
"No idea she was coming." He sounded tired.
My tail began lashing back and forth in agitation. "Oh, and where exactly did Emmy pop in from, Sinny dear? Did she drive up from Kalamazoo? Because I don't recall you mentioning a sister. And it sounded a lot like jolly old England, which I don't recall you mentioning, either. Is that something else you put behind you? Or maybe putting on accents is a thing with the Palmer clan. Pip pip, cheerio- ~ Jacqueline Carey

That which yields is not always weak. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Battle for the sake of honor may be a fine thing for bards to sing of, but it is no way to preserve one's homeland ~ Jacqueline Carey

We may not have demon fathers dangling offers of infernal power before us, but everyone understands what it means to struggle with temptation or resist the urge to give in to our baser natures. ~ Jacqueline Carey

If the greatest danger one faces as a slave is displeasing one's masters, this is the second: pleasing them. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Spontaneity is the province of youth ~ Jacqueline Carey

We knew each other's histories and secrets, hopes and fears and dreams. When you need to get good and drunk, that's the kind of person you want keeping pace with you. "Okay, ~ Jacqueline Carey

All paths are present, always ... and we can but choose among them. ~ Jacqueline Carey

couples. Their duties done, they had eyes only for each other, locking glances and smiling deeply; two realms, two rulers, united in love and a shared dream. It ~ Jacqueline Carey

Questions are dangerous because they have answers ~ Jacqueline Carey

I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I discovered that we liked each other. But I was fearful of giving free rein to my emotions. Fearful that all those emotions and longings I suppressed would spill forth, rendering me bitter and cruel. ~ Jacqueline Carey

If I had to fall from Cassiel's grace, at least I know it took a courtesan worthy of Kings to do it. ~ Jacqueline Carey

We forgot, we made errors, argued ambiguities, and twisted meanings to suit our own ends. And in so doing, mayhap we reshaped the gods themselves. Now ~ Jacqueline Carey

I cannot blame them, in truth, for desiring ... But they were like children, who have only just begun to grasp the idea of a thing. And like children, they had no notion of laboring to create, but only of having ... and no thought given to the cost, to others, of taking it. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There's some sort of Soothsayers' Code that prevents soothsayers from soothsaying on a day-to-day basis, when it might, you know, avert this kind of ordinary, everyday tragedy. Something about the laws of causality being broken and the order of creation overturned, resulting in a world run amok, river running backwards, the run rising in the west, cats and dogs getting married ...
I don't know; don't ask me.
I don't pretend to understand ( ... ) But I guess it didn't rise to the standard required to break the Soothsayers' Code since no sooth was said. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Night breeds its own sort of anticipation. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Poetry glories in excess. When it's not extolling the virtues of austerity. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I had begun to think my ripening body would wither untasted on the vine. ~ Jacqueline Carey

There is no fulfillment that is not made sweeter for the prolonging of desire ~ Jacqueline Carey

No two sacrifices are the same, and yet all are, in the end. It is the commitment to belong, wholly, to that which claims one. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Nothing spoils idle pleasure like too much awareness ~ Jacqueline Carey

whatever complicated emotions I felt for him, I didn't want to ruin the moment with my unfortunately stereotypical American ignorance of history and geography. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Let the warriors clamor after gods of blood and thunder; love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. ~ Jacqueline Carey

To fail and persevere is a harder test than any you will meet on the practice-field. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Truly, it is in loss that we learn a thing's true value. ~ Jacqueline Carey

All this I knew, and yet it was a different thing, to learn it from Delaunay: not stories, but histories. For this too I learned, that a storyteller's tale may end, but history goes on always. These events, so distant in legend, play a part in shaping the very events we witness about us, each and every day. When I understood this, Delaunay said, I might begin to understand. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It is a dangerous thing to bring a dream to life ... I have watched my deepest, dearest hopes take shape, and I am not entirely sure I like the shape they have taken. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Jehanne said that it would always be like this. That I would always be young and beautiful in her memory, and she in mine. That I would never grow resentful, never be tempted to betray her. That she would never grow restless and fickle, and see to replace me. So you see, not exactly the sentiments of a great and terrible love affair. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Grief heals ... unshed tears fester like a canker in the soul. ~ Jacqueline Carey

But to force growth is to kill it. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey has created a postmodern fable of enormous scope and force. Santa Olivia is at once a cautionary tale of people caught in a web of lies and creeping terror, and a love song to the beauty and power of being different. At the novel's heart is the kind of grace Carey is known for: an illumination of the strength that lies hidden inside all of us. ~ Eric Van Lustbader

Hear, hear.' Sister Martha hoisted her water glass. 'Let the rigid stick of self-righteousness be dislodged from her very uptight ass.'
Father Ramon coughed.
'A-fucking-men,' Loup supplied helpfully. ~ Jacqueline Carey

If I'm to be damned for what I've done, I'll be damned in full and not by halves. ~ Jacqueline Carey

I lie awake in my bed, clinging to the brightness I have known, fighting back the tide of darkness, the memories of blood and branding and horror, and the legacy of cruelty that runs in my own veins, shaping my own secret vow and wielding it like a brand against the darkness, whispering it to myself, over and over.
I will try to be good. ~ Jacqueline Carey

It seems to me that the gods are cruel to women who eat fruit, but that is a thought I keep to myself. ~ Jacqueline Carey

Well, I was living it, but a shared dream half-lived is a hollow thing ~ Jacqueline Carey

The night court taught me to serve, and Delauney taught me to think; but from Melisande Shahrizai, I learned how to hate. ~ Jacqueline Carey