Megan Whalen Turner: Trending quotes (page 2)

“All my life they had made choices for me, and I had resented it. Now the choice was mine, and once it was made, I would have no right to blame anyone else for the consequences. Loss of that privilege, to blame others, unexpectedly stung.”

“If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

“She's like a prisoner inside stone walls, and every day the walls get a little thicker, the doorways a little narrower."
"And?" Eddis prompted.
"Well," said Eugenides, "it's a challenge.”

“I knew I would be in the story somewhere," Eugenides interjected.
"Oh no," said Phresine, "This was a humble servant."
"Ouch."
"Though very courageous."
"Not me," whispered Eugenides to his pillow.”

“A thief never makes a noise by accident.”

“Sophos turned red, and I wondered about the circulation of his blood; maybe his body kept an extra supply of it in his head, ready for blushing.”

“… her queen danced like a flame in the wind, and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth…”

“There are a lot of things a person with two hands couldn't steal," Eddis said.
"So?"
"If it's impossible to steal them with two hands, it's no more impossible to steal them with one. Steal peace, Eugenides. Steal me some time.”

“But there are other words for privacy and independence. They are isolation and loneliness.”

“I sometimes believe his lies are the truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie.”

“… I wanted Ambiades to understand that I considered myself a hierarchy of one.”

“I love stupid plans.”

“It isn't deep," the Eddisian Ambassador said from the other side of the bed. He was leaning over the wound, looking critical and mildly disappointed. Eugenides didn't miss a beat.
"It is… too… deep!" he insisted, outraged.”

“I would very much like to strangle someone. Why don't you go away until I decide it isn't you?”

“I didn't really care much about anything, so I guess I felt fine.”

“He whines, he complains, he ducks out of the most obvious responsibility. He is vain, petty and maddening, but he doesn't ever quit.”

“What kind of man refers to himself as safely dead?”

“Before you make a decision," he said, "I want you to know that I love you.”

“That prison," I said with heartfelt sincerity, "Was absolutely the most awful thing that has happened to me in my entire life." I could tell by the way he looked at me that he thought my life had been filled with one awful thing after another.”