“There are some things, once they are done, that we can never question, because if we did, we wouldn't be able to go on. And we have to go on, every single day.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Even the worst feeling, with time and familiarity, became tolerable.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Would you have this?” the Protectorat hissed at his son.
Rafael's gaze narrowed in a slow inspection while she stared defiantly back. Rafael's gaze faltered, shot briefly toward Leon, and then down. His answer was obvious: no.
And in spite of everything, in the face of all the other more important dangers that threatened her, it still stung that someone, some boy, found her ugly. Gaia burned with sudden hate for all of them.
The Protectorat saw. He smiled slightly.
“I thought not,” said the Protectorat, releasing her with a flick. He turned back toward his family. “I can't thrust her on any family I know, no matter what her genes are. She's a freak, not a hero. I'd rather make a hero out of Myrna Silk.”
Leon had been standing tensely throughout this exchange. “I'd take Gaia,” Leon said, his low voice resonating in the space.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“What happened to your face?' he asked. 'When I was little, my grandmother was making candles and she had a big vat of hot beeswax in the backyard,' she said. 'I walked into the vat.' Usually that ended the conversation. 'I don't remember it,' she added. 'How old were you?' he asked. She tilted her face slightly, watching him. 'Ten months.' 'You were walking at ten months?' he asked. 'Not very well, apparently,' she said dryly.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“When you decide something's right, there's nothing that can stop you from doing it.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“There are many ways to be a criminal or hero. Don't forget that.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Be good, Gaia,” Capt. Grey told her, his voice grave. She still refused to look at him, but she could feel the heated flush of anger again in her cheeks. “Cooperate with the guards. For your own sake,” he continued.
“Be good yourself, Captain,” she said bitterly. “If you know how.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Though she could not see his shadowed eyes clearly, she sensed an emptiness in there that matched the controlled composure of his other features. It chilled her.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“As she walked through the dark, stepping softly through the wet stones, she looked ahead to where the first cautious star managed to blink through the clouds.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“She pivoted right, and sensed the vast, open space of the wasteland stretching before her under the opaque sky, a darkness as thin and final as the velvet lining of a shroud.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“The tinkle of a wind chime stirred from over a window. Purple and white phlox cascaded cheerfully over the top of a nearby stone wall. Sunlight sifted through the weave of her straw hat, casting freckles of light on her nose and cheeks that shifted, out of focus, as she walked.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“That was a sauna parlor, there, where I found you," the baker said. "They'll just think you were working the late shift."
Gaia was baffled. "A sauna parlor?"
She saw the baker and his wife hesitate.
The girl clarified in her open, childish voice. "He means it's a brothel."
The baked clapped a hand to his forehead.
"What?" the girl said. "It's a very discreet, high-class brothel.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Todos somos vulnerables, sobre todo cuando amamos a alguien.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“She waited, unwilling to meet his eyes, hoping he would go on. When he didn't, the silence stretched between them like invisible cobwebs. In the dimmest part of her, she realized she might have wishes, too, elusive wishes that belonged more to a girl in a garden than they did to a captive.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“You always have a choice, Gaia. You can always say no.” His voice was strangely hollow. “They might kill you for it, but you can always say no.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Unutma, hepimiz savunmasızız. Özellikle de birini seviyorsak.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Nothing was right with her parents gone, no matter how much she'd tried to go on without them.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“You know what? You re pretty good at pushing people away from you. Did you know that? Maybe that's why you had only one friend growing up.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
“Once I'm gone, be careful who you trust. Use your wits, Gaia," the woman said. "Remember we're all vulnerable. Especially if we love someone."
"You've got that wrong," Gaia said, thinking of her parents.
"It's love that makes us strong.”
― Caragh M. O'Brien, quote from Birthmarked
Caragh M. O'Brien
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“People don't know when they are happy. They're never so unhappy as they think they are.”
― Marcel Proust, quote from Swann's Way
“You're asking yourself, Can I give this child the best possible upbringing and keep her out of harm's way her whole life long? The answer is no, you can't. But nobody else can either. Not a state home, that's for sure. For heaven's sake, the best they can do is turn their heads while the kids learn to pick locks and snort hootch, and then try to keep them out of jail. Nobody can protect a child from the world. That's why it's the wrong thing to ask, if you're really trying to make a decision."
So what's the right thing to ask?"
Do I want to try? Do I think it would be interesting, maybe even enjoyable in the long run, to share my life with this kid and give her my best effort and maybe, when all's said and done, end up with a good friend.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from The Bean Trees
“What can I give you, Aislinn? Shall I weave flowers into your hair?"
He opened his hand, letting go of her hair. An iris blossom sat in the palm of his hand. "Shall I bring you necklaces of gold? Delicacies mortals can only dream of? I'll do all those things anyway. Don't waste your wish.”
― Melissa Marr, quote from Wicked Lovely
“Here's my advice to you: don't marry until you can tell yourself that you've done all you could, and until you've stopped loving the women you've chosen, until you see her clearly, otherwise you'll be cruelly and irremediably mistaken. Marry when you're old and good for nothing...Otherwise all that's good and lofty in you will be lost.”
― Leo Tolstoy, quote from War and Peace
“Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.”
― Neil Gaiman, quote from Coraline
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