“
Kids. You gotta love them. I adore children. A little salt, a squeeze of lemon—perfect.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1))
“
People love dogs. You can never go wrong adding a dog to the story.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
Love is another kind of power, which shouldn't surprise you. Magic comes from emotions, among other things. And when two people are together, in that intimacy, when they really, selflessly love each other it changes them both. It lingers on in the energy of their lives, even when they are apart.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Like “love,” “hope” is one of those ridiculously disproportional words that by all rights should be a lot longer.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11))
“
I love being a wizard. Every day is like Disneyland.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11))
“
Pain is a byproduct of life. That’s the truth. Life sometimes sucks. That’s true for everyone. But if you don’t face the pain and the suck, you don’t ever get the other things either. Laughter. Joy. Love. Pain passes, but those things are worth fighting for. Worth dying for.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Vignette (The Dresden Files, #5.5))
“
HARRY DRESDEN—WIZARD Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment
”
”
Jim Butcher (Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1))
“
The married thing. Sometimes I look at it and feel like someone from a Dickens novel, standing outside in the cold and staring in at Christmas dinner. Relationships hadn't ever really worked for me. I think it's had something to do with all the demons, ghosts, and human sacrifice.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
For the sake of one soul. For one loved one. For one life." I called power into my blasting rod, and its tip glowed incandescent white. "The way I see it, there's nothing else worth fighting a war for.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
Whatever you do, do it for love. If you keep to that, your path will never wander so far from the light that you can never return.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have love, none of it means crap," he said promptly. "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love."
And the greatest of these is love," I finished. "That's from the Bible."
First Corinthians, chapter thirteen," Thomas confirmed. "I paraphrased. Father makes all of us memorize that passage. Like when parents put those green yucky-face stickers on the poisonous cleaning products under the kitchen sink.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
We all must die. There is no better way to do so than in the pursuit of something you love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5))
“
Laughter, like love, has power to survive the worst things life has to offer. And to do it with style.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
She gave me a hard look. "No one likes a wiseass, Harry."
"Are you kidding? As long as the wiseass is talking to someone else, people love 'em.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
Nearly everyone underestimates how powerful the touch of another person's hand can be. The need to be touched is something so primal, so fundamentally a part of our existence as human beings that its true impact upon us can be difficult to put into words. That power doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sex, either. From the time we are infants, we learn to associate the touch of a human hand with safety, with comfort, with love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7))
“
There’s power in the touch of another person’s hand. We acknowledge it in little ways, all the time. There’s a reason human beings shake hands, hold hands, slap hands, bump hands.
“It comes from our very earliest memories, when we all come into the world blinded by light and color, deafened by riotous sound, flailing in a suddenly cavernous space without any way of orienting ourselves, shuddering with cold, emptied with hunger, and justifiably frightened and confused. And what changes that first horror, that original state of terror?
“The touch of another person’s hands.
“Hands that wrap us in warmth, that hold us close. Hands that guide us to shelter, to comfort, to food. Hands that hold and touch and reassure us through our very first crisis, and guide us into our very first shelter from pain. The first thing we ever learn is that the touch of someone else’s hand can ease pain and make things better.
“That’s power. That’s power so fundamental that most people never even realize it exists.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
I love watching him think," Maeve told Lily. "You can almost hear that poor little hamster running and running on its wheel.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
Magic comes from the heart, from your feelings, your deepest expressions of desire. That's why black magic is so easy—it comes from lust, from fear and anger, from things that are easy to feed and make grow. The sort I do is harder. It comes from something deeper than that, a truer and purer source—harder to tap, harder to keep, but ultimately more elegant, more powerful. My magic. That was at the heart of me. It was a manifestation of what I believed, what I lived. It came from my desire to see to it that someone stood between the darkness and the people it would devour. It came from my love of a good steak, from the way I would sometimes cry at a good movie or a moving symphony. From my life. From the hope that I could make things better for someone else, if not always for me. Somewhere, in all of that, I touched on something that wasn't tapped out, in spite of how horrible the past days had been, something that hadn't gone cold and numb inside of me. I grasped it, held it in my hand like a firefly, and willed its energy out, into the circle I had created with the spinning amulet on the end of its chain.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2))
“
Love this job," Sanya murmured. "Just love it."
"I need to challenge more people to duels," Thomas said in agreement.
"Men are pigs," Murphy said.
"Amen," said Molly.
Lea gave me a prim look and said, "I've not sacrificed a holy virgin in ages.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
I love you." Why it worked right then, why the webbing of my godmother's spell frayed as though the words had been an open flame, I don't know. I haven't found any explanation for it. There aren't any magical words, really. The words just hold the magic. They give it a shape and a form, they make it useful, describe the images within. I'll say this, though: Some words have a power that has nothing to do with supernatural forces. They resound in the heart and mind, they live long after the sounds of them have died away, they echo in the heart and the soul. They have power, and that power is very real. Those three words are good ones.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
When a group comes together around something they love,” I said, “it changes things. It changes how they see one another. It becomes a community. Something greater than the sum of its parts.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
You must be Warden Ramirez."
This is the part where I got nervous. Ramirez loved women. Ramirez never shut up about women. Well, he never shut up about anything in general, but he'd go on and on about various conquests and feats of sexual athleticism and—
"A virgin?" Lara blurted. Lara blurted. She turned her head to me, grey eyes several shades paler than they had been, and very wide. "Really, Harry, I'm not sure what to say. Is he a present?
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
The world might be vicious and treacherous and deadly, but it couldn’t kill laughter. Laughter, like love, has power to survive the worst things life has to offer. And to do it with style.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Then you know that Sam was the true hero of the tale,' Sayna said. 'That he faced far greater and more terrible foes than he ever should have had to face, and did so with courage. That he went alone into a black and terrible land, stormed a dark fortress, and resisted the most terrible temptation of his world for the sake of the friend he loved. That in the end, it was his actions and his actions alone that made it possible for light to overcome darkness.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
Belief in a story,” Uriel said, “of good confronting evil, of light overcoming darkness, of love transcending hate.” He tilted his head. “Isn’t that where all faith begins?
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
The stupid part is that he isn't interested in... in getting serious. We get along. We have fun together. For him, that's enough. And it's so stupid for me to get hung up on him.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Small Favor (The Dresden Files, #10))
“
And it's deadly to us. We can inspire lust, but it's just a shadow. An illusion. Love is a dangerous force." He shook his head. "Love killed the dinosaurs, man."
I'm pretty sure a meteor killed the dinosaurs, Thomas."
He shrugged. "There's a theory making the rounds now that when the meteor hit it only killed off the big stuff. That there were plenty of smaller reptiles running around, about the same size as all the mammals at the time. The reptiles should have regained their position eventually, but they didn't, because the mammals could feel love. They could be utterly, even irrationally devoted to their mates and their offspring. It made them more likely to survive. The lizards couldn't do that. The meteor hit gave the mammals their shot, but it was love that turned the tide.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
This creature serves you?" Sanya asked.
"This one and about a hundred smaller ones. And five times that many part-timers I can call in once in awhile." I thought about it. "It isn't so much that they serve me as that we have a business arrangement that we all like. They help me out from time to time. I furnish them with regular pizza."
"Which they...love," Sanya said.
Toot spun in a dizzy, delighted circle on one heel, and fell onto his back with perfectly unself-conscious enthusiasm, his tummy sticking out as far as it could. He lay there for a moment, making happy, gurgling sounds.
"Well," I said. "Yes."
Sanya's eyes danced, though his face was sober. "You are a drug dealer. To tiny faeries. Shame.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
You can’t go around making people’s choices for them. Not if you love them.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16))
“
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under "Wizards." Believe it or not, I'm the only one there. My ad looks like this:
HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment
You'd be surprised how many people call just to ask me if I'm serious.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1))
“
Everyone,” she said, “thinks that hate and love are somehow opposite forces. They are not. They are the same force, facing opposite directions.” She glanced aside at me. “Love is a fire, my Knight. Love turned the wrong way has killed as many as hate. Reason, young wizard, is the opposite of hate, not love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
The words first. Damned near everything begins with words.
"I am," I breathed, and suddenly the ice was clear of my mouth.
"I am Harry..." I panted, and the pain redoubled.
And I laughed. As if some freak who never loved enough to know loss could tell me about pain.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
Why?” I asked him tiredly. “What would it have changed? What could you possibly have said that would have made a difference?”
“That I was your brother, Harry,” he said. “That I loved you. That I knew a few things about denying the dark parts of your nature. And that we would get through it.” He put his elblows on his knees and rested his forehead on his hands. “That we’d figure it out. That you weren’t alone.”
Stab.
Twist.
He was right. It was just that simple.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
Love you. That should have been simple enough to say. But the words stuck hard in my throat. I’d never said them to anyone I didn’t lose,
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
That", I said, "is an awfully lovely woman. I thought I should let you know, kid, in case your inexperience had blinded you to the fact."
"Lying," Ramirez stated, blushing. "Evil.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
Please, help me. Young werewolves in love. I turned to walk into the house, moving carefully.
I had never much believed in God. Well, that's not quite true. I believed that there was a God, or something close enough to it to warrant the name if there were demons, there had to be angels, right? If there was a Devil, somewhere, there had to be a God. But He & I had never really seen things in quite the same terms.
All the same. I flashed a look up at the ceiling. I didn't say or think any words, but if God was listening, I hoped he got the message nonetheless. I didn't want of these children getting themselves killed.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2))
“
But… all I said was that I was scared."
After what you got to experience? That's smart, kid," I said. "I'm scared, too. Every time something like this happens, it scares me. But being strong doesn't get you through. Being smart does. I've beaten people and things who were stronger than I was, because they didn't use their heads, or because I used what I had better than they did. It isn't about muscle, kiddo, magical or otherwise. It's about your attitude. About your mind."
She nodded slowly and said, "About doing things for the right reasons."
You don't throw down like this just because you're strong enough to do it," I said. "You do it because you don't have much choice. You do it because it's unacceptable to walk away, and still live with yourself later."
She stared at me for a second, and then her eyes widened. "Otherwise, you're using power for the sake of using power."
I nodded. "And power tends to corrupt. It isn't hard to love using it, Molly. You've got to go in with the right attitude or…"
Or the power starts using you," she said. She'd heard the argument before, but this was the first time she said the words slowly, thoughtfully, as if she'd actually understood them, instead of just parroting them back to me. Then she looked up. "That's why you do it. Why you help people. You're using the power for someone other than yourself.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
Everyone thinks that hate and love are somehow opposite forces. They are not. They are the same force, facing opposite directions... Love turned the wrong way has killed as many as hate.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
Graves aren't for the dead. They're for the loved ones the dead leave behind them. Once those loved ones have gone, once all the lives that have touched the occupant of any given grave had ended, then the grave's purpose was fulfilled and ended. I suppose if you looked at it that way, one might as well decorate one's grave with an enormous statue or a giant temple. It gave people something to talk about, at least. Although, following that logic, I would need to have a roller coaster, or maybe a Tilt-A-Whirl constructed over my own grave when I died. Then even after my loved ones had moved on, people could keep having fun for years and years. Of course, I'd need a slightly larger plot.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
You can have everything in the world, but if you don’t have love, none of it means crap,” he said promptly. “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
your ability to comprehend your environment is very strongly defined by your belief in a number of illusions. Time. Truth. Love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8))
“
Love will be the downfall of God himself.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have love, none of it means crap. - Thomas Raith
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
You're going to have to take care of yourself," Karrin said quietly. "Over the next few weeks. Rest. Give yourself a chance to heal. Keep the wound on your leg clean. Get to a doctor and get that arm into a proper cast. I know you can't feel it, but it's important that--"
I stood, leaned over the bed, and kissed her on the mouth.
Her words dissolved into a soft sound that vibrated against my lips. Then her good arm slid around my neck, and there wasn't any sound at all. It was a long kiss. A slow kiss. A good one. I didn't draw away until it came to its end. I didn't open my eyes for a moment after.
"...oh...," she said in a small voice. Her hand slid down my arm to lie upon mine.
"We do crazy things for love," I said quietly, and turned my hand over, fingers curling around hers.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
I hurled my fear and my loneliness, my love and my respect, my rage and my pain. I made of my thoughts a hammer, infused with the fires of creation and tempered in the icy power of the darkest guardian the earth had ever known.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
Home, like love, hate, war, and peace, is one of those words that is so important that it doesn't need more than one syllable. Home is part of the fabric of who humans are. Doesn't matter if you're a vampire or a wizard or a secretary or a schoolteacher; you have to have a home, even if only in principle-there has to be a zero point from which you can make comparisons to everything else. Home tends to be it.
That can be a good thing, to help you stay oriented in avery confusing world. If you don't know where you feet are planted, you've got no way to know here you're heading when you start taking steps. It can be a bad thing, when you run into something so different from home that it scares you and makes you angry. That's also part of being human.
But there's a deeper meaning to home. Something simpler, more primal. It's where you eat the best food because other predators can't take it from you very easily there. It's where you can your mate are the most intimate. Its where your raise your children, safe against a world that can be horrible things to them. It's where you sleep, safe. It's where you relax. It's where you dream. Home is where you embrace the present and plan the future. It's where the books are. And more than anything else, it's where you build the world that you want.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16))
“
Graves aren’t for the dead. They’re for the loved ones the dead leave behind them. Once those loved ones have gone, once all the lives that have touched the occupant of any given grave had ended, then the grave’s purpose was fulfilled and ended.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
I didn’t follow her right away. She didn’t look back. Stab. Twist. God, I love being a wizard.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8))
“
I used to think I loved it. But now I realize that it’s just dependency.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5))
“
Like 'love,' 'hope' is one of those ridiculously disproportional words that by all rights should be a lot longer." (Harry Dresden - "Turn Coat")
”
”
Jim Butcher
“
Home, like love, hate, war, and peace, is one of those words that is so important that it doesn’t need more than one syllable.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16))
“
Hospital waits are bad ones. The fact that they happen to pretty much all of us, sooner or later, doesn’t make them any less hideous. They’re always just a little too cold. It always smells just a little bit too sharp and clean. It’s always quiet, so quiet that you can hear the fluorescent lights - another constant, those lights - humming. Pretty much everyone else there is in the same bad predicament you are, and there isn’t much in the way of cheerful conversation. And there’s always a clock in sight. The clock has superpowers. It always seems to move too slowly. Look up at it and it will tell you the time. Look up an hour and a half later, and it will tell you two minutes have gone by. Yet it somehow simultaneously has the ability to remind you of how short life is, to make you acutely aware of how little time someone you love might have remaining to them.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Small Favor (The Dresden Files, #10))
“
My brother the vampire, whose kiss was a slow death sentence, had a stable and loving relationship with a girl who was crazy about him. By contrast, I could barely talk to a woman, at least about anything pertaining to a relationship. Given that my only long-term girlfriends had faked their own death, died, and broken free of enslaving enchantments to end the relationship, the empirical evidence seemed to indicate that he knew something I didn’t. Keep your life tonight, Harry. Complicate it tomorrow.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
It’s dark, close, cold, and intensely creepy down there. The fact that it was inhabited by things that had no love for mankind and potential radioactivity to boot didn’t do much to boost its tourism industry.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
Chicago. It’s insane and violent and corrupt and vital and artistic and noble and cruel and wonderful. It’s full of greed and hope and hate and desire and excitement and pain and happiness. The air sings with screams and laughter, with sirens, with angry shouts, with gunshots, with music. It’s an impossible city, at war with itself, every horrible and wonderful thing blending together to create something terrifying and lovely and utterly unique. I
”
”
Jim Butcher (Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13))
“
So many terrible things are done for love,” Mab’s voice said. “For love will men mutilate themselves and murder rivals. For love will even a peaceful man go to war. For love, man will destroy himself, and that right willingly.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
What we hadn’t known about, back then, was pain. Sure, we’d faced some things as children that a lot of kids don’t. Sure, Justin had qualified for his Junior de Sade Badge in his teaching methods for dealing with pain. We still hadn’t learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you’re just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something. Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There’s the little empty pain of leaving something behind—graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There’s the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There’s the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn’t give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There’s the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens. And if you’re very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realize that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last—and yet will remain with you for life. Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don’t feel it. Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it’s a big part, and sometimes it isn’t, but either way, it’s part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you’re alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
That was silly, to think that they would not love each other—but sometimes humans are slow to figure things out, because they are heart-stupid. You are, too. That’s okay. Just get a dog. Dogs can teach you all kinds of things about your heart.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Brief Cases (The Dresden Files, #15.1))
“
Nearly everyone underestimates how powerful the touch of another person’s hand can be. The need to be touched is something so primal, so fundamentally a part of our existence as human beings that its true impact upon us can be difficult to put into words. That power doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with sex, either. From the time we are infants, we learn to associate the touch of a human hand with safety, with comfort, with love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7))
“
You almost got yourself killed," she said, but her voice had softened a few shades. I noticed that she hadn't moved her hand from the other side of Billy's chest and he was looking up at her with an expectant expression. She fell silent, and they stared at one another for a minute. I saw her swallow.
Please help me. Young werewolves in love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2))
“
when they really, selflessly love each other it changes them both. It lingers on in the energy of their lives, even when they are apart.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
of good confronting evil, of light overcoming darkness, of love transcending hate.” He tilted his head. “Isn’t that where all faith begins?
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
He shook his head. “Love killed the dinosaurs, man.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Hell's bells," I snarled, taking an involuntary step back. "Right here? Now? You could have given me a couple of minutes to get clear, dammit."
"And what fun would that be?" Maeve asked, pushing out her lower lip in a pout. "I am who I am, too. I love violence. I love treachery. I love your pain - and the best part, the part I love most, is that I am doing it for your own good." Her eyes gleamed white all the way around her irises. "This is me being one of the good guys.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
There are people who love you, Faith. Or who one day will. Even if you can't see them beside you, right here, right now, they're out there. But if you let the dark get into your eyes, you might never find them. So it's best to keep a little light with you, along the way.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Restoration of Faith (The Dresden Files, #0.5))
“
Look, Spanky," I said to Sharkface. "I'm a little busy to be tussling with every random weirdo who is insecure about his junk. Otherwise I would just love to smash you with a beer bottle, kick you in the balls, throw you out through the saloon doors, the whole bit. Why don't you have your people contact my people, and we can do this maybe next week?"
"Next week is your self-deprecation awareness seminar," Thomas said.
I snapped my fingers. "What about the week after?"
"Apartment hunting."
"Bother," I said. "Well, no one can say we didn't try.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14))
“
Sanya,” I said. “Who did I get cast as?” “Sam,” Sanya said. I blinked at him. “Not . . . Oh, for crying out loud, it was perfectly obvious who I should have been.” Sanya shrugged. “It was no contest. They gave Gandalf to your godmother. You got Sam.” He started to leave and then paused. “Harry. You have read the books as well, yes?” “Sure,” I said. “Then you know that Sam was the true hero of the tale,” Sanya said. “That he faced far greater and more terrible foes than he ever should have had to face, and did so with courage. That he went alone into a black and terrible land, stormed a dark fortress, and resisted the most terrible temptation of his world for the sake of the friend he loved. That in the end, it was his actions and his actions alone that made it possible for light to overcome darkness.” I
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
My magic. That was at the heart of me. It was a manifestation of what I believed, what I lived. It came from my desire to see to it that someone stood between the darkness and the people it would devour. It came from my love of a good steak, from the way I would sometimes cry at a good movie or a moving symphony. From my life. From the hope that I could make things better for someone else, if not always for me.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2))
“
There’s a theory making the rounds now that when the meteor hit it only killed off the big stuff. That there were plenty of smaller reptiles running around, about the same size as all the mammals at the time. The reptiles should have regained their position eventually, but they didn’t, because the mammals could feel love. They could be utterly, even irrationally devoted to their mates and their offspring. It made them more likely to survive. The lizards couldn’t do that. The meteor hit gave the mammals their shot, but it was love that turned the tide.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
As I walked toward the front door, a little motion to the left caught my eye. Jenny Sells stood in the hallway, a silent wraith. She regarded me with luminous green eyes, like her mother’s, like the dead aunt whose namesake she was. I stopped and faced her. I’m not sure why.
“You’re the wizard,” she said, quietly. “You’re Harry Dresden. I saw your picture in the newspaper, once. The Arcane.”
I nodded.
She studied my face for a long minute. “Are you going to help my mom?”
It was a simple question. But how do you tell a child that things just aren’t that simple, that some questions don’t have simple answers—or any answer at all?
I looked back into her too-knowing eyes, and then quickly away. I didn’t want her to see what sort of person I was, the things I had done. She didn’t need that. “I’m going to do everything I can to help your mom.”
She nodded. “Do you promise?”
I promised her.
She thought that over for a moment, studying me. Then she nodded. “My daddy used to be one of the good guys, Mr. Dresden. But I don’t think that he is anymore.” Her face looked sad. It was a sweet, unaffected expression. “Are you going to kill him?”
Another simple question.
“I don’t want to,” I told her. “But he’s trying to kill me. I might not have any choice.”
She swallowed and lifted her chin. “I loved my Aunt Jenny,” she said. Her eyes brightened with tears. “Momma won’t say, and Billy’s too little to figure it out, but I know what happened.” She turned, with more grace and dignity than I could have managed, and started to leave. Then said, quietly, “I hope you’re one of the good guys, Mr. Dresden. We really need a good guy. I hope you’ll be all right.” Then she vanished down the hall on bare, silent feet.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1))
“
Raith smiled. "There. You already feel yourself weakening. I've taken thousands like you, lovely child. Taken them and broken them. There was nothing they could do. There is nothing you can do. You were made to feel desire. I was made to use it against you. It is the natural cycle. Life and death. Mating and death. Predator and Prey."
Raith leaned closer with each word, and brushed his lips against Murphy's throat as he spoke. "Born mortal. Born weak. And easily taken."
...
"And that's only a taste, child. When you know what it is to be truly taken later this night, you will understand that your life ended the moment I wanted you.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Home, like love, hate, war, and peace, is one of those words that is so important that it doesn’t need more than one syllable. Home is part of the fabric of who humans are. Doesn’t matter if you’re a vampire or a wizard or a secretary or a schoolteacher; you have to have a home, even if only in principle—there has to be a zero point from which you can make comparisons to everything else. Home tends to be it. That can be a good thing, to help you stay oriented in a very confusing world. If you don’t know where your feet are planted, you’ve got no way to know where you’re heading when you start taking steps. It can be a bad thing, when you run into something so different from home that it scares you and makes you angry. That’s also part of being human. But there’s a deeper meaning to home. Something simpler, more primal. It’s where you eat the best food because other predators can’t take it from you very easily there. It’s where you and your mate are the most intimate. It’s where you raise your children, safe against a world that can do horrible things to them. It’s where you sleep, safe. It’s where you relax. It’s where you dream. Home is where you embrace the present and plan the future. It’s where the books are. And more than anything else, it’s where you build that world that you want.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16))
“
We still hadn’t learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you’re just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something. Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There’s the little empty pain of leaving something behind—graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There’s the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There’s the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn’t give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There’s the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens. And if you’re very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realize that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last—and yet will remain with you for life. Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don’t feel it.
”
”
Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files Books 7-12)
“
Please, help me. Young werewolves in love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2))
“
I had read fiction, and myths, and looked at pictures on the backs of movies that couldn’t be played anymore. But in the end, none of it meant much. Problems just had to be lived through.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Then you know that Sam was the true hero of the tale,” Sanya said. “That he faced far greater and more terrible foes than he ever should have had to face, and did so with courage. That he went alone into a black and terrible land, stormed a dark fortress, and resisted the most terrible temptation of his world for the sake of the friend he loved. That in the end, it was his actions and his actions alone that made it possible for light to overcome darkness.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Changes (The Dresden Files, #12))
“
Laughter, like love, has power to survive the worst things life has to offer.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Aurora turned her lovely face fully toward me and regarded me with deep, quiet eyes. “Yes.” Unease gnawed at my belly as she continued. “The strong conquer and the weak are conquered. That is Winter. That is what you have learned.” She leaned closer and said, quietly emphatic, “That is what makes you dangerous. Do you see?
”
”
Jim Butcher (Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4))
“
growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you’re just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something. Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There’s the little empty pain of leaving something behind—graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There’s the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There’s the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn’t give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There’s the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
The world might be vicious and treacherous and deadly, but it couldn’t kill laughter. Laughter, like love, has power to survive the worst things life has to offer.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Graceland is, in many ways, Chicago’s memory. The graves there mark the resting places of titans of industry, holy men, gangsters, politicians, near saints, and madmen and murderers. Tales of tragedy, of vast hubris, of bitter greed and steadfast love, are represented in the markers that stand over the graves of thousands.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
May your tongue be tied to the truth!’ they used to curse, and a fearsome curse it was.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Zaeli decided that she had better leave the beach, go back to the hotel—her proper place, a sort of zoo built to contain the foreigners, where the local people could be amused by them but not have to put up with them too
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Evil food smells amazing—which is proof either that there is a Satan or some equivalent out there, or that the Almighty doesn’t actually want everyone to eat organic tofu all the time. I can’t decide.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Chili dogs, funnel cakes, fried bread, majorly greasy pizza, candy apples, ye gods. Evil food smells amazing—which is proof either that there is a Satan or some equivalent out there, or that the Almighty doesn’t actually want everyone to eat organic tofu all the time. I can’t decide.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Love killed the dinosaurs, man.” “I’m pretty sure a meteor killed the dinosaurs, Thomas.” He shrugged.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
My feet are my chairs,” she answered crankily. “I feed on the air. I have nothing; therefore, I have everything.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Fuel a love spell with rage and you’re likely to get some odd side effects, for example.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
Granted, the battle harness and the P90 she carried (illegally, if that mattered at this point) made her a little lumpier and pointier than the dictates of romance typically mandated for a love interest, but all things considered, I didn’t mind.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17))
“
Mister Sunshine. The archangel Uriel.
His gaze was focused exclusively on Michael, and his expression was anguished.
'You need not do this,' he said, his voice low, urgent. 'You have given enough and more than enough already.'
'Uriel,' Michael said, nodding his head deeply. 'I know.'
The angel held up his hand. 'If you do this, I can take no action to protect you,' he said. 'And this creature will be free to inflict upon you such pain as even you could not imagine.'
A sudden, sunny smile lit Michael’s face. 'My friend ...'
Uriel blinked, and rocked slightly, as if the words had struck him with physical force.
'... thank you,' Michael continued. 'But I’m not the Carpenter who set the standard.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15))
“
We still hadn’t learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you’re just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something. Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There’s the little empty pain of leaving something behind – graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There’s the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There’s the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn’t give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There’s the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens. And if you’re very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realize that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last – and yet will remain with you for life. Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living.
”
”
Jim Butcher (White Night (The Dresden Files, #9))
“
The place didn’t look much like a family dwelling, really. It looked like a rich man’s love nest, a secluded little getaway nestled back in the trees of the peninsula and safe from spying eyes. Or an ideal location for a novice sorcerer to come to try out his fledgling abilities, safe from interruptions. A good place for Victor Sells to set up shop and practice
”
”
Jim Butcher (Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1))
“
Home, like love, hate, war, and peace, is one of those words that is so important that it doesn’t need more than one syllable. Home is part of the fabric of who humans are. Doesn’t matter if you’re a vampire or a wizard or a secretary or a schoolteacher; you have to have a home, even if only in principle—there has to be a zero point from which you can make comparisons to everything else. Home tends to be it.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16))
“
When was the last time you could taste and feel some little lovely’s cries?’ I regarded her without any expression and said, in a gentle voice, ‘Technically? When I killed Aurora.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8))
“
For the sake of one soul. For one loved one. For one life.’ I called power into my blasting rod, and its tip glowed incandescent white. ‘The way I see it, there’s nothing else worth fighting a war for.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3))
“
You can have everything in the world, but if you don’t have love, none of it means crap,’ he said promptly. ‘Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6))
“
Pain is everywhere. I failed, and we have been betrayed, attacked in my own home.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))
“
Lie with me here a moment and look at the sky. When we’re apart and missing one another, we can look at the sky and remember that the same sun shines on us both.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love ( The Dresden Files, #11.5, Outlander, #8.5, Kushiel's Legacy, #1.5, Phèdre's Trilogy, #1.5))