“
Boys do stupid things to feel like men, no matter how old they are.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Realm Breaker (Realm Breaker, #1))
“
Alright, macho babe boy, I'm not some little ditz to bat my eyelashes at the buff stud in black leather. Don't try your he-man tactics with me. I'll have you know, in my office, I'm known as the ball-breaker. (Amanda)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter #1))
“
Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.
”
”
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
“
That's what life is about, doing as good as you can. When the times comes for them to lay you down in the long black hole, they can say one thing: 'He did as good as he could.' That's the best thing you can say for a man. Horse breaker or yard sweeper, let them say the poor boy did it good as he could.
”
”
Ernest J. Gaines (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman)
“
Running. She was always running. Like a rabbit chased by coywolv. Always hunting for some new safe bolt hole, and every time, the soldier boys found her, and forced her to rabbit again. The doctor was wrong. There was no place to hide, and she’d never be safe as long as she remained close to the Drowned Cities.
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
I think it suits you. You’re not Evie to me. Evie is someone’s friend. Eve is the woman I want screaming my name while I’m inside you.” Oh my God...
”
”
Laurie Roma (Nyght's Eve (Breakers' Bad Boys #2))
“
She’d been so busy worrying about soldier boys and villagers she’d forgotten the jungle had hunters of its own, and now she was going to die for it.
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
Doctor Mahfouz was always yammering on about how everyone had humanity in them. From Mahlia’s experience, the doctor was sliding high, but now, as she looked at this sergeant named Ocho, she wondered if there was some bit of softness in this hard scarred boy that she might be able to work.
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
It’s still a load. If there was balance, the soldier boys would all be dead, and we’d be sitting pretty in the middle of the Drowned Cities, shipping marble and steel and copper and getting paid Red Chinese for every kilo. We’d be rich and they’d be dead, if there was such a thing as the Scavenge God, or his scales. And that goes double for the Deepwater priests. They’re all full of it. Nothing balances out.
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
Sometimes it amazed him. Lanky Thom with his white hair and mustaches, who had been a Queen’s lover once, and more willingly than himself, not to mention more than a lover, if you believed half he said. Square-jawed Harnan with that tattoo on his cheek and more elsewhere, who had been a soldier all his life. Juilin with his bamboo staff and his sword-breaker on his hip, who thought himself as good as any lord even if the idea of carrying a sword himself still made him uneasy, and fat Vanin, who made Juilin look a bootlicker by comparison. Skinny Fergin, and Gorderan, nearly as wide in the shoulders as Perrin, and Metwyn, whose pale Cairhienin face still looked like a boy’s despite being years older than Mat. Some of them followed Mat Cauthon because they thought he was lucky, because his luck might keep them alive when the swords were out, and some for reasons he was not really sure of, but they followed. Not even Thom had ever more than protested an order of his. Maybe Renaile had been more than luck. Maybe his being ta’veren did more than dump him in the-middle of trouble. Suddenly he felt... responsible... for these men. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Mat Cauthon and responsibility did not go together. It was unnatural.
”
”
Robert Jordan (A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, #7))
“
And the only explanation I can now think of does not entirely satisfy me; but such as it is, I will give it. Mr. Covey enjoyed the most unbounded reputation for being a first-rate overseer and negro-breaker. It was of considerable importance to him. That reputation was at stake; and had he sent me—a boy about sixteen years old—to the public whipping-post, his reputation would have been lost; so, to save his reputation, he suffered me to go unpunished.
”
”
Frederick Douglass (Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass: By Frederick Douglass & Illustrated)
“
The boy started to thrash and cry. A tiny bundle of bones and scars, freckles and red hair. Just another human who would grow up to become a monster.
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
In the bright sunshine of the next morning, the waves rolled in from the blue Atlantic. Frank and Joe, in bathing trunks, dashed across the beach and dived into the breakers. “Terrific!” Joe yelled, riding in on the crest of a wave. “Where’s Chet?” “Getting breakfast!” Frank shouted as he swam. “Since when can he wait to eat?
”
”
Franklin W. Dixon (The Hidden Harbor Mystery (Hardy Boys, #14))
“
Adam threw himself into the middle of the pentagram.
Curiously, there was no sound here, not in any reasonable way. The end of Blue's cry was muffled, as if it had been shoved under water. The air was still around him. It was as if time itself had become a sluggish thing, barely existing. The only true sensation he felt was that of electricity--the barely perceptible tingly of a lightning storm.
Neeve had said that it wasn't about the killing, that it was about sacrifice. It was obvious that stymied Whelk completely.
But Adam knew what sacrifice meant, more than he thought Whelk or Neeve had ever had to know. He knew it wasn't about killing someone or drawing a shape made of bird bones.
When it came down to it, Adam had been making sacrifices for a very long time, and he knew what the hardest one was.
On his terms, or not at all.
He wasn't afraid.
Being Adam Parrish was a complicated thing, a wonder of muscles and organs, synapses and nerves. He was a miracle of moving parts, a study in survival. The most important thing to Adam Parrish, though, had always been free will, the ability to be his own master.
This was the important thing.
It had always been the most important thing.
This was what it was to be Adam.
Kneeling in the middle of the pentagram, digging his fingers into the soft, mossy turf, Adam said, "I sacrifice myself."
Gansey's cry was agonized. "Adam, no! No!"
On his terms, or not at all.
I will be your hands, Adam thought. I will be your eyes.
There was a sound like a breaker being thrown. A crackle. Beneath them, the ground began to roll.
”
”
Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1))
“
Down at the foamy shoreline, where small tight waves explode against black rocks, a lifeguard with feet wedged in the wet and vaguely tangerine sand stands shirtless like a magnificent sea-Jesus. An ill-timed journey into a breaker knocks a boy on his little back. A bald man throws a tennis ball for his Labrador and a second, unrelated dog bounds in after it. Through a gauze of mist a brunette—tall, and from where we’re sitting seemingly riddled with breasts—kicks water on the sunlit torso of her blond companion. There are three other drinkers in the place, already tethered to the sunbleached bar. It is eleven a.m. Slumped in his cumbersome mechanised wheelchair that squeaks somewhere down by the left back wheel when he’s doing pressure lifts, Aldo squints out from sand-whipped windows into the tumour of searing light. He turns to me and says, ‘I’m nobody’s muse.’ I think: That’s a great line right there. I take out my notebook and when he shoots me an outraged look I say, ‘That’s right, motherfucker. I’m writing it down.
”
”
Steve Toltz (Quicksand)
“
The Boy’s head was spinning. Raul was real, and quite possibly not kindly disposed to him, as Marama’s potential heir and jail-breaker. The sailors worshiped Marama, who controlled the tides and commanded them through dreams? The Geolwe collected clouds and lived in the sky? And did the captain just say there were mountains in the sea? Did he mean under the water? Downing the drink in front of him, he began to laugh. It was all just so hopelessly un-real. Anselt and the captain stared for a moment, then found his mirth infectious. Before long they were laughing too, and the sound of their merriment sailed through the night and out to greet the rolling waves, wrapping itself around the ship like a cloud.
”
”
J.J. Gadd (Lunation (Lunation Series, #1))
“
Suddenly she felt someone- Most likely the Good wife, and boy, had she ever underestimated the intestinal fortitude of that lady- running for the switches which governed the circuit-breakers in her head. Goody had seen tendrils of smoke starting to seep out through the cracks in the closed doors of those panels, had understood what they meant, and was making a final, desperate effort to shut down the machinery before the motors overheated and the bearings froze.
there was an intolerably bright flash inside her head and then the lights went out. She did not faint prettily, like the heroine of a florid stage play, but was snapped brutally backward like a condemned murderer who has been strapped into the hotseat and has just gotten his first jolt of juice.
”
”
Stephen King (Gerald's Game)
“
The Duration
Here they are are on the beach where the boy played
for fifteen summers, before he grew too old
for French cricket, shrimping and rock pools.
Here is the place where he built his dam
year after year. See, the stream still comes down
just as it did, and spreads itself on the sand
into a dozen channels. How he enlisted them:
those splendid spades, those sunbonneted girls
furiously shoring up the ramparts.
Here they are on the beach, just as they were
those fifteen summers. She has a rough towel
ready for him. The boy was always last out of the water.
She would rub him down hard, chafe him like a foal
up on its legs for an hour and trembling, all angles.
She would dry carefully between his toes.
Here they are on the beach, the two of them
sitting on the same square of mackintosh,
the same tartan rug. Quality lasts.
There are children in the water, and mothers patrolling
the sea's edge, calling them back
from the danger zone beyond the breakers.
How her heart would stab when he went too far out.
Once she flustered into the water, shouting
until he swam back. He was ashamed of her then.
Wouldn't speak, wouldn't look at her even.
Her skirt was sopped. She had to wring out the hem.
She wonders if Father remembers.
Later, when they've had their sandwiches
she might speak of it. There are hours yet.
Thousands, by her reckoning.
”
”
Helen Dunmore
“
Callie rode with Frank in the convertible, while Joe piled in with Iola and Chet. They drove to a spot just north of Barmet Bay, called Gremlin Beach, which had become popular for surf-riding because of its high swells. “What a day for surf-birds!” Joe cried as the foursome jumped out onto the clean white stretch of sand. An onshore breeze was blowing, and the waves from some distant storm were piling into high-crested breakers. Two boats came into view, kicking up plumes of spray.
”
”
Franklin W. Dixon (A Figure in Hiding (Hardy Boys, #16))
“
Theren grinned. “Is that how this trip is going to be? Can’t say I expected that out of the Chain Breaker.” “You didn’t get it out of the Chain Breaker,” Gavin said. “You got it out of Gaspar. And Gaspar has issues.” “I don’t have issues, boy.” “See? He has issues. He can’t even refer to me by my first name.
”
”
D.K. Holmberg (The Paper Dragon (The Chain Breaker, #5))
“
Maybe it’s because I haven’t had sex in over six months—” “Three,” she corrected as she closed her eyes. “We made the bet three months ago.” “I know, angel. But I haven’t slept with anyone since I met you.
”
”
Laurie Roma (Dante's Angel (Breakers' Bad Boys, #3))
“
The only one in the valley who was working was Mooney Wright.
Harrison leaned over and kneaded his hands roughly. He was wary of Mooney. Mooney was a strong one, not subject to weakness at all. He had done only one grievous act, in Harrison's mind. He had taken Lorry and the boys from him.
For a man to be jealous of his daughter was a damnable thing, Harrison thought, though he realized he had been jealous of Lorry for years. It was to her that he had let his heart go out, yes, back when she was a small thing.
”
”
John Ehle (The Land Breakers)
“
Haole Had she grown up in any other part of America, Jennifer Doudna might have felt like a regular kid. But in Hilo, an old town in a volcano-studded region of the Big Island of Hawaii, the fact that she was blond, blue-eyed, and lanky made her feel, she later said, “like I was a complete freak.” She was teased by the other kids, especially the boys, because unlike them she had hair on her arms. They called her a “haole,” a term that, though not quite as bad as it sounds, was often used as a pejorative for non-natives. It imbedded in her a slight crust of wariness just below the surface of what would later become a genial and charming demeanor.1
”
”
Walter Isaacson (The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race)
“
Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against—then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you’d better get wise to it. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted—and you create a nation of law-breakers—and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.
”
”
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
“
I’ll miss you, Gray.”
A rumble rises off his chest. “Yeah? Try forgetting me while you’re at it. You’ll be better off.”
I don’t bother responding. With that final blow, a gate slams shut between us. The clang ripples through me, solidifying what I’ve been trying to deny. This is the end of us. But this has always been the story of a girl desperately in love with a boy. Irrevocably and unrequited.
I’m ready to leave these well-worn pages behind.
”
”
Harloe Rae (Breaker)
“
mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent —” “You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7))
“
She was like some sort of mythical fairy that no man should be allowed to possess.
”
”
Laurie Roma (Hammer's Fall (Breakers' Bad Boys #1))
“
She deserved far better than a roughneck fighter. Kali was the type of woman who needed candlelight and roses, not to be bent over, taken like an animal and fucked hard like he craved. No, he couldn’t do that with a woman like his Kali.
”
”
Laurie Roma (Hammer's Fall (Breakers' Bad Boys #1))
“
the CO came in. I made a move. “At ease,” he said. “Basilone, you are a bastard breaker of hearts and killer of men. Am I right?
”
”
Jim Proser (I'm Staying with My Boys: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC)
“
That is seriously unhygienic, Johnny," Gibsie stated with a frown. "Letting her sleep on your bed like that?" He shuddered. "Fucking rank, lad." "You're one to talk about unhygienic," I growled, swinging around to face him. "She's cleaner than you." I shot him a dirty look before adding, "At least Sook doesn’t puke all over herself in her sleep and roll it into my Ma's couch." "You promised you wouldn’t bring it up again," he choked out, looking wounded. "Promise breaker.
”
”
Chloe Walsh (Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1))
“
I want to go back to Coraline because I can't leave her alone. I'm her curse breaker. I can't be another person she loses. I want to be the person who proves that she can be loved, loudly and endlessly, without it killing me.
”
”
Monty Jay (The Oath We Give (Hollow Boys, #5))
“
That what I am, Hex?" He hums, turning around to face me, his hands cupping my face, "Your curse breaker?" "You are everything, Silas Hawthorne. Everything." I lean into his touch, smiling as I press my lips to his thumb, "Even if you are painting your office that ugly-ass orange color.
”
”
Monty Jay (The Oath We Give (Hollow Boys, #5))