Protector Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Protector. Here they are! All 100 of them:

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Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary.
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Tamora Pierce (Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4))
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When people say a knight's job is all glory, I laugh and laugh and laugh. Often I can stop laughing before they edge away and talk about soothing drinks.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
β€œ
A friend had commented once that Neal had a gift for making someone want to punch him just for saying hello.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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How ghastly for her, people actually thinking, with their brains, and right next door. Oh, the travesty of it all.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one, that the shelter of a parent’s arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from this nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been.
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J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6))
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Military folk," Neal said with exaggerated patience, shaking his head. "The only way you know to solve problems is by beating them with a stick.
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Tamora Pierce (Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4))
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One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.
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Martin Luther King Jr.
β€œ
A vampire, like a lady, never reveals his true age.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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You are the Protector of the Small. You see real people in the humans and animals overlooked by your peers. There will always be work for you.
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Tamora Pierce (Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4))
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I never gossip. I observe. And then relay my observations to practically everyone.
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Gail Carriger (Timeless (Parasol Protectorate, #5))
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I'd like to find whoever taught the Stump that extra work builds character and push him down the stairs," Neal told Kel at lunch.
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Tamora Pierce (First Test (Protector of the Small, #1))
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It’s not like love at first sight, really. It’s more like… gravity moves. When you see her, suddenly it’s not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that’s a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother.
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Stephenie Meyer (Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3))
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I suppose he could have changed," Neal said dryly. "I myself have noticed my growing resemblance to a daffodil." The other pages snorted. Kel eyed her friend. "You do look yellow around the edges," she told him, her face quite serious. "I hadn’t wanted to bring it up." "We daffodils like to have things brought up," Neal said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "It reminds us of spring.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
β€œ
I'm sick of this. Call me what you like, say I'm without honor, I don't care. I'm not getting on any more horses to whack you people with a stick.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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You know, ogres only sound stupid. Most are pretty smart." "And it's a shallow person who judges anyone by the way they sound. I'm so shallow I'm surprised I don't reflect myself.
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Tamora Pierce (First Test (Protector of the Small, #1))
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People who are hurting don't need Avoiders, Protectors, or Fixers. What we need are patient, loving witness. People to sit quietly and hold space for us. People to stand in helpful vigil to our pain.
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Glennon Doyle Melton (Love Warrior)
β€œ
Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.
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Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight (Dark Knight Trilogy #2))
β€œ
VAMPIRES I see things you can't see WEREWOLVES I find things that hunt you FAERIES I am your protector SHAPESHIFTERS But even I can't protect you now.
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Kiersten White (Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1))
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The highest form of love is to be the protector of another person’s solitude.
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Rainer Maria Rilke
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There is a saying in the Islands. Beware the women of the warrior class, for all they touch is both decorative and deadly.-Yuki
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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And if wishes were pies, I`d weigh more than I do. Sir Myles of Barony Olau
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
β€œ
The white tiger will always be your protector, Kelsey. Good-bye priyatama.
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Colleen Houck (Tiger's Voyage (The Tiger Saga, #3))
β€œ
This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.
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Plato
β€œ
Balthazar pledged to die defending his royal house of Lumuatere. Finnikin swore to be their protector and guide for as long as he lived. Lucian vowed he would be the light whom they traveled toward in times of need.
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Melina Marchetta (Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles, #1))
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Cats were not, in her experience, an animal with much soul. Prosaic, practical little creatures as a general rule. It would suit her very well to be thought catlike.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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You are about as covert as a sledgehammer.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Don't let the rain drive you to the wrong shelter; the shade can turn out to be your protector and also your destroyer, and sometimes the rain is the perfect protector from the rain.
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Michael Bassey Johnson
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Single moms: You are a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a maid, a cook, a referee, a heroine, a provider, a defender, a protector, a true Superwoman. Wear your cape proudly.
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Mandy Hale (The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass)
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What would Ren do in Oregon? Would he get a job? What would he put on his resume? High Protector and former Prince of India?
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Colleen Houck (Tiger's Quest (The Tiger Saga, #2))
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Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatusβ€”the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier of the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others.
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Simone Weil
β€œ
I've said it before and I'll say it again, my lord. You are an evil man.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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Seniors get to do all the jolly things," Owen complained as they walked to archery practice that first day. Neal glared at the chubby second-year with all the royal disdain of a vexed lion. He was limping from a staff blow to the knee. "You are a bloody minded-savage," he informed Owen sternly. "I hope you are kidnapped by centaurs.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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My new knight mistress is famed for wielding sharp edges: Sword, Knife and Tongue!
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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Lord Maccon was built like a brick outhouse, with opinions twice as unmoving and often equally full of crap.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
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Beneath the surface of the protective parts of trauma survivors there exists an undamaged essence, a Self that is confident, curious, and calm, a Self that has been sheltered from destruction by the various protectors that have emerged in their efforts to ensure survival. Once those protectors trust that it is safe to separate, the Self will spontaneously emerge, and the parts can be enlisted in the healing process
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Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma)
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I have died and gone to the land of bad novels.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
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Well, label me very impressed and ship me to Carthak!
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Tamora Pierce (First Test (Protector of the Small, #1))
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He is clearly bookish. I did not follow a single word of their conversation at dinner last night, not one jot of it. He must be bookish.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Not too fast," called Raoul. "Let's not scare anyone." "His majesty said with all deliberate speed!" chirped the courier. He flinched under Lerant's glare. "That's how we're doing it," Raoul told him. "Deliberately.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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She filed the image away as an excellent and insulting question to ask the earl at an utterly inappropriate future moment.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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I was stark raving mad, and my family was too polite to mention it. That's what living with the Yamanis does to people. They get so well-mannered they won't mention you're crazy.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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He no longer needed me to be his protector, but he still wanted me.
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Andrea Cremer (Wolfsbane (Nightshade, #2; Nightshade World, #5))
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She moved with such purpose it was as though she walked with exclamation marks.
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Gail Carriger (Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2))
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She didn't need a protector or a rescuer. But she did need him.
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Alexandra Bracken (Passenger (Passenger, #1))
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Haven’t you ever noticed that people who win say it’s because the gods know they are in the right, but if they lose, it wasn’t the gods who declared them wrong? Their opponent cheated, or their equipment was bad.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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The vampire's eyes were open, and he was staring at her intently. It was as though he were trying to speak to her with simply the power of a glare. Alexia did not speak glare-ish.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Alexia figured, delightedly, that this meant he did, in fact, tend to traipse around his private apartments in the altogether. Marriage was becoming more and more of an attractive prospect.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Alric looked up at the thief with a scowl. β€œI just want to say for the record that as far as royal protectors go, you’re not very good.” β€œIt’s my first day,” Royce replied dryly. β€œAnd already I’m trapped in a timeless prison. I shudder to think what might have happened if you had a whole week.
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Michael J. Sullivan (Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2))
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My dearest girl,' said the vampire finally, examining Lord Maccon with an exhausted but appreciative eye, 'such a banquet. Never been one to favor werewolves myself, but he is very well equipped, now, is he not?' Miss Tarabotti gave him an arch look. 'My goodies,' she warned. Humans,' chuckled the vampire, 'so possessive.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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The ill-informed masses included her own family among their ranks, a family that specialized in being both inconvenient and asinine.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Fear is a good thing. It mean you're paying attention.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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She lifted her face to the stars. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir of two mighty bloodlines, protector of a once-glorious people, and Queen of Terrasen. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathyniusβ€”and she would not be afraid.
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Sarah J. Maas (Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3))
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Highland werewolves had a reputation for doing atrocious and highly unwarranted *things*, like wearing smoking jackets to the dinner table.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Weakness may excite tenderness, and gratify the arrogant pride of man; but the lordly caresses of a protector will not gratify a noble mind that pants for, and deserves to be respected. Fondness is a poor substitute for friendship.
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Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman)
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I may be a werewolf and Scottish, but despite what you may have read about both, we are not cads!
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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You do realise modern social mores exist for a reason?" "I was hungry, allowances should be made.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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You mortals are like fish swimming in a globe of glass. That globe is your world. You do not see beyond it.
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Tamora Pierce (Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4))
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Miss Tarabotti was not one of life's milk-water misses--in fact, quite the opposite. Many a gentleman had likened his first meeting with her to downing a very strong cognac when one was expecting to imbibe fruit juice--that is to say, startling and apt to leave one with a distinct burning sensation.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Stop playing verbal games with me, madam, or I shall go out into that ballroom, find your mother, and bring her here
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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[She] lost her patience, a thing she was all too prone to misplacing.
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Gail Carriger (Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4))
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These feelings you engender in me, my lord, are most indelicate. You should stop causing them immediately.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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A glass poured to air for the one who sits with us unseen; the patron and protector, the Crooked Warden, the Father of Necessary Pretexts. Thanks for deep pockets poorly guarded. Thanks for watchmen asleep at their posts. Thanks for the city to nurture us and the night to hide us. Thanks for friends to help us spend the loot.
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Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1))
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Ivy waved the wet handkerchief, as much as to say, words cannot possibly articulate my profound distress. Then, because Ivy never settled for meaningful gestures when verbal embellishments could compound the effect, she said, "Words cannot possibly articulate my profound distress.
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Gail Carriger (Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2))
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If he didn’t love so deeply, he couldn’t grieve so deeply. But he’s drowning in it.
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Dee Henderson (The Protector (O'Malley, #4))
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If arrogance were shoes, he'd never go barefoot.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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My father,” she admitted, β€œwas of Italian extraction. Unfortunately, not an affliction that can be cured.” She paused. β€œThough he did die.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Lord Maccon looked up. β€œGrovel, you say?” Lyall did not glance away from the latest vampire report he was perusing. β€œGrovel, my lord.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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His eyes are peculiar. There is nothing in them, like an eclair without the cream filling. It's wrong, lack of cream.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
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I stand here because of you, my Aslan, my Faye, my protectors and I make the promise that what you gave me, what you taught me, I will live those lessons. I cannot repay you for what you gave me. That's all I can do. All I can do is learn the lesson you taught me and go forward in my life good and pure and right." His voice dipped to a whisper in the microphone and he finished, "Thank you."
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Kristen Ashley (Breathe (Colorado Mountain, #4))
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Please, Lord Maccon, use one of the cups. My delicate sensibilities.” The earl actually snorted. β€œMy dear Miss Tarabotti, if you possessed any such things, you certainly have never shown them to me.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Mary’s childhood was rough. She was frequently beaten and chastised by the nuns who served as her protectors and brutalized by the older girls in the orphanage. Oh how I wept those first few years of my life. My tears came like tropical storms. Every pore in my body wept. I heaved and shuddered and sighed. Everything around me seemed dark and terrifying.
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Maria Nhambu (Africa's Child (Dancing Soul Trilogy, #1))
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One should do what one is best at on as large a scale as possible.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
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You picked the wrong girl to dominate, Dracula.
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Rebecca Zanetti (Fated (Dark Protectors, #1))
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I am entirely capable." "Of what, waddling up to someone and ruthlessly bumping into them?
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Gail Carriger (Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4))
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Madame Lefoux accepted a cup of tea and sat on another little settee, next to the relocated calico cat. The cat clearly believed Madame Lefoux was there to provide chin scratches. Madame Lefoux provided.
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Gail Carriger (Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2))
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it's your own fault for encouraging him..., you know. Now he thinks he's a human being. Neal of Queens cove
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
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Alexia,” she hissed to her friend, β€œthere are knees positively everywhere. What do I do?
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Gail Carriger (Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2))
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Sometimes we want to believe something so badly that we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of.
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Aaron B. Powell (Doomsday Diaries III: Luke the Protector)
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I am rather fond of ladybugs. They are so delightfully hemispherical.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
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Oh, Professor Lyall, are you making a funny? It doesn’t suit you.” The sandy-haired Beta gave Lady Maccon a dour look. β€œI am exploring new personality avenues.” β€œWell, stop it.” β€œYes, my lady.
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Gail Carriger (Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4))
β€œ
WE do try to eat," Raoul called back to her [Kel]. I go all faint if I don't get fed regularly. Only think of the disgrace to the King's Own if I fell from the saddle." "But there was that time in Fanwood," a voice behind them said. "That wedding in Tameran," added the blonde Sergeant Osbern, riding a horse-length behind Kel. "Don't forget when what's-his-name, with the army, retired," yelled a third. "Silence, insubordinate curs!" cried Raoul. "Do not sully my new squire's ears with your profane tales!" "Even if they're TRUE?" That was Dom. It seemed Neal wasn't the only family member versed in irony.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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For one brief, never-ending second, an entirely different path expanded behind the lids of my tear-wet eyes. As if I were looking through the filter of Jacob's thoughts, I could see exactly what I was going to give up, exactly what this new self-knowledge would not save me from losing. I could see Charlie and RenΓ©e mixed into a strange collage with Billy and Sam and La Push. I could see years passing, and meaning something as they passed, changing me. I could see the enormous red-brown wolf that I loved, always standing as protector if I needed him. For the tiniest fragment of a second, I saw the bobbing heads of two small, black-haired children, running away from me into the familiar forest. When they disappeared, they took the rest of the vision with them.
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Stephenie Meyer (Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3))
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The world is a goddamned evil place, the strong prey on the weak, the rich on the poor; I’ve given up hope that there is a God that will save us all. How am I supposed to believe that there’s a heaven and a hell when all I see now is hell.
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Aaron B. Powell (Doomsday Diaries III: Luke the Protector)
β€œ
Ryuu stepped forward. "Meryn, listen carefully. Elizabeth is not only your new sister, she will also be your Yoda. She will teach you and guide you in the ways of using the force, so that you will master paranormal politics. Learn well, young padawan." He clapped a hand on Meryn's shoulder.
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Alanea Alder (My Protector (Bewitched and Bewildered, #2))
β€œ
Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life.
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Tom Wolfe (The Bonfire of the Vanities)
β€œ
Well, my love,” said Alexia with prodigious daring to Lord Maccon, β€œshall we?” The earl started to move forward and then stopped abruptly and looked down at her, not moving at all. β€œAm I?” β€œAre you what?” She peeked up at him through her tangled hair, pretending confusion. There was no possible way she was going to make this easy for him. β€œYour love?” β€œWell, you are a werewolf, Scottish, naked, and covered in blood, and I am still holding your hand.” He sighed in evident relief. β€œGood. That is settled, then.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
β€œ
I mean to say, really, I am near to developing a neurosis - is there anyone around who doesn't want to study or kill me?" Floote raised a tentative hand. "Ah, yes, thank you, Floote." "There is also Mrs Tunstell, madam," he offered hopefully, is if Ivy were some kind of consolation prize. "I notice you don't mention my fair-weather husband." "I suspect, at this moment, madam, he probably wants to kill you." Alexia couldn't help smiling. "Good point.
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Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
β€œ
I kissed her," he explained, aggrieved. "Mmm, yes, I had the dubious pleasure of witnessing that, ah-hem, overly public occurrence." Lyall sharpened his pen nib, using a small copper blade that ejected from the end of his glassicals. "Well! Why hasn't she done anything about it?" the Alpha wanted to know. "You mean like whack you upside the noggin with that deadly parasol of hers? I would be cautious in that area if I were you.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
β€œ
Goodness gracious me,' exclaimed Alexia, 'what are you wearing? It looks like the unfortunate progeny of an illicit union between a pair of binoculars and some opera glasses. What on earth are they called, binocticals, spectoculars?
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
β€œ
He was so very large and so very gruff that he rather terrified her, but he always behaved correctly in public, and there was a lot to be said for a man who sported such well-tailored jackets---even if he did change into a ferocious beast once a month.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
β€œ
Alexia suspected Lord Maccon's handling was a tad more than was strictly called for under the circumstances, but she secretly enjoyed the sensation. After all, how often did a spinster of her shelf life get manhandled by an earl of Lord Maccon's peerage? She had better take advantage of the situation.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
β€œ
Mithros's spear, Kel!" he exclaimed. "When did you turn into a real girl?" "You said she was a girl already," muttered one of his cousins... "But not a girl-girl, with a chest and all!" protested Owen. ..."I've been a girl for a while, Owen," Kel informed him. "I never realized," her too outspoken friend replied. "It's not like you've got melons or anything, they're just noticeable.
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Tamora Pierce (Page (Protector of the Small, #2))
β€œ
And Harry remembered his first nightmarish trip into the forest, the first time he had ever encountered the thing that was then Voldemort, and how he had faced him, and how he and Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated. . . . And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one, that the shelter of a parent’s arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been before.
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J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6))
β€œ
Lady Maccon.” β€œBy George, Boots! How the deuce can you possibly tell that there is Lady Maccon?” queried the other top-hated gentleman. β€œWho else would be standing in the middle of a street on full-moon night with a raging ruddy fire behind her, waving a parasol about?” β€œGood point, good point.
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Gail Carriger (Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4))
β€œ
In this particular instance, he stroked her hand fondly. There was no attraction in the movement. "Sweetling," he had once said, "you are at no more risk with me in that regard than you are in danger of me unexpectedly biting you--both being equal impossibilities. In the one case, I do not possess the necessary equipment upon contact, in the other case you do not.
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Gail Carriger (Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1))
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Hey". Meghan's fingers on my arm nearly made me jump out of my skin. She smiled up at me, though her eyes were puzzled. "You seem awfully nervous this morning. Is something wrong?" Now or never, Ash. I took a deep breath. "No", I replied, turning to her, "Nothing's wrong, but I did want to ask you something. Come here a moment." Taking both her hands, I backed away to the middle of the floor, to an open space in front of the curtains. She followed, still wearing a bemused expression, and I paused a moment to gather my thoughts. "I don't...know how it's done in your world", I began, as she tilted her head at me. "I've seen it before...but, I'm not sure how to ask. It never really comes up in the Winter Court." Meghan blinked, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?" "I know my role here," I continued. "Whatever happens, I'm still your knight, and nothing will change that. You are queen of this realm, and I have no desire to rule. That said, fighting your enemies, standing with you no matter what comes at us. But I'm no longer satisfied with just being your knight and protector. I want something more". I stopped and took a deep breath, then slowly released her hands, stepped back and sank to one knee. "What I'm trying to ask is...Meghan Chase, will you do me the honor of marrying me?
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Julie Kagawa (The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey, #4))
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You aren't a bit romantic, are you?" he asked, amused. She sat back and stared at him. She was beginning to think that Neal required a keeper. He seemed to have the craziest ideas. "Romance? Isn't that love stuff?" She asked finally. "It's more than just love. It's color, and-and fire. You don't want things magnificent and filled with-with grandeur," he said, trying to make her understand. "You know, drama. Importance. Transcendent Passion." "I just want to be a knight," Kel retorted, putting her used tableware on her tray. "Eat your vegetables. They're good for you.
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Tamora Pierce (First Test (Protector of the Small, #1))
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Sir, people never wanted me to make it to squire. They won't like it any better if I become a knight. I doubt I'll ever get to command a force larger than, well, just me.' Raoul shook his head. 'You're wrong.' As she started to protest, he raised a hand. 'Hear me out. I have some idea of what you've had to bear to get this far, and it won't get easier. But there are larger issues than your fitness for knighthood, issues that involve lives and livelihoods. Attend,' he said, so much like Yayin, one of her Mithran teachers, that Kel had to smile. 'At our level, there are four kids of warrior,' he told Kel. He raised a fist and held up one large finger. 'Heroes, like Alanna the Lioness. Warriors who find dark places and fight in them alone. This is wonderful, but we live in the real world. There aren't many places without any hope or light.' He raised a second finger. 'We have knights- plain, everyday knights, like your brothers. They patrol their borders and protect their tenants, or they go into troubled areas at the king's command and sort them out. They fight in battles, usually against other knights. A hero will work like an everyday knight for a time- it's expected. And most knights must be clever enough to manage alone.' Kel nodded. 'We have soldiers,' Raoul continued, raising a third finger. 'Those warriors, including knights, who can manage so long as they're told what to do. These are more common, thank Mithros, and you'll find them in charge of companies in the army, under the eye of a general. Without people who can take orders, we'd be in real trouble. 'Commanders.' He raised his little finger. 'Good ones, people with a knack for it, like, say, the queen, or Buri, or young Dom, they're as rare as heroes. Commanders have an eye not just for what they do, but for what those around them do. Commanders size up people's strengths and weaknesses. They know where someone will shine and where they will collapse. Other warriors will obey a true commander because they can tell that the commander knows what he- or she- is doing.' Raoul picked up a quill and toyed with it. 'You've shown flashes of being a commander. I've seen it. So has Qasim, your friend Neal, even Wyldon, though it would be like pulling teeth to get him to admit it. My job is to see if you will do more than flash, with the right training. The realm needs commanders. Tortall is big. We have too many still-untamed pockets, too curse many hideyholes for rogues, and plenty of hungry enemies to nibble at our borders and our seafaring trade. If you have what it takes, the Crown will use you. We're too desperate for good commanders to let one slip away, even a female one. Now, finish that'- he pointed to the slate- 'and you can stop for tonight.
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Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
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The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breaches or fraud by the others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law. But a government that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man's deadliest enemy, from the role of of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against the victims deprived of the right of self-defense. Such a government substitutes for morality the following rule of social conduct: you may do whatever you please to your neighbor, provided your gang is bigger than his.
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Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
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Mistresses, have you ever noticed that when we disagree with a male – I hesitate to say β€˜man’ – or find ourselves in a position over males, the first comment they make is always about our reputations or our monthlies?” One of the new women snorted. Others snickered. Kel looked at the man, who was momentarily speechless. β€œIf I disagree with you, should I place blame on the misworkings of your manhood? Or do I refrain from so serious an insult” – she made a face – β€œfar more serious, of course, than your hint that I am a whore. Because my mother taught me courtesy, I only suggest that my monthlies will come long after your hair has escaped your head entirely.
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Tamora Pierce (Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4))