Darren Shan

“The demons were scary, but girls - Well, girls are really terrifying”

“It’s one thing to go into a fight knowing you’ll probably lose. Quite another to be told that to win, you must offer up your throat to be slit.”

“Shark snorts. “Hope? What’s that? I heard about it once, in a fairy tale.”

“I stop reading after half an hour. I’ve had enough. Humanity has hit a brick wall. We’re facing our end, like the dinosaurs millions of years before us. The only difference is we’ve got journalists on hand to document every blow and setback, cataloguing our rapid, painful downfall in vibrant, vicious detail. Personally, I think the dinosaurs had the better deal. When it comes to impending, unavoidable extinction, ignorance is bliss.”

“Then we still have time!” I gasp. “It’s not too late. We know what he’s going to do. We’ll return to the cave and fight.” “We?” Kernel says sarcastically.“Yes! I’ll fight to save Dervish and Bill-E. I don’t care what those monsters throw at us. When it’s family, it’s different.” “You really think you can choose not to be a coward if and when it suits you?” Kernel jeers. Beranabus interrupts wearily before I can retort. “It doesn't matter. You're arguing about nothing. The time for heroics has passed.”

“This is crazy. We’re standing here, talking about nuclear bombs being dropped on Carcery Vale. It’s insane.”

“War," Beranabus murmurs, face crinkling. "Most humans know nothing of true warfare. They wage their silly territorial battles, kill each other ruthlessly and freely, and consider themselves experts on war and suffering. But the real war has always been ahead of them, unseen, unimagined. Enemies who can't be killed by normal weapons, who have their base in an alternate universe, who are interested only in slaughtering every living being on the face of the planet.”

“I've never met a politician who didn't deserve to be tossed into a pit full of Kallin," Beranabus grunts.”

“Lord Loss sows all the sorrows of the world Lord Loss seeds the grief-starched treesIn the center of the web, lowly Lord Loss bows his head Mangled hands, naked eyes Fanged snakes his soul line Curled inside like textured sin Bloody, curdled sheets for skin In the center of the web, vile Lord Loss torments the deadOver strands of red, Lord Loss crawls Dispensing pain, despising all Shuns friends, nurtures foes Ravages hope, breeds woe Drinks moons, devours suns Twirls his thumbs till the reaper comesIn the center of the web, lush Lord Loss is all that’s left”

“There are a lot of black-hearted, mean-spirited bastards in the world. It's important that we hold them to acount. But always remember that you might be the most black-hearted and mean-spirited in the lot, so hold yourself the most accountable of all.”

“Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.”

“sometimes, in pursuit of a greater peace, a man must stand by and lets those he loves suffer the injustices of men ho cares only about their own beliefs and nothing about the faith or feelings of others-- even when it pains him to the very core of his spirit”

“Lovely Arra Sails,nectar to all males,how I'd like to spear you like a whaler spears a whale!”

“It is good to be taught humility when we are young. If we do not exeperience pain as children, we will cause pain as adults.”

“Childhood is the purest state. The pure of heart never leave it behind. Their life merely takes them on a cirtuitous route away from, and then back to it.”

“I'm not a human anymore”

“If mankind's destined to bite the bullet, let's bite it and be damned.”

“The world won't end with a bang or a whimper. It'll end with the death screams of a thousand demons and a defiant, carefree, savage, wolfen howl.”

“The moon’s a powerful mistress. She can reach through any wall or covering and work her wicked charms.”

“thanks for saving me back there larten errmm thats mr crepsley to you - darren shan and larten creplsley - the vampires assistant”

“We don't grow fangs, you idiot!”

“Mr. Crepsley "What are you doing?"Darren "Looking for fangs."Mr. Crepsley "We do not grow fangs, you ass!”

“It was your idea. Only fair that if we get attacked, you should be first on their menu”

“Better to Die in Honour than to live in Shame." -Arra Sails”

“We all make basic assumptions about things in life, but sometimes those assumptions are WRONG. We must never trust in what we assume, only in what we KNOW.”

“They used to call me Quicksilver,” he whispered, smiling hollowly. “Fastest hands in the world.” Then the smile vanished. his eyes flashed. And, like a silver of deadly mercury, he attacked…”

“He says every story has at least some truth in it, even if most are made up.”

“In the beginning Grubbs created the heavens and the earth, and everything was dark. Then Grubbs said, ‘Let there be light!’” And there was light. Coolio!”

“Nobody had promised as much as the representives of the short man with the silly-looking moustache, p20”

“This was selfish and wasteful. Cowardly. Nobody should voluntarily give up on life. If it was your time to die, death would calmly claim you. Otherwise it was your duty to press on and live. P29”

“If this were a made-up story, it would begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed.”

“I'm hungry," he whimpered instead. "Food is on its way.""No," he said. "The other kind of hunger."P198”

“Charna's Guts!”

“But you're like me,” he says. “An outsider. Different. A freak. We're both weird, which is why we get along.”

“Destiny is a tower of cards - nudge one just an inch and everything stacked on top comes crashing down. P116”

“Students never appreciate their teachers while they are learning. It is only later, when they know more of the world, that they understand how indebted they are to those who instructed them. Good teachers expect no praise or love from the young. They wait for it, and in time, it comes.”

“Destiny's what you make of it. You have to face whatever life throws at you.”

“I mean, seriously, what lady of taste could resist a shiny greenhead of hair like mine?”

“For an hour or more he was neither human nor vampire, just a howling, hungry creature of dark delights.”

“But I also slaughtered you real mother and father. In a moment of mad rage, I took their lives and left you an orphan. If you choose to take my life as a payment for theirs, you will be within your rights and no vampire will hold it against you. Pass judgment on me, Gavner Purl, and let your hand rise or fall as destiny decides it must."-Larten Crepsley”

“You mean I might end up like you one day?" I asked, alarmed at the thought of sounding so serious and stuffy. "You might," Mr Crepsley said, "though I would not bet on it. Seba commanded my utmost respect, so I tried hard to copy what he did. You, on the other hand, seem to be determined to do the opposite of everything I say." "I'm not that bad," I grinned, but there was some grain of truth in his words. I'd always been stubborn. I admired Mr Crepsley more than he knew, but hated the idea of looking like a pushover who did everything he was told. Sometimes I disobeyed the vampire just so he wouldn't think I was paying attention to what he said!”

“Life is a challenge" he once told me, "and only those who rise to the challenge truly know what it means to live.”

“With such a small brain, I don't know how you made it this far.”

“That’s what you taught me - we don’t have to accept destiny or Des Tiny. We can create our own future, all of us. We have the power to rule our lives - we just have to make the choice to use it.”

“Confidence has brought them out into the light, but they seem to have forgotten - light's no good for creatures of the night.”

“Yes?" she asked, eyeing me guardedly.I struck out a hand and said "Shake."Arra stared at the hand, then into my unfocused eyes. "One good fight doesn't make you a warrior," she said."Shake!" I repeated angrily."And if I don't?" she asked."I'll get back up on the bars and fight you till you do," I growled.Arra studied me at length, then nodded and took my hand. "Power to you, Darren Shan," she said gruffly."Power," I repeated weakly, then fainted into her arms and knew no more till I came to in my hammock the next night.”

“I'm ALIVE!!!!!!!”

“When he faced me again, he looked ashamed of himself. "I have gravely underestimated you, Darren," he said. "I will not do so again. I made a wiser choice than I realized when I chose you to serve as my assistant. I feel honoured to have you by my side.”

“Who's going to help me and Bec kick some Shadow ass? -Page 172”

“Grubbs cries out and wraps his arms around the little girl, hugging her like a doll, weeping while we stare at the pair of them, bewildered. When he finally stops crying, he releases Bec and grubs shakily at her, then casts his gaze over the rest of us, his features firm. "Show of hands. Who's going to help me and Bec kick some Shadow ass?" Five arms rise immediately.”