Kushiel's Avatar Quotes

“We speak of stories ending, when in truth it is we who end. The stories go on and on.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“We are all these things [...]. Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty...and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights. ”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“What is fear but courage's shadow?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Truly, it is in loss that we learn a thing's true value.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“It's the same questions we ask of our existence, and the answer is always the same. The mystery lies not in the question nor the answer, but in the asking and answering themselves, over and over again, and the end is engendered in the beginning. ”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“We pay for sins we do not remember, and seek to do a will we can scarce fathom. That is what it is, to be a god's chosen. ”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I know what you are. I've always known from the beginning, Kushiel's Chosen. It is folly, to make claim on one whom the gods have marked for their own. And unlike the others, I am no fool, to grasp at that which burns to the touch. What you have given..." she raised one hand, palm upward, the garnet seal dangling at her wrist, "... I hold in an open hand.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“But to force growth is to kill it.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“As often as not, we forge our own chains. And from those, not even Adonai Himself can free us. We must do it ourselves.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I understood pain. It is the price of living, and of loving well,”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Avevo Joscelin, il mio Compagno Perfetto, la bussola su cui era fisso il mio cuore.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“C'è perspicacia nella follia.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty… and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“What is fear, but courage’s shadow?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Fear and lies fester in darkness. The truth may wound, but it cuts clean.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Glielo spiegai; non a parole, ma nel linguaggio della carne, di labbra, lingua e mani, del respiro accelerato e del pulsare del sangue nelle vene, nell'umore salato del desiderio. È la stessa domanda che poniamo alla nostra esistenza, e anche la risposta è sempre la stessa. Il mistero non è nella domanda e neppure nella risposta, ma nel continuare a domandarsi e a rispondersi, perché la fine è generata dall'inizio.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“That kiss, I cannot describe. It was like a poem, a prayer, a homecoming unlooked-for. It was like dungeon walls crumbling to reveal a glimpse of sky. It”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“There are ties that bind more complex than blood.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I cannot help it that Kushiel’s Dart drives me to violent desires; I am an anguissette, and destined to find my greatest pleasure mingled with pain.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“It is the same questions we ask of our existence, and the answer is always the same. The mystery lies not in the question nor the answer, but in the asking and answering themselves, over and over again, and the end is engendered in the beginning. That much, I had learned.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I turned in his arms, and whispered, “Joscelin Verreuil, I would die without you.” “Probably.” He smiled again. “Of melodrama, if naught else.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I thought as much. Kushiel uses his conscience hard.” Melisande’s regard was unchanged. “You are bound for Iskandria. The Menekhetans are subtle, and Lord Amaury Trente is not. You have a gift for knowledge, and are skilled in the arts of discretion. Whether or not you bear me hatred, my son is innocent of it. If you are bound to see me rot in this gilded cage, then I charge you with his welfare.” To impart suffering without compassion… “You cannot.” My voice was shaking. “I have done all I might. The debt between us is cleared.” “No.” Melisande shook her head with terrible gentleness. “It will never be cleared, Phèdre nó Delaunay. We are bound together. Have you not realized as much?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I thought about Imriel de la Courcel. What would it be like, at ten years old, to learn that everything you had believed about your life was a lie? To learn that you were a traitor’s get, that your very existence was part and parcel of an unthinkable scheme, and people you’d never met would gladly see you dead?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Joscelin?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“I had Joscelin, my Perfect Companion, the compass by which I fixed my heart.

No one could ask more.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty… and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights. It is all we can do to try. It is enough.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“... where battle prevails, women must grieve.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“You should tell them,” Joscelin said shortly. “Tell them the truth. Fear and lies fester in darkness. The truth may wound, but it cuts clean.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“How strange it must be, I thought, to be wed not merely as husband and wife but Cruarch and Queen, trading men’s lives and the wealth of nations as love-tokens.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar

“Beauty inspires love; so it is said, in Terre d’Ange. Was it done that we might find this world worthy of loving?”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar