Tamora Pierce

“Ah," Gary said dreamily. " 'Free time.' I've heard about that. Don't fool yourself, Fire-Top. What with extra hours of lessons for punishments, and the extra work you get every day, free time is an illusion. It's what you get when you die and the gods reward you for a life spent working from dawn until midnight. We all face up to it sooner or later--the only real free time you get here is what my honored sire chooses to give you, when he thinks you have earned it." "And he doesn't give it to you at night," Alex put in. "He gives it to you when you've been here awhile, on Market Day and sometimes a morning or afternoon all to yourself. But never at night. At night you study. During the day you study. In your sleep--”

“I said I fell down. Ah. The ground bloodied your nose, split yer lip, and punched ye in th' eye, all at once.I said I don't want to talk about it.”

“Didn't they realize that the only way to change things was to act?”

“You know something? There are sandstorms that strip man and horse and bury them — I've seen them. I saw bones piled higher than my head for the folly of a bad king and those who wanted his throne. I lived through a blizzard that froze every other living creature solid. Against those things, you're only a man. I can deal with you.”

“You ride as a man, fight as a man, and you think as a man-""I think as a human being," she retorted hotly. "Men don't think any differently from women- they just make more noise about being able to.”

“Oh! I'm stupid as well as insane.”

“Would I serve you or (Prince) Jon stolen goods? he asked. "No, don't answer me.”

“Don't die on me," she whispered when the clock struck midnight and he still had not moved. "It's only a little shoulder wound. Goddess, George-don't die on me."His eyes flickered open and he smiled. "I didn't know you cared," he whispered. "And why insult me? I won't die for a wee nick like this; I've had worse in my day."Alanna wiped her wet cheeks. "Of course I care, you unprincipled pickpocket!" she whispered. "Of course I care.”

“Why do boys say someone acts like a girl as if it were an insult?”

“I am not wise, but I can always learn.”

“He was overconfident”, she told him. “And I won so the gods must have thought I was right. Otherwise they’d have made me lose. You know how trial by combat works.” “You won because you were good” he corrected her. “I find it hard to believe the gods sit forever about the Divine Realms betting on jousts and trials by combat.”

“Haven’t you ever noticed that people who win say it’s because the gods know they are in the right, but if they lose, it wasn’t the gods who declared them wrong? Their opponent cheated, or their equipment was bad.”

“Oakbridge did his work with dramatics and prophecies that all would go horribly awry. Having dealt with him over midwinter, Kel wondered why the man hadn’t died of a heart attack. Instead he seemed to thrive on disaster and finding people seated in the wrong places.”

“If we pick a fight, then we're just as bad as them. Combat should be used just to help people who can't defend themselves, period.""Well, if I don't fight back and they pound on me, then I'm one of the people I should be defending.”

“If I say you're a goatherd's son, you say, 'Yes, Lord Ralon.'"Alanna gasped with fury. "I'd as soon kiss a pig! Is that what you've been doing-kissing pigs? Or being kissed?”

“No one expects a woman busy at her sewing to pay attention to what’s being said around her. Nevermind if a man’s mother and sister showerd them they heard everything while they stictched, he’ll still think a woman who plies her needles saves all her brains for the work. You’re a far better spy hemming sheets than if you clank with daggers.”

“As long as there's life, there's hope.”

“It's harder to heal than it is to kill.”

“Raoul: Age and treachery!Neal: Youth and skill!”

“Girls are 50% of the population. We deserve to represent 50% of the heroes.”

“Your life might be easier if you were. A fool for love is happier than a Dog with a heart that's all leather.”

“A cat understands how to be pleasant in the morning. He doesn't talk.”

“She has teeth like stars and hair like sheep fuzz”

“rosto cupped laddybuck in one hand and grabed the back of my neck with the other pulling me in and kissing me right on the mouth. i should have punched him but his lips were soft and sweet. i will punch him next time. -beka after she realizes that rosto the piper is the new rouge”

“No more is your master a god, Nobility, but he wants offerings from all. When Black God claims us, who will be punished for giving worship and power to a false god? The prince? Or Banjiku?”

“Never break a promise to an animal. They're like babies—they won't understand.”

“Libraries are places where the damaged go to find friends”

“I was stark raving mad, and my family was too polite to mention it. That's what living with the Yamanis does to people. They get so well-mannered they won't mention you're crazy.”

“Just because I'm no jaw clacker doesn't mean there should be a ruction put up whenever I have sommat to say.”

“And if they don't believe us, I can give them the ghost eyes, you can go all big and threatening, Farmer can do his cracknob simpleton, and my lady can don her nobleness. We'll do all right.”

“Without patience, magic would be undiscovered - in rushing everything, we would never hear its whisper inside.”

“I met the oddest little fellow today, Alan of Trebond.”

“If Cape wasn't your last name, what was your real one?" I asked, deathly curious now. "Ahhhh," he complained. "Pincas Huckleburr.”

“Alan, you seem to think we won't like you unless you do things just like everyone else. Have you ever thought we might like you because you're different?”

“Books are still the main yardstick by which I measure true wealth.”

“Have I mentioned that I hate it when you're right?", she asked instead. Alanna shook her head. "No, I don't believe you have. As far as I could tell, you never thought I was right.”

“it's your own fault for encouraging him..., you know. Now he thinks he's a human being.Neal of Queens cove”

“If arrogance were shoes, he'd never go barefoot.”

“Money talks and walks, but it does not bark.”

“You aren't a bit romantic, are you?" he asked, amused.She sat back and stared at him. She was beginning to think that Neal required a keeper. He seemed to have the craziest ideas. "Romance? Isn't that love stuff?" She asked finally."It's more than just love. It's color, and-and fire. You don't want things magnificent and filled with-with grandeur," he said, trying to make her understand. "You know, drama. Importance. Transcendent Passion.""I just want to be a knight," Kel retorted, putting her used tableware on her tray. "Eat your vegetables. They're good for you.”

“Scary with you is better than scary without you”

“I want to marry her, when I grow up to be a man.”

“Dreadful sorry mistress. Ma always said I was too silly to die”

“He has artistry," he repeated. "Because that's what it takes to blow things up. And cook his arm.”

“If her rump were any stiffer, she'd break it every time she rides', I thought to Pounce.'If she fell on the steps, they would never be able to put her together again', he replied.”

“Shouldn't you know what love's like, before you begin renouncin' it" George Cooper”

“If you look hard and long, you can find us. If you listen hard and long, you can hear any of us, call any of us that you wish.”

“Tortall and the Queens Riders!”

“WE do try to eat," Raoul called back to her [Kel]. I go all faint if I don't get fed regularly. Only think of the disgrace to the King's Own if I fell from the saddle.""But there was that time in Fanwood," a voice behind them said."That wedding in Tameran," added the blonde Sergeant Osbern, riding a horse-length behind Kel."Don't forget when what's-his-name, with the army, retired," yelled a third."Silence, insubordinate curs!" cried Raoul. "Do not sully my new squire's ears with your profane tales!""Even if they're TRUE?" That was Dom. It seemed Neal wasn't the only family member versed in irony.”

“There is a saying in the Islands. Beware the women of the warrior class, for all they touch is both decorative and deadly.-Yuki”