β
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
I don't want to be a man," said Jace. "I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."
"Well," said Luke, "you're doing a fantastic job.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
That does it," said Jace. "I'm going to get you a dictionary for Christmas this year."
"Why?" Isabelle said.
"So you can look up 'fun.' I'm not sure you know what it means.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
We came to see Jace. Is he alright?"
"I don't know," Magnus said. "Does he normally just lie on the floor like that without moving?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Is standing by the window muttering about blood something he does all the time?" asked Simon.
"No," Jace said. "Sometimes he sits on the couch and does it.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3))
β
I thought I'd lie on the floor and writhe in pain for a while," he grunted, "It relaxes me."
"It does? Oh - you're being sarcastic. That's a good sign probably.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
In order to rise
From its own ashes
A phoenix
First
Must
Burn.
β
β
Octavia E. Butler (Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2))
β
Well, Iβm not kissing the mundane," said Jace. "Iβd rather stay down here and rot."
"Forever?" said Simon. "Foreverβs an awfully long time."
Jace raised his eyebrows. "I knew it," he said. "You want to kiss me, donβt you?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.
β
β
Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country)
β
I've got a stele we can use. Who wants to do me?"
"A regrettable choice of words," muttered Magnus.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I don't care," Clary said. "He'd do it for me. Tell me he wouldn't. If I were missing-"
"He'd burn the whole world down till he could dig you out of the ashes. I know," Alec said.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
β
We need to talk. All of us About what we're going to do now."
"I was going to watch Project Runway.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
There's no need to clarify my finger snap," said Magnus. "The implication was clear in the snap itself.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
No, I'm just a very naughty boy. I do all sorts of bad things. I kick kittens. I make rude gestures at nuns.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.
β
β
Frank McCourt (Angelaβs Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1))
β
You see, cuckoos are parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes the other baby birds out of the nest. The poor parent birds work themselves to death trying to find enough food to feed the enormous cuckoo child who has murdered their babies and taken their places."
"Enormous?" said Jace. "Did you just call me fat?"
"It was an analogy."
"I am not fat.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
β
Is there some particular reason that you're here?" ...
"Not this again."
"Not what again?" said Clary.
"Every time I annoy him, he retreats into his No Mundanes Allowed tree house." Simon pointed at Jace.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself to become a new person.
β
β
Gerard Way
β
you must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame;
how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes?
β
β
Friedrich Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
β
I was alive when the Dead Sea was just a lake that was feeling a little poorly.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid.
β
β
George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
β
I don't do what I'm told, but I might do what you want if you ask me nicely.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I'll just have them change the entry in the demonology textbook from 'almost extinct' to 'not extinct enough for Alec. He prefers his monsters really, really extinct.' Will that make you happy?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You could have fooled me. Everytime I called you, Luke said you were sick. I figured you were avoiding me. Again."
"I wasn't. I did want to talk to you. I've been thinking about you all the time."
"I've been thinking about you, too."
"I really was sick. I swear. I almost died back there on the ship, you know."
"I know. Everytime you almost die, I almost die myself.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You're so easy to tease. And yes, your friend is just fine. Well, except that he keeps putting all my things away and trying to clean up. Now I can't find anything. He's compulsive.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Watching Jace hug Isabelle, she tried to school her features into a happy and loving expression.
"Are you all right?" Simon asked, with some concern. "Your eyes are crossing.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Some guys look at you like they only want sex. Jace looks at you like you've had sex - it was great and now you're just friends. Drives girls crazy. Know what I mean?" Yes. Clary thought. "No." Clary said.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Mom. I have something to tell you. Iβm undead. Now, I know you may have some preconceived notions about the undead. I know you may not be comfortable with the idea of me being undead. But Iβm here to tell you that undead are just like you and me β¦ well, okay. Possibly more like me than you.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Alec looked at her and shook his head. "How do you manage never to get mud on your clothes?"
Isabelle shrugged philosophically. "I'm pure at heart. It repels the dirt.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You might want to lie down," Magnus advised. "I find that it helps when the crushing sense of horrible realization sets in.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I get the feeling," Alec said, and smiled, "she hasn't forgiven me for betraying you, as she sees it."
"Good girl," said Jace with appreciation.
"I didn't betray you, idiot."
"It's the thought that counts.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Lawful good to lawful evil!" said Simon, pleased.
"He's quoting Dungeons and Dragons," said Clary. "Ignore him.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
It's not funny, Jace," Alec interrupted, starting to his feet. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"
"Yes," Jace said kindly. "It'll do you good-- try to think of it as endurance training.
β
β
Cassandra Clare
β
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
and I eat men like air.
β
β
Sylvia Plath (Ariel: The Restored Edition)
β
Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom β¦
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
β
I've heard the word 'fear'. I simply choose to believe it doesn't apply to me.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Something inside Clary cracked and broke, and words came pouring out. 'What do you want me to tell you? The truth? The truth is that I love Simon like I should love you, and I wish he was my brother and you weren't, but I can't do anything about that and neither can you!
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I can only assume," said Jace, "that mortal emotions amuse you because you have none of your own.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You are my heart, my life, my entire existence."
-Ash
β
β
Julie Kagawa (The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey, #3))
β
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
β
β
Leonard Cohen
β
We're not dating," Alec said again.
"Oh?" Magnus said. "So you're just that friendly with everybody, is that it?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
Isabelle drifted over, Jace a pace behind her. She was wearing a long black dress with boots and an even longer cutaway coat of soft green velvet, the color of moss. "I can't believe you did it!" she exclaimed. "How did you get Magnus to let Jace leave?"
"Traded him for Alec," Clary said.
Isabelle looked mildly alarmed. "Not permanently?"
"No," said Jace. "Just for a few hours. Unless I don't come back," he added thoughtfully. "In which case, maybe he does get to keep Alec. Think of it as a lease with an option to buy."
Isabelle looked dubious. "Mom and Dad won't be pleased if they find out."
"That you freed a possible criminal by trading away your brother to a warlock who looks like a gay Sonic the Hedgehog and dresses like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" Simon inquired. "No, probably not.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
βAnd yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire.
β
β
Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities)
β
How awfully convenient for you, regardless. And for him. He won't have to worry about you spilling his secrets."
"Yeah," Jace said. "He's terrified I'll tell everyone that he's always wanted to be a ballerina.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Clary screamed out loud as he fell like a stone-
And landed lightly on his feet just in front of her. Clary stared with her mouth open as he rose up out of a shallow crouch and grinned at her. "If I made a joke about just dropping in," he said, "would you write me off as a clichΓ©?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Hey Baby.
Baby? You're kidding me, right?
I was trying it out. No?
No.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
Jace slammed his hand down on the stele. βClary-β
βShe said she doesnβt want it,β said Simon. βHa-ha.β
βHa-ha?β Jace looked incredulous. βThatβs your comeback?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
If you're texting Magnus to say 'I think u r kewl,' I'm going to kill you."
"Who's Magnus?" Max inquired.
"He's a warlock," said Alec.
"A sexy, sexy warlock," Isabelle told Max, ignoring Alec's look of total fury.
"But warlocks are bad," protested Max, looking baffled.
"Exactly," said Isabelle.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
β
She turned back to Jace. "Do you have to be so-," she began, but stopped when she saw his face. It looked stripped down, oddly vulnerable.
"Unpleasant?" he finishes for her. "Only at days when my adoptive mother tosses me out of the house with instructions never to darken her door again. Usually I'm remarkably good-natured. Try me on any day that doesn't end in y.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.
β
β
Octavia E. Butler
β
Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.
β
β
Mary Kay Ash
β
Look," Luke went on, "In all the years I've known him, there's always been exactly one place Simon wanted to be, and he's always fought like hell to make sure he got there and stayed there."
"Where's that?"
"Wherever you were.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You think sheβll be able to talk sense into him?β she asked. βHis sister?β
"If he listens to anyone, it would be her.β
βThatβs sweet,β said Maia. βThat he loves his sister like that.β
βYeah,β Simon said. βItβs precious
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Actually," said Jace, "I prefer to think that I'm a liar in a way that's uniquely my own.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
If you really love something, you never try to keep it the way it is forever. You have to let it be free to change.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.
β
β
Jack London
β
A pair of werewolves occupied another booth. They were eating raw shanks of lamb and arguing about who would win in a fight: Dumbledore from Harry Potter books or Magnus Bane.
"Dumbledore would totally win," said the first one. "He has the badass Killing Curse."
The second lycanthrope made a trenchant point. "But Dumbledore isn't real."
"I don't think Magnus Bane is real either," scoffed the first. "Have you ever met him?"
"This is so weird," said Clary, slinking down in her seat. "Are you listening to them?"
"No. It's rude to eavesdrop," said Jace.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
I keep thinking about blood, I dream about it. Wake up thinking about it. Pretty soon I'll be writing morbid emo poetry about it.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
She is all the great heroines of the world in one. She is more than an individual. I love her, and I must make her love me. I want to make Romeo jealous. I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter, and grow sad. I want a breath of our passion to stir dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain.
β
β
Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
β
Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
Clary- "How to Come Out to Your Parents," she read out loud. "LUKE. Don't be ridiculous. Simon's not gay, he's a vampire.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Growing up happens when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change -Clary Fray
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
She leaned forward and caught at his hand, pressing it between her own. The touch was like white fire through his veins. He could not feel her skin only the cloth of her gloves, and yet it did not matter. You kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire. He had wondered once why love was always phrased in terms of burning. The conflagration in his own veins, now, gave the answer.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3))
β
The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.
Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth.
β
β
George R.R. Martin
β
Even the Inquisitor's eyebrows shot up when Magnus strode through the gate. The High Warlock was wearing black leather pants, a belt with a buckle in the shape of a jeweled M, and a cobalt-blue Prussian military jacket open over a white lace shirt. He shimmered with layers of glitter. His gaze rested for a moment on Alec's face with amusement and a hint of something else before moving on to Jace, prone on the ground.
"Is he dead?" he inquired. "He looks dead."
"No," snapped Maryse. "He's not dead."
"Have you checked? I could kick him if you want." Magnus moved toward Jace.
"Stop that!" the Inquisitor snapped, sounding like Clary's third-grade teacher demanding that she stop doodling on her desk with a marker.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Other crack teams get bat boomerangs and wall-climbing powers; we get Aquatruck.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Even when we're apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!
β
β
L.J. Smith (Daughters of Darkness (Night World, #2))
β
Looks like nobodyβs home,β Puck said, turning in a slow circle. βHellooooooooo? Anybody here?β
βBe quiet, Goodfellow,β Ash growled, peering into the shadows with narrowed eyes. βWeβre not alone.β
βYeah? How do you figure that, prince? I donβt see anyone.β
βThe cait sith has disappeared.β
β β¦ Crap.
β
β
Julie Kagawa (The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey, #3))
β
You do not yield.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
β
There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
Look on the bright side," said Simon, "If they need a human sacrifice, you can always offer me. I'm not sure the rest of you qualify anyway.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Fate is never fair. You are caught in a current much stronger than you are; struggle against it and you'll drown not just yourself but those who try to save you. Swim with it. and you'll survive
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
When you love someone, you don't have a choice. Love takes your choices away.
- Clary Fray
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Just take the weapon you hold in your hand and drive it through his heart," Valentine's voice was soft. "One simple motion. Nothing you haven't done before."
Jace met his father's stare with a level gaze. "I saw Agramon," he said. "It had your face."
"You saw Agramon?" The Soul-Sword glittered as Valentine moved toward his son. "And you lived?"
"I killed it."
"You killed the Demon of Fear, but you won't kill a single vampire, not even at my order?"
Jace stood watching Valentine without expression. "He's a vampire, that's true," he said. "But his name is Simon.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
There are no gods left to watch, Iβm afraid. And there are no gods left to help you now, Aelin Galathynius.'
Aelin smiled, and Goldryn burned brighter. 'I am a god.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
β
Is he dead?" he inquired. "He looks dead."
"No," snapped Maryse. "He's not dead."
"Have you checked? I could kick him if you want.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Izzy. My sister. She told me you liked me. Liked me, liked me.β
βLiked you, liked you?β Magnus buried his grin in the catβs fur. βSorry. Are we twelve now? I donβt recall saying anything to Isabelle . . .
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature.
β
β
Jennifer L. Armentrout (From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash, #1))
β
Live, Manon. Live.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
β
Some things are too terrible to grasp at once. Other things - naked, sputtering, indelible in their horror - are too terrible to really grasp ever at all. It is only later, in solitude, in memory that the realization dawns: when the ashes are cold; when the mourners have departed; when one looks around and finds oneself - quite to one's surprise - in an entirely different world.
β
β
Donna Tartt (The Secret History)
β
Magnus glanced at Alec and raised his eyebrows "Boo", he said. Jace was grinning. "Come on,surely you've got a phobia or two. What scares you?" Alec thought for a moment. "Spiders," he said. Clary turned to Luke. "Have you got a spider anywhere?"
Luke looked exasperated. "Why would I have a spider? Do I look like someone who would collect them?"
No offense," Jace said, "but you kind of do.
β
β
Cassandra Clare
β
A soft noise, almost a sob. Ash rose, hesitated, as if fighting the compulsion to obey. "I will always be your knight, Meghan Chase," he whispered in a strained voice, as if every moment he remained was painful to him. "And I swear, if there is a way for us to be together, I will find it. No matter how long it takes. If I have to chase your soul to the ends of eternity, I won't stop until I find you, I promise."
And then he was gone.
β
β
Julie Kagawa (The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey, #3))
β
She didn't understand that. "How can anyone be afraid of love?"
"How can they not?" His face was completely aghast. "When you love someone... truly love them, friend or lover, you lay your heart open to them. You give them a part of yourself that you give to no one else, and you let them inside a part of you that only they can hurtβyou literally hand them the razor with a map of where to cut deepest and most painfully on your heart and soul. And when they do strike, it's cripplingβlike having your heart carved out. It leaves you naked and exposed, wondering what you did to make them want to hurt you so badly when all you did was love them. What is so wrong with you that no one can keep faith with you? That no one can love you? To have it happen once is bad enough... but to have it repeated? Who in their right mind would not be terrified of that?
β
β
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, #11))
β
Just because you said dragon demons were extinctβ"
"I said mostly extinct."
Alec jabbed a finger toward him.
"Mostly extinct," he said, his voice trembling with rage, "is NOT
EXTINCT ENOUGH."
"I see," said Jace. "I'll just have them change the entry in the demonology textbook from 'almost extinct' to 'not extinct enough for Alec. He prefers his monsters really, really extinct.' Will that make you happy?
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests. Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and past your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain. You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new, if you had not first become ashes?
β
β
Friedrich Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
β
Then you're aping him. Valentine was one of the most arrogant and disrespectful men I've ever met. I suppose he brought you up to be just like him."
"Yes," Jace said, unable to help himself, "I was trained to be an evil mastermind from a young age. Pulling the wings off flies, poisoning the earth's water supply β I was covering that stuff in kindergarten. I guess we're all just lucky my father faked his own death before he got to the raping and pillaging part of my education, or no one would be safe.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
If You Forget Me
I want you to know
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
β
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Pablo Neruda
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The burning of a book is a sad, sad sight, for even though a book is nothing but ink and paper, it feels as if the ideas contained in the book are disappearing as the pages turn to ashes and the cover and binding--which is the term for the stitching and glue that holds the pages together--blacken and curl as the flames do their wicked work. When someone is burning a book, they are showing utter contempt for all of the thinking that produced its ideas, all of the labor that went into its words and sentences, and all of the trouble that befell the author . . .
β
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Lemony Snicket (The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #12))
β
There are a hundred trillion cells in the human body, and every single one of the cells of my body loves you. We shed cells, and grow new ones, and my new cells love you more than the old ones, which is why I love you more every day than I did the day before. Itβs science. And when I die and they burn my body and I become ashes that mix with the air, and part of the ground and the trees and the stars, everyone who breathes that air or sees the flowers that grow out of the ground or looks up at the stars will remember you and love you, because I love you that much.
β
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Cassandra Clare (City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6))
β
Anger is just anger. It isn't good. It isn't bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters. It's like anything else. You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice."
Constructive anger," the demon said, her voice dripping sarcasm.
Also known as passion," I said quietly. "Passion has overthrown tyrants and freed prisoners and slaves. Passion has brought justice where there was savagery. Passion has created freedom where there was nothing but fear. Passion has helped souls rise from the ashes of their horrible lives and build something better, stronger, more beautiful.
β
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Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
β
I don't hate you, Jace."
"I don't hate you, either."
She looked up at him, relieved. "I'm glad to hear thatβ"
"I wish I could hate you," he said. His voice was light, his mouth curved in an unconcerned half smile, his eyes sick with misery. "I want to hate you. I try to hate you. It would be so much easier if I did hate you. Sometimes I think I do hate you and then I see you and Iβ"
Her hands had grown numb with their grip on the blanket. "And you what?"
"What do you think?" Jace shook his head. "Why should I tell you everything
about how I feel when you never tell me anything? It's like banging my head on a
wall, except at least if I were banging my head on a wall, I'd be able to make myself stop."
Clary's lips were trembling so violently that she found it hard to speak. "Do you think it's easy for me?" she demanded.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Catching sight of himself in the long mirrors that ran along the walls, he stiffened in shock...His eyes were surrounded by black shadows, his shirt smeared with dried blood and filthy mud...
"Admiring yourself?" The Inquisitor's voice cut through his reverie. "You won't look so pretty when the Clave gets through with you."
"You do seem obsessed with my look...Could it be that you're attracted to me?"
"Don't be revolting...You could be my son.
β
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Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
Who knows how to make love stay?
1. Tell love you are going to Junior's Deli on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn to pick up a cheesecake, and if loves stays, it can have half. It will stay.
2. Tell love you want a momento of it and obtain a lock of its hair. Burn the hair in a dime-store incense burner with yin/yang symbols on three sides. Face southwest. Talk fast over the burning hair in a convincingly exotic language. Remove the ashes of the burnt hair and use them to paint a moustache on your face. Find love. Tell it you are someone new. It will stay.
3. Wake love up in the middle of the night. Tell it the world is on fire. Dash to the bedroom window and pee out of it. Casually return to bed and assure love that everything is going to be all right. Fall asleep. Love will be there in the morning.
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Tom Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker)
β
It's okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn't give you the right to deny any sense they might make. Nor does it give you a right to accuse someone of poorly expressing their beliefs just because you don't like what they are saying. Learn to recognize good writing when you read it, even if it means overcoming your pride and opening your mind beyond what is comfortable.
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Ashly Lorenzana