“We only get to be one person; we don't even get to choose that person. By the time we get ahold of ourselves, we are pieces already in play.”

“You have only to begin, Lir. Mercy breeds mercy as slaughter breeds slaughter. We can’t expect the world to be better than we make it.”

“What are we fighting for? What are we killing for? What do you see when you look into the future?”

“We dreamed together of the world remade.”

“Is that all souls are for? For when we die?" "No. They're for living, too.”

“War is all we've been taught, but there are other ways to live. We can find them, Akiva. We can invent them. This is the beginning, here." She touched his chest and felt a rush of love for the heart that moved his blood, for his smooth skin and his scars and his unsoldierly tenderness. She took his hand and pressed it to her breast and said, "We are the beginning.”

“As long as you're alive, there's always a chance things will get better.""Or worse," said Liraz."Yes," he conceded. "Usually worse."Hazael cut in. "My sister, Sunshine, and my brother, Light. You two should rally the ranks. You'll have us killing ourselves by morning.”