“
Always in life an idea starts small, it is only a sapling idea, but the vines will come and they will try to choke your idea so it cannot grow, and it will die and you will never know you had a big idea, an idea so big it could have grown thirty meters through the dark canopy of leaves and touched the face of the sky. The vines are people who are afraid of originality, of new thinking. Most people you encounter will be vines; when you are a young plant they are very dangerous. Always listen to yourself, Peekay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow convention. If you are wrong, no matter, you have learned something and you grow stronger. If you are right, you have taken another step toward a fulfilling life.
”
”
Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
“
It is better just to get on with the business of living and minding your own business and maybe, if God likes the way you do things, he may just let you flower for a day or a night. But don't go pestering and begging and telling him all your stupid little sins, that way you will spoil his day.
”
”
Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One: Young Readers' Condensed Edit)
“
I came to acquaint myself with the young lady over breakfast." Roland nodded to the tray.
"Acquaint yourself? Over breakfast? Is that a metaphor?" Weylin's whisper carried throughout the room, but Bryce shook his head and nodded to Paden's quivering frame.
"Not now, dude. We'll have a Language Arts class later," Bryce said out of the corner of his mouth.
”
”
Nichole Chase (Mortal Obligation (Dark Betrayal Trilogy, #1))
“
He looked at me and continued, ‘The vines are people who are afraid of originality, of new thinking; most people you encounter will be vines, when you are a young plant they are very dangerous.
”
”
Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
“
You see I am also Doctor of Music, it is all the same thing. I am too old and you are too young for Mister this or Professor that. You and me will not hide behind such a small importance. Just Peekay and Doc. I think this is a goot plan?
”
”
Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
“
Boyfriend sounds weird for you. It's so... young. But what else is there?'
If he had a star on his chest, Hunt knew it'd be glowing as he asked. 'Partner?'
'Not sexy enough.'
'Lover?'
'Does that come with a ruff and a lute?'
He swept a wing over her bare thigh. 'Anyone ever tell you that you're a pain in the ass?'
'Just ye olde lover.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2))
“
Light flared from the star at Bryce’s feet, from her chest, merging and blending, and then a hologram of a dark-haired young female—High Fae—appeared. As if she were addressing an audience. Bryce knew that heart-shaped face. The long hair. “Silene,” Bryce murmured. “From the carving?” Nesta asked, and as Bryce glanced to her, the warrior stepped through the wards as if they were nothing. Like she could have done so all along. Azriel didn’t try to stop her, but remained standing inside the tunnel mouth. “At the beginning of the tunnels,” Nesta said, “there was that carving of a young female … you said her name was Silene.” “The carving’s an exact likeness,” Bryce said, nodding. “But who is she?” Azriel said softly, voice tinged with pain, “She looks like Rhysand’s sister.” Nesta peered back at him with something like curiosity and sympathy. Bryce might have asked what the connection meant, but the hologram spoke.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
What’s a blow job?” Trevor asked, looking at both of us and setting the pumpkin down.
“Um,” I said. Having never dealt with children, I decided to let the seasoned expert handle this one.
“Bryce was talking about them but he didn’t seem to really know either,” Trevor added.
“It’s a … joke,” Faisal said. “Just a joke.”
“Like a gag?”
Faisal opened his mouth to say something but just nodded for a second before saying, “That’s definitely one way of looking at it, yes.”
“I heard a pretty good blow job earlier,” Trevor said.
”
”
Tyler James Smith (Unstoppable Moses)
“
As they tied the dirty piece of rag over my eyes, I would take three deep breaths. Immediately I would hear Inkosi-Inkosikazi’s voice, soft as distant thunder: ‘You are standing on the rock above the highest waterfall, a young warrior who has killed his first lion and is thus worthy to fight in the impi of Shaka, the greatest warrior king of all.’ I stood in the moonlight on the rock above the three waterfalls. Far below I could see the ten stones wet and glistening and the white water as it crashed through the narrow gorge beyond. I knew then that the person on the outside was only a shell, a presence to be seen and provoked. Inside was the real me, where my tears joined the tears of all the sad people to form the three waterfalls in the night country.
”
”
Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
“
You appeared as a cat the last time” was all Bryce said. All. She. Said. Hunt dared take his eyes off the Prince of the Chasm to find Bryce bowing her head. Aidas slid his slender hands into the pockets of his closely tailored jacket and pants—the material blacker than the Chasm in which he resided. “You were very young then.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1))
“
And after all that searching, someone finally answered. A Daglan who had been using his army of mystics to scour galaxies for our world. The Daglan promised him every reward, if only he could nudge my mother toward this moment, to use the Dread Trove to open a portal to the world he indicated. A step beside her, Nesta clicked her tongue in disgust. My mother did not question Pelias, her conspirator and ally, when he told her to will the Horn and Harp to open a doorway to this world. She did not question how and why he knew that this island, our misty home, was the best place to do it. She simply gathered our people, all those willing to conquer and colonize—and opened the doorway. In a chamber—this chamber, if the eight-pointed star on the floor was any indication, though the celestial carvings had not yet been added—beside red-haired Fae who looked alarmingly like Bryce’s father, Helena and Silene appeared, grown and beautiful, and yet still young—gangly. Teenagers. In the center of the chamber, a gate opened into a land of green and sunshine. And standing there among the greenery, waiting for them … “Oh fuck.” Bryce’s mouth dried out. “Rigelus.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
Nesta either didn’t know or didn’t care about the sword’s impact on Bryce as she surveyed the carvings. The one closest to them. A female, clearly Fae nobility from the ornate robes and fancy jewelry, stared out from the wall. As if she were addressing an audience, welcoming the newcomers to the tunnel. She was young and beautiful, yet stood with a presence that seemed regal. Long hair flowed around her like a silent river, framing her delicate, heart-shaped face. Bryce shook off the last of her dread and translated the inscription. “Her name was Silene.” Nesta peered at the writing beneath the image. “That’s all it says?” Bryce shrugged. “Old-school Fae. Lots of fancy titles and lineage. You know how they liked to preen.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
Light flared from the star at Bryce’s feet, from her chest, merging and blending, and then a hologram of a dark-haired young female—High Fae—appeared. As if she were addressing an audience. Bryce knew that heart-shaped face. The long hair. “Silene,” Bryce murmured.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
there was that carving of a young female … you said her name was Silene.” “The carving’s an exact likeness,” Bryce said, nodding. “But who is she?” Azriel said softly, voice tinged with pain, “She looks like Rhysand’s sister.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
He’d decided to Hel with it all when Bryce stiffened, her attention fixed on something beyond his wings. Hunt whirled, hand going to the knife at his thigh. He swore. This was not an opponent he could fight against. No one could. “Let’s go,” Hunt murmured, folding a wing around her as the black boat neared the quay. A Reaper stood atop it. Clothed and veiled in billowing black that hid all indication of whether the Reaper was male or female, old or young. Such things did not matter to Reapers. Hunt’s blood chilled to ice as the oarless, rudderless boat drifted right to the quay, utterly at odds with the elegant banners and flowers adorning every part of this city. The boat halted as if invisible hands tied it to the concrete walkway. The Reaper stepped out, moving so fluidly it was as if it walked on air. Bryce trembled beside him. The city around them had gone quiet. Even the insects had ceased their humming. No wind stirred the palms lining the quay. The banners hanging from the lampposts had ceased their flapping. The ornate flower wreaths seemed to wither and brown. But a phantom breeze fluttered the Reaper’s robes and trailing veil as it aimed for the small park beyond the quay and the streets past that. It did not look their way, did not halt. Reapers did not need to halt for anything, not even death. The Vanir might call themselves immortal, but they could die from trauma or sickness. Even the Asteri were killable. The Reapers, however … You could not kill what was already dead. The Reaper drifted by, silence rippling in its wake, and vanished into the city.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2))
“
This is becoming tedious,” the Ocean Queen said. “I did not come here to be ordered about by an imposter queen.”
“Call me what you want,” Bryce said, “but the longer we don’t act, the easier it will be for Rigelus and the rest of the Asteri to move against us.”
“Everything seems urgent to the young.”
“Yeah, I get that, but—”
“I was not done speaking.”
Bryce hid her wince as the Ocean Queen surveyed her. “You are young. And idealistic. And inexperienced.”
“Don’t forget ill qualified and always inappropriately dressed.”
The female cut her a warning glare. Bryce held up her hands in mock surrender.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3))
“
young, male voice asked, “Is that how you greet all your callers, Bryce Quinlan?” She knew that voice. Knew the lanky teenage body it belonged to, a shell to house an ancient behemoth. To house an Asteri. She’d seen and heard it on TV so many times she’d lost count. “Hello, Your Brilliance,” she whispered.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1))
“
his decisions in every second he spent fighting not to doze off in lecture, not to mention the long, sluggish walks between buildings as the weather grew steadily colder and the days greyer. Still, he’d thought sparring itself had always woken him up, so Rei was surprised when barely 20 minutes into the last training session with Christopher Lennon, the third year called a halt to their bout. “All right, stop.” Rei, having no way to pause in the massive punch he’d just thrown at the young man’s face, nearly choked as the blow ripped towards Lennon’s eyes. At the last possible moment, though, a dark hand snapped up, sliding fingers between Shido’s claws with impossible precision, taking hold and stopping the fist as absolutely as might a stone wall. The impact was jarring, and Rei actually grunted as the force transferred into the bones of his arm, making them throb. Standing up straight, he pulled the Device away carefully from Lennon’s hand, shaking his wrist out in an attempt to dissipate the lingering ache.
”
”
Bryce O'Connor (Iron Prince (Warformed: Stormweaver, #1))