Quotes from Darkness Before Dawn

J.A. London ·  342 pages

Rating: (11.9K votes)


“I like you, Dawn. I've seen a lot of humans, from far away and up close. I've never met one like you. I think you're the closest thing to a sunrise I'll ever see.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“The movie is all illusion. How people wish things were.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“Victor smiles. "I'll catch you before you even slip.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“In four hundred years, I’ve never dreamed. Vampires don’t. But after I saved you on the trol ey that night, you invaded my sleep. In my dreams, we’re the same. We can touch, kiss, love. And every dream ends with us … being together forever.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“For most vampires, it's an automatic response - scent blood, fangs drop.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn



“The vampires took everything from me, but I'm looking into the eyes of one who has the power to give me back a reason to live, who can heal my gaping hole of sorrow.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“I start to cross the street, stop, turn back. "You are not what I thought."
He smiles. A devastatingly beautiful smile.
I race across the street to my apartment building, to home, to safety. Because that smile scares me for reasons I can't explain. I only know that it makes me want to see him smile again.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


“For some reason, I thought Victor could heal that wound better than anyone else. It's strange to think that this vampire, the embodiment of all my hatred, could act like a suture.”
― J.A. London, quote from Darkness Before Dawn


About the author

J.A. London
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“How long are you going to wait for this guy?”

I’m thrown by his sudden shift. “Ah . . . I don’t know.”

“Give me your keys.”

“What?”

“Give me your keys. I’m going to change your tire while we’re waiting.”

I fish in my purse and come up with a handful of keys. “You’re going to—”

“Stay in the car.” He grabs the keys and practically yanks them out of my fingers. Then he slams the door in my face.

I watch him in the path of his headlights, mystified. He opens my trunk, and, moments later, emerges with the spare tire. He lays it beside the car, then pulls something else from the darkened space. I’ve never changed a tire, so I have no idea what he’s doing. His movements are quick and efficient, though.

I shouldn’t be sitting here, just watching, but I can’t help myself. There’s something compelling about him. Dozens of cars have passed, but he was the only one to stop—and he’s helping me despite the fact that I’ve been less than kind to him all night.

He gets down on the pavement—on the wet pavement, in the rain—and slides something under the car. A hand brushes wet hair off his face.

I can’t sit here and watch him do this.

He doesn’t look at me when I approach. “I told you to wait in the car.”

“So you’re one of those guys? Thinks the ‘little woman’ should wait in the car?”

“When the little woman doesn’t know her tires are bald and her battery could barely power a stopwatch?” He attaches a steel bar to . . . something . . . and starts twisting it. “Yeah. I am.”

My pride flinches. “So what are you saying?” I ask, deadpan. “You don’t want my help?”

His smile is rueful. “You’re kind of funny when you’re not so busy being judgmental.”

“You’re lucky I’m not kicking you while you’re down there.”

He loses the smile but keeps his eyes on whatever he’s doing. “Try it, sister.”
― Brigid Kemmerer, quote from Letters to the Lost


“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
― Paulo Coelho, quote from Alkimist


“Indeed, the idea that doubt can be heroic, if it is locked into a structure as grand as that of the paintings of Cezanne's old age, is one of the keys to our century. A touchstone of modernity itself.”
― Robert Hughes, quote from The Shock of the New


“Yet Malone, remarkably, was a model of restraint compared with others, such as John Payne Collier, who was also a scholar of great gifts, but grew so frustrated at the difficulty of finding physical evidence concerning Shakespeare’s life that he began to create his own, forging documents to bolster his arguments if not, ultimately, his reputation. He was eventually exposed when the keeper of mineralogy at the British Museum proved with a series of ingenious chemical tests that several of Collier’s “discoveries” had been written in pencil and then traced over and that the ink in the forged passages was demonstrably not ancient. It was essentially the birth of forensic science. This was in 1859.”
― Bill Bryson, quote from Shakespeare: The World as Stage


“Hmm…’ Ciri bit her lower lip, then leaned over and put her eye closer to the hole. ‘Madam Yennefer is standing by a willow… She’s plucking leaves and playing with her star. She isn’t saying anything and isn’t even looking at Geralt… And Geralt’s standing beside her. He’s looking down and he’s saying something. No, he isn’t. Oh, he’s pulling a face… What a strange expression…’ ‘Childishly simple,’ said Dandelion, finding an apple in the grass, wiping it on his trousers and examining it critically. ‘He’s asking her to forgive him for his various foolish words and deeds. He’s apologising to her for his impatience, for his lack of faith and hope, for his obstinacy, doggedness. For his sulking and posing; which are unworthy of a man. He’s apologising to her for things he didn’t understand and for things he hadn’t wanted to understand—’ ‘That’s the falsest lie!’ said Ciri, straightening up and tossing the fringe away from her forehead with a sudden movement. ‘You’re making it all up!’ ‘He’s apologising for things he’s only now understood,’ said Dandelion, staring at the sky, and he began to speak with the rhythm of a balladeer. ‘For what he’d like to understand, but is afraid he won’t have time for… And for what he will never understand. He’s apologising and asking for forgiveness… Hmm, hmm… Meaning, conscience, destiny? Everything’s so bloody banal…’ ‘That’s not true!’ Ciri stamped. ‘Geralt isn’t saying anything like that! He’s not even speaking. I saw for myself. He’s standing with her and saying nothing…’ ‘That’s the role of poetry, Ciri. To say what others cannot utter.’ ‘It’s a stupid role. And you’re making everything up!’ ‘That is also the role of poetry. Hey, I hear some raised voices coming from the pond. Have a quick look, and see what’s happening there.’ ‘Geralt,’ said Ciri, putting her eye once more to the hole in the wall, ‘is standing with his head bowed. And Yennefer’s yelling at him. She’s screaming and waving her arms. Oh dear… What can it mean?’ ‘It’s childishly simple.’ Dandelion stared at the clouds scudding across the sky. ‘Now she’s saying sorry to him.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from Time of Contempt


Interesting books

Counterpoint
(3K)
Counterpoint
by Rachel Haimowitz
Chasing Magic
(5K)
Chasing Magic
by Stacia Kane
The Dead
(12.8K)
The Dead
by James Joyce
In a Heartbeat
(3.6K)
In a Heartbeat
by Loretta Ellsworth
Fate's Edge
(15K)
Fate's Edge
by Ilona Andrews
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
(20.8K)
NurtureShock: New Th...
by Po Bronson

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.