Deborah Harkness Quotes

Just because something seems impossible doesn’t make it untrue,

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.

As far as I can tell there are only two emotions that keep the world spinning year after year...One is fear. The other is desire.

It is a blessing as well as a burden to love so much that you can hurt so badly when love is gone.

Yes, I see that you are behaving like a prince but that doesn't mean you won't behave like a devil at the first opportunity.

Sorry, we've got ghosts.

And happiness is always louder than sadness.

Magic is desire made real.

All that children need is love, a grown-up to take responsibility for them, and a soft place to land.

Se Souvenir du passe, et qu'il ya un avenir: Remember the past, and that there is a future.

My ideas about vampires may be romantic, but your attitudes toward women need a major overhaul.

I see you, even when you hide from the rest of the world. I hear you, even when you're silent.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed (Albert Einstein)

Memories were short and history unkind. It was the way of the world.

His full name is Matthew Gabriel Philippe Bertrand Sebastien de Clermont. He was also a very good Sebastien, and a passable Gabriel. He hates Bertrand and will not answer to Philippe.

Are you smelling me?” After yesterday I suspected that my body was giving him all kinds of information I didn't want him to have. “Don't tempt me,” he murmured.

If the butterfly wings its way to the sweet light that attracts it, it's only because it doesn't know that the fire can consume it.

As far as I can tell, there are only two emotions that keep the world spinning, year after year. One is fear. The other is desire.

I was planning on starting a new file on my computer with the title "Phrases That Sound One Way to Witches but Mean Something Else to Vampires.

the first requirement of war: allies must not kill each other.

With knot of one, the spell's begun. With knot of two, the spell be true. With knot of three, the spell is free. With knot of four, the power is stored. With knot of five, the spell with thrive. With knot of six, this spell I fix.

In every moment, for the rest of my life, I will be choosing you.

A ma vie de coer entier. Mon debut et ma fin. Se souvenir du passe, et qu'il ya un avenir. My whole heart for my whole life. With an alpha and an omega: my beginning and my end. Remember the past, and that there is a future.

If you truly love someone, you will cherish what they despise most about themselves.

All you have to do is be a good listener. Nobody really wants to keep secrets, not even the dead. People leave clues everywhere, and if you pay attention, you can piece them together.

I have a weakness for smart men.

Whoever can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead.

She was like a camera that had been chronically out of focus until someone came by and twisted the lenses into alignment.

You do angry. I just saw it. And you left at least one hole in my carpet to prove it.

We don’t lock up books in this house,” Philippe said, “only food, ale, and wine. Reading Herodotus or Aquinas seldom leads to bad behavior.

there’s nothing more powerful than human fear—not magic, not vampire strength. Nothing.

We kissed each other, long and deep, while my legs opened like the covers of a book.

Children needed love, a reliable source of comfort, and an adult willing to take responsibility for them.

Change is the only reliable thing in the world.

I would rather have had this moment with you—just this one night—than centuries with someone else...

Gallowglass returned to Sporrengasse with two vampires and a pretzel.

Desire urges me on as fear bridles me" Bruno.

Somewhere in the center of my soul, a rusty chain began to unwind. It freed itself, link by link, from where it had rested, unobserved, waiting for him. My hands, which had been balled up and pressed against his chest, unfurled with it. The chain continued to drop, to an unfathomable depth where there was nothing but darkness and Matthew. At last it snapped to its full length, anchoring me to a vampire. Despite the manuscript, despite the fact that my hands contained enough voltage to run a microwave, and despite the photograph, as long as I was connected to him, I was safe.

Normal' is a bedtime story-a fable-that humans tell themselves to feel better when faced with overwhelming evidence that most of what's happening around them is not 'normal' at all.

You’re impossible. Stop worrying about what other women do. Be your own extraordinary self.

You persist in this romantic vision of what it is to be a vampire, but despite my best efforts to curb it I have a taste for blood.

Desire urges me on, while fear bridals me.

You tell me that magic is just desire made real. Maybe spells are nothing more than words that you believe with all your heart,

I wanted to know how humans came up with a view of the world that had so little magic in it. I needed to understand how they convinced themselves that magic wasn’t important.

These days vampires gravitated toward particle accelerators, projects to decode the genome, and molecular biology. Once they had flocked to alchemy, anatomy, and electricity. If it went bang, involved blood, or promised to unlock the secrets of the universe, there was sure to be a vampire around.

In this room we understand why this war might be fought...it's about our common belief that no one has the right to tell two creatures that they cannot love each other--no matter what their species.

Be still,” he said, voice harsh. “I might not be able to control myself if you step away.

Scholars do one of two things when they discover information that doesn't fit what they already know. Either they sweep it aside so it doesn't bring their cherished theories into question or they focus on it with laserlike intensity and try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

In every ending there is a new beginning.

My life now has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Everything before was preamble. Now I have you. One day you will be gone, and my life will be over.

monsters always look just like ordinary men.

Be yourself-- Matthew Clairmont. Complete with your sharp vampire teeth and your scary mother, your test tubes full of blood and your DNA, your infuriating bossiness and your maddening sense of smell.

Occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile."..' Opportunity is fleeting, experiment dangerous, and judgement difficult.

To every question I have ever had, or ever will have, you are the answer.

Giving a woman your whole life is meaningless without giving her your whole heart as well.

That evening, rowing on the quiet river as sunset turned to dusk, I saw an occasional smoky smudge on the towpath, always slightly ahead of me, like a dark star guiding me home.

I trust my wife's judgement... That's what Philippe says about Granny, just before all hell breaks loose.

The strongest distinguishing characteristic of humans is their power of denial.

Ni muer ni viu ni no guaris, Ni mal no·m sent e si l’ai gran, Quar de s’amor no suy devis, Ni no sai si ja n’aurai ni quan, Qu’en lieys es tota le mercés Que·m pot sorzer o decazer.” “Not dying nor living nor healing, there is no pain in my sickness, for I am not kept from her love. I don’t know if I will ever have it, for all the mercy that makes me flourish or decay is in her power.

The most terrifying monsters always look just like ordinary men.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. —PHILIPPE DE CLERMONT, OFTEN ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES DARWIN

I’ve seen courage like yours before—from women, mostly.” Matthew continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Men don’t have it. Our resolve is born out of fear. It’s merely bravado.

You have always been a child between, a witch apart. But there is no path forward that does not have him in it. Whichever way you go, you must choose him.

With knot of one, the spell's begun. With knot of two, the spell be true. With knot of three, the spell is free. With knot of four, the power is stored. With knot of five, this spell will thrive. With knot of six, this spell I fix. With knot of seven, the spell will waken. With knot of eight, the spell will wait. With knot of nine, the spell is mine. With knot of ten, it begins again.

Within days they'd formed an unholy alliance with a foppish young French vampire in the Garden District who had implausibly golden hair and a streak of ruthlessness as wide as the Mississippi

There is more to the game than protecting your queen" Hamish said. "Why do you find it so difficult to remember that it's the king who's not expendable?" "The king just sits there, moving one square at a time.The queen can move so freely. I suppose I'd rather lose the game than forfeit her freedom

It’s one thing to wander in the darkness because you know no different, but it’s quite another to enjoy the light only to have it taken from you,

English vampires may not be as well behaved around witches as the American ones are.

Sir. My lord. Master Roydon." The young man blurted out most available titles except for "Your Majesty" and "Prince of Darkness." These were implied nonetheless.

fine initium novum,’” Matthew said, gazing upon the land of his father as though he had, at last, come home. “‘In every ending there is a new beginning.

Wordlessly I looked back at him, astonished that a kiss on the palm could be so intimate.

Decide what to do to survive, and do it.

For storms will rage and oceans roar, When Gabriel stands on sea and shore, And as he blows his wondrous horn, Old worlds die and new be born.

He walks through your future, but he's in the past as well. He's always in shadows, never in the light. And though he's dangerous, the shadowed man doesn't pose a threat to you.

Magic was nothing more than desire made real,

I saw the logic that they used, and the death of a thousand cuts as experimental scientists slowly chipped away at the belief that the world was an inexplicably powerful, magical place. Ultimately they failed, though. The magic never really went away. It waited, quietly, for people to return to it when they found the science wanting.

You have found a woman who is worthy of you, with courage and hope to spare, Matthaios.’ ‘I know,’ Matthew said, taking my hand. ‘Know this, too: you are equally worthy of her. Stop regretting your life. Start living it.

the wolf who wins is the wolf you feed. The evil wolf feeds on anger, guilt, sorrow, lies, and regret. The good wolf needs a diet of love and honesty, spiced up with big spoonfuls of compassion and faith. So if you want the good wolf to win, you’re going to have to starve the other one.

...I don't expect you to have no regrets about who you've lost along the way. How could you not have been loved before, when I love you so much?

I see you, even when you hide from the rest of the world. I hear you, even when you’re silent.” It was a pure definition of love.

The secret is that I may be the head of the Bishop-Clairmont family, but you are its heart,” he whispered. “And the three of us are in perfect agreement: The heart is more important.

Did you know that a witch's blood makes music? Like a siren who sings to the sailor, asking him to steer his ship into the rocks, the call of your blood could be my undoing-and yours.

Stop trying to be perfect. Try being real for a change.

No wonder Philippe always looked so exhausted,” he said ruefully when he was through. “It’s very fatiguing pretending you’re in charge when your wife actually rules the roost.

The king just sits there, moving one square at a time. The queen can move so freely. I suppose I’d rather lose the game than forfeit her freedom.

Before you I was nothing but dust and shadows. You brought me to life. And I cannot survive without you.

Je suis à votre commande, seigneur.

Be careful, daughter....You are a creature of the crossroads, neither here nor there. 'Tis a dangerous place to be.

Her bark is worse than her bite.

My experiences thus far had me planning to throttle the first Tudor historian I met upon my return for gross dereliction of duty.

I turned to leave, then whirled around and flung my arms around Philippe’s massive shoulders. How could such a man ever be broken? “What is it?” Philippe murmured, taken aback. “You will not be alone either, Philippe de Clermont,” I whispered fiercely. “I’ll find a way to be with you in the darkness, I promise. And when you think the whole world has abandoned you, I’ll be there, holding your hand.” “How could it be otherwise,” Philippe said gently, “when you are in my heart?

Matthew kept hinting that his desire - for blood, chiefly- was so strong that it put everything else at risk. But vampires weren’t the only creatures who had to manage such strong impulses. Much of what qualified as magic was simply desire in action. Witchcraft was different- that took spells and rituals. But magic? A wish, a need, a hunger too strong to be denied- these could turn into deeds when they cross a witch’s mind.

I cannot shield you from the challenges you will face. You will know great loss and danger, but also great joy. You may doubt your instincts in the years to come, but your feet have been walking this path since the moment you were born.

Once the world was full of wonders, but it belongs to humans now. We creatures have all but disappeared; daemons, vampires and witches. Hiding in plain sight, fearful of discovery, ill at ease even with each other. But as my father used to say: In every ending, there is a new beginning.

I watched in silence as the parts of Matthew I knew and loved—the poet and the scientist, the warrior and the spy, the Renaissance prince and the father—fell away until only the darkest, most forbidding part of him remained. He was only the assassin now. But he was still the man I loved.

Turn to me with all your heart. Do not refuse me because I am dark and shadowed. The fire of the sun has altered me. The seas have encompassed me. The earth has been corrupted because of my work. Night fell over the earth when I sank into the miry deep, and my substance was hidden.” The Moon Queen held a star in one outstretched palm. “From the depths of the water I cried out to you, and from the depths of the earth I will call to those who pass by me,” I continued. “Watch for me. See me. And if you find another who is like me, I will give him the morning star.

If you’re angry with me, say it. If I’ve done something you don’t like, tell me. If you want to end this marriage, have the courage to end it cleanly so that I might—might—be able to recover from it. Because if you keep looking at me as though you wish we weren’t married, you’re going to destroy me.

Nightmares are like Master Harriot’s star glass. They are a trick of the light, one that makes something distant seem closer and larger than it really is.” “Oh.” Jack considered Matthew’s response. “So even if I see a monster in my dreams, it cannot reach me?” Matthew nodded. “But I will tell you a secret. A dream is a nightmare in reverse. If you dream of someone you love, that person will seem closer, even if far away.

No, I’m a vampire.” Matthew stepped forward, joining Chris under the projector’s light. “And before you ask, I can go outside during the day and my hair won’t catch fire in the sunlight. I’m Catholic and have a crucifix. When I sleep, which is not often, I prefer a bed to a coffin. If you try to stake me, the wood will likely splinter before it enters my skin.” He bared his teeth. “No fangs either. And one last thing: I do not, nor have I ever, sparkled.” Matthew’s face darkened to emphasize the point. I

Sex and dominance. It’s what modern humans think vampire relationships are all about,” I said. “Their stories are full of crazed alpha-male vampires throwing women over their shoulders before dragging them off for dinner and a date.” “Dinner and a date?” Matthew was aghast. “Do you mean . . . ?” “Uh-huh. You should see what Sarah’s friends in the Madison coven read. Vampire meets girl, vampire bites girl, girl is shocked to find out there really are vampires. The sex, blood, and overprotective behavior all come quickly thereafter. Some of it is pretty explicit.” I paused. “There’s no time for bundling, that’s for sure. I don’t remember much poetry or dancing either.” Matthew swore. “No wonder your aunt wanted to know if I was hungry.” “You really should read this stuff, if only to see what humans think. It’s a public-relations nightmare. Far worse than what witches have to overcome.