Jade Legacy Quotes

You'd think it would be easier to face death as you get older, but it doesn't work that way. You get more attached to life, to people you love and things that are worth living for.

When something has to be done, there's always a way to do it.

How do we do it?” Hilo sighed deeply. “You of all people already know the answer to that, Shae. We don’t handle this world. We make it handle us.

The way to defeat a chess master was not with greater genius, but by forcing her to play a different game.

Only children and gods are arrogant enough to judge what they can't understand. There's no point being afraid of their opinions.

In my experience, as long as your friends have a high opinion of you, it doesn’t hurt when your enemies have a low opinion, the lower the better.

Don't show off how much you hate a man until you're ready to be his enemy.

I think it’s natural in our forties to start wondering if we’re past the main events of our lives, or if there are still other mountains to climb.

The clan is my blood,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion, but perfectly steady. “And the Pillar is its master.

The mind cannot adjust quickly to a fundamental change in reality without breaking. If the moon vanished from the sky, people would not believe it; they would think it was a trick of light or clouds. Anden felt it would be a long time before he accepted the truth.

trust that had been so dramatically spilled could only be refilled one drop at a time.

Far do your enemies flee.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes terrible mistakes we can barely live with. But we learn from them. And maybe…” His voice collapsed. “Maybe we can forgive each other.

Jade warriors are young, and then they are ancient.

I was angry at you for a long time after you refused to wear jade. Of course you remember. Now, though… I’m thankful you’re not a Fist, Andy. I need—” Hilo’s voice faltered. “I need one of my brothers to live.

I couldn’t be Pillar without you, and I still can’t. We’ve both hurt each other because we were too stubborn about what we expected, and we paid badly for that. But what’s the point of life if we give up on the people we love?” He enfolded her into his arms and stroked her smooth hair. He kissed her on the forehead and cheeks and mouth. “Wen, will you be my Pillarman?

When is life ever like a story where the characters get exactly what they deserve, good or bad?

We don’t handle this world. We make it handle us.

The unexpected gentleness of the words affected Anden like a violent physical blow, rocking him back on his heels, but they broke down the dam in his throat.

Even the biggest tigers grow old, Hilo had once said. But even the oldest tiger was still a tiger.

I know some mistakes can’t ever be fixed, but we’ve got to go on, don’t we, and try to make the most of what’s left.

Kaul Shaelinsan, Weather Man of No Peak,” she said, “you can fuck off and die.

Don't ever make the mistake that I did. Don't show mercy.

You’d think it would be easier to face death as you get older, but it doesn’t work that way. You get more attached to life, to people you love and things that are worth living for.

Kaul-jen,” he said slowly, “may I have your permission to ask Shae-jen—” “Yes, for fuck’s sake, you have my blessing as Pillar.” Hilo sighed.

So many problems between people, even those who loved each other, came from a lack of communication and honesty.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes terrible mistakes we can barely live with. But we learn from them. And maybe… Maybe we can forgive each other.

Some people simply lived by following their natural inclinations. Others decided what they wished to be and then made themselves that way.

On his deathbed, the disgraced king is said to have lamented, "I'll be remembered not for who I was, but for what I wasn't. Perhaps it's for the best. Let the gods judge me for what I did not do.

It was strange, Shae thought -- Green Bones revered jade, but it was not the gems themselves that were worthy of reverence. Jade had meaning because of the type of person one had to become to wear it. Jade was the visible proof that a person had dedicated their life to the discipline of wielding power, to the dangers and costs of being a Green Bone.

Once, when he a child, Niko had asked his aunt Shae why she believed in the gods. She'd given him a strange but clear-eyed look. "Because I've felt them watching me." Niko had been disappointed. He'd expected a more rational explanation from the Weather Man. Now, at last, he understood her answer. With each step he took in the snow, Niko sank beneath the feeling of some terrible attention turning toward him, reaching from the other side of the world like a curse.

Only children and gods are arrogant enough to judge what they can’t understand.

Anyone who thinks they can get rid of us so easily deserves what’s coming to them. The clans are the spine of the country. We’re not going fucking anywhere.

I think maybe mistakes made out of love are the worst sort, and we’ve both made them.

He often wondered what he was missing, what he didn't know, what other possibilities lay behind doors that had been summarily closed for him when he was too young to know they existed.

Didn't you hear what I said, you weird fucker? What kind of Green Bone are you, anyway?" Spittle flew from Bero's mouth as his head jerked up. His shoulders were heaving. "I killed your father." "You didn't," Niko told him bluntly. "I never knew my father, but he was a good person, a respected Pillar, and one of the most powerful Green Bones anyone could name. That's what I've been told all my life, and it's what I choose to believe. The Mountain clan murdered him, but the truth of it is that a man like that can only be brought down by his own flaws, in the face of forces beyond anyone's control. Not by someone like you.

Shae gave a nod of silent understanding. Niko had put into words something she'd felt for a long time -- a sense that she struggled not only against the Mountain and all the other enemies of the clan, but against something even larger and more inexorable. Niko lowered his gaze to his hands. "I thought I could escape and find some other meaning in my life. But if the clan crumbles, either quickly or slowly, if it becomes as obsolete and irrelevant as people like Jim Sunto believe, then everything that made me, including my father's murder and my mother's execution, would be meaningless. Every drop of blood spilled, every sacrifice made, every child ever trained to wear jade as a Green Bone warrior of Kekon over centuries of history.... That's what the Pillar carries. That's our power, and ours alone." He looked back toward the school with a small, sad smile. "Ru tried so hard to tell me that I was a selfish fool to run away from it. He was right.

Then Toraf opens the passenger side door…Wait. That’s not Toraf. I’ve never seen this man before, yet he’s eerily familiar. His silhouette sitting next to Galen was definitely classic Syrena male, but the glare from the sun had hidden his face. I’d naturally just assumed that where there’s a Galen, there’s a Toraf. Now that his face is in full view though, I see that this man looks like a slightly older version of Galen. Slightly older as in slightly more jaded. Other than that, he could be his twin brother. It may be because he’s wearing some of Galen’s clothes, a wrinkled brown polo shirt and plaid shorts. But he shares other things, too, besides clothes. He’s handsome like Galen, with the same strong jaw and the same eyebrow shape and the way he’s wearing the same expression on his face that Galen is-that he’s found what he’s been looking for. Only, the stranger’s expression clearly divulges that he’s been looking for a lot longer than Galen has-and this man is not looking at me. And that’s when I know just exactly who he is. That’s when I believe the look in Galen’s eyes. That he didn’t lie to me, that he loves me. Because this man has to be Grom. Mom confirms it with a half cry, half growl. “No. No. It can’t be.” Even if she weren’t handcuffed to Rachel right now, I’m not sure she’d actually be able to move. Disbelief has a special way of paralyzing you. With every step the man takes toward Rachel’s car, he shakes his head more vigorously. It’s like he’s deliberately taking his time, drinking in the moment, or maybe he just can’t believe this moment is actually happening. Yep, disbelief is a cruel hag.

Hsing-chen went back to his dim meditation cell and sat down alone. He could still hear the melodious voices of the eight fairies echoing in his ears, and his eyes seemed to see their beautiful forms and faces as if they stood before him in the room. He found it impossible to control his racing thoughts – he could not meditate. He thought to himself: 'If a youth diligently studies the Confucian classics and serves his country as a minister of state or a general when he is grown into a man, he may dress in silks with an official seal upon his jade belt. He may look upon beautiful colors with the eyes and listen to beautiful voices with his ears. He may enjoy beautiful girls and leave an honorable legacy for his descendants. But a Buddhist monk has only a small bowl of rice and a cup of water. We read the sutras and meditate with our 108 mala beads hanging upon our necks. It is a lofty and profound endeavor, but it is terribly lonely. Though I may become enlightened, though I may master all the doctrines of the Mahayana path and sit in my master's seat to succeed him, once my spirit parts from my body in the flames of the funeral pyre, who will remember that a person named Hsing-chen ever lived upon this Earth?

When Wen was seventeen years old, she'd sharpened a kitchen knife and slashed the tires on her brother's bicycle. She never told Kehn, who gave on of the neighbor boys a beating over it. After that, Kaul Hilo came around their house in his car every day to pick up Kehn and Tar when the three of them went around town together, junior Fingers fresh out of the Academy, hungry to win jade and earn their reputations. Every day, Wen walked out to the Duchesse to bid her brothers goodbye and to welcome them home. Hilo once laughed as he pulled up to see her standing in the rain. He said she was the kindest and most devoted sister he'd ever met, that his own sister would never do such a thing. Wen had to admit with some chagrin that she had been a lovesick teenage girl, but she hadn't simply pined uselessly. A small thing like a ruined bicycle could change fate, just as a stone-eye could tip the scales in a clan war. She searched now for the one thing she could say that would make Hilo turn towards her, the way he used to when he rolled down the window and leaned across the seat with a grin. But she was too weary. 'I have to go back out there,' Hilo said. Wen turned onto her side. She felt the pressure of him lift off the mattress, and when the next burst of light from the fireworks struck the room, it lit empty space.

Nonreactive to bullshit

Don’t you remember we once sat out here all night before New Year’s Day, thinking we might both soon be dead? And here we are. So many good things have happened since then, and also so many terrible things that it’s hard to be afraid of anything anymore. Whatever’s going to happen will happen, so the most important thing is that we appreciate what we have and the people we care about.

She called the number that went straight to the Pillar’s study. Her father picked up on the first ring. Jaya said, “Hi, Da, did you see me on television?” “I swear to the gods,” Hilo shouted at her, “you’re trying to kill me from stress.

Shae knew the truth. She was not smarter than Ayt Mada; she never had been. The way to defeat a chess master was not with greater genius, but by forcing her to play a different game.

But friendship is something that can be abused. When that happens, it can lead to hard feelings and even enmity.

When we take our oaths as Green Bones, we say we’re ready to die for the clan. But living for the clan, every day, the way you have, Papi-jen—I think that’s even more of a sacrifice.

Numb fear swirled into a cold ball in the bottom of Shae’s stomach. She’d ruined their friendship, lost his respect and affection. She was terrible with men, she decided, truly the worst.

He made the mistake of telling Jaya about his new friend. “He sounds like a fat-mouthed little shithead,” his sister declared.

No more secrets,” she reminded him. “No more secrets,” he agreed. So many problems between people, even those who loved each other, came from a lack of communication and honesty.

Woon’s expression had been extremely apprehensive—one would’ve thought the man expected to be executed—and now it transformed into one of cautious joy. “Kaul-jen,” he said slowly, “may I have your permission to ask Shae-jen—” “Yes, for fuck’s sake, you have my blessing as Pillar.” Hilo sighed.

Someone who was always at the Pillar’s side, someone who gave him advice he needed to hear, who made everything run smoother. Who helped the Pillar to be the Pillar.” Hilo got up and went over to Wen. He held out a hand and raised her to her feet. “You’re that person,” he said quietly. “I couldn’t be Pillar without you, and I still can’t. We’ve both hurt each other because we were too stubborn about what we expected, and we paid badly for that. But what’s the point of life if we give up on the people we love?” He enfolded her into his arms and stroked her smooth hair. He kissed her on the forehead and cheeks and mouth. “Wen, will you be my Pillarman?

But Woon had seemed certain in his decision. “I’ve spent many years being ordered around by a tough little woman and managing thankless details,” he reminded her. “I’m well prepared for this job.” “That’s unfair of you,” Shae protested. “I’m hardly little.

Once, when he was a child, Niko had asked his aunt Shae why she believed in the gods. She’d given him a strange but clear-eyed look. “Because I’ve felt them watching me.

And it’s not always that people are bad in their hearts so much as bad in their decisions. A good person can go through something in their life, or be around the wrong sorts of people, and have their mind twisted.

He felt heavy and light at the same time, and the world seemed sharp and beautiful even in a way that jade senses could not improve. There was an ache in his chest—some of the grief that had been arriving in pieces—but also relief, and love. Love for the life pumping through his heart and veins, love for those dear to him—the ones who were gone and the ones who remained, and love also for his city, for Janloon—a place as fierce and honest, as messy and proud and enduring as its Green Bone warriors.

Anden sometimes wished he could travel back in time to reassure his eighteen-year-old self that he would find his own way after all—but then again, it would’ve been cruel, at that age, to learn of all the other struggles and sorrows that were still to come.

Sister Shae, when is life ever like a story where the characters get exactly what they deserve, good or bad?

Fried bread, thank the gods,” she said, and took a stick of it from the bag.