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Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Quick as a snake. Calm as still water.
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George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
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Be careful you don't cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with.'
'Girls don't shave', Arya said.
'Maybe they should. Have you ever seen the septa's legs?
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George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
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She had never loved him so much as she did in that instant.
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George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
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We were talking about the prince,' Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss.
Arya knew which prince she meant: Joffrey, of course. The tall, handsome one. Sansa got to sit with him at the feast. Arya had to sit with the little fat one. Naturally.
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George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
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Thatβs no law, just a sword. Happens I got one too.
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George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
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Nothing' isn't better or worse than anything. Nothing is just... nothing." Arya Stark
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George R.R. Martin
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Arya lifted her gaze from the dead man and his dead dog. Jaqen H'ghar was leaning up against the side of the Wailing Tower. When he saw her looking, he lifted a hand to his face and laid two fingers casually against his cheek.
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George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
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Arya, What are you doing?"
"Syrio says a water dancer can stand on one toe for hours." Her hands flailed at the air to steady herself.
Ned had to smile. "Which toe?" he teased.
"ANY toe," Arya said, exasperated with the question. She hopped from her right leg to her left, swaying dangerously before she regained her balance.
"Must you do your standing here?" he asked. "It's a long hard fall down these steps."
"Syrio says a water dancer NEVER falls.
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George R.R. Martin
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Septa Mordane said boar hunting was not for ladies, and Mother only promised that when she was older she might have her own hawk. She was older now, but if she had a hawk she'd eat it. -Arya Stark
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George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
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a few days ago she had been wandering around with a swatch of black silk tied over her eyes. Syrio was teaching her to see with her ears and her nose and her skin, she told him. Before that, he had her doing spinds and back flips. "Arya, are you certain you want to persist in this?"
She nodded. "Tomorrow we're going to catch cats."
"Cats." Ned sighed.
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George R.R. Martin
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One of the very striking life lessons from Game of Thrones.
When Arya was blind; hopeless and helpless. The Waif lured her into multiple stick fights and the Waif would promptly beat Arya in every sparring match.
But through those stick fight, Arya learned to cope with her blindness and how to fight βin the dark.β
After Arya had regained her sight and Jaqen had granted the Waifβs wish to kill Arya. Arya confronted the Waif in a hideout and put out the only light in the room. Arya best the Waif due to her proficiency in fighting without sight (which, ironically, was trained by the Waif). Arya killed her adversary.
ONE THING ABOUT CHALLENGES IN LIFE IS: THROUGH THEM, WE LEARN HOW TO OVERCOME THEM. Always Pay Attention!
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Olaotan Fawehinmi (The Soldier Within)
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At a very basic level, anti-rape activism is about survival. Many of us are survivors trying to survive, and spectacles of mass wounding such as #MeToo evoke a gendered state of siege. Being raped often involves a visceral fear of death, whether the rape is physically violent or not β it is what makes us freeze, instead of fighting back. And if we freeze, perhaps we need our βkillβ after the experience is over. Unlike Arya Stark, we do not do our own killing. Instead, we ask the βAngry Dadβ or βWhite Knightβ of the state or institution to do it for us. And the destruction of bodily boundaries involved in criminal punishment mirrors the experience of rape.
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Alison Phipps (Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism)