“If we forget who we lost, then we forget who we once were, and if we forget who we once were, we lose sight of who we are now.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Are you an idiot, or an idiot?' Gargarin hissed.
'The first one. I really resent being called the second.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“In a kinder world," he whispered, "one I promise you I've seen, men and women flirt and dance and love with only the fear of what it would mean without the other in their lives.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I've been waiting for you all night and day,' she said.
Froi shivered. He realised that the words came from Quintana the ice maiden. Realised, as he felt his face heating up, that the idea of this Quintana waiting for him with excitement spoke to parts of him he believed to be dormant. And then she winked.
'Did I do that right?' she asked. Her smile was lopsided and he saw a glimpse of the teeth.
And Froi imagined that he would follow her to the ends of the earth.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I'm not interested in those who do me wrong. There's not enough time in the day for them.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I don't despise you for what you allowed to happen to me. I despise you because when I was released, you refused to be found and I needed you more than anything in my life. Not to mend my broken bones, Arjuro. I needed my brother to mend my broken spirit.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I still wake with your name on my lips every morning.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Silence is not just about secrecy, Your Majesty. It is grief and it is shame.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Some of us weren't born for rewards, Froi. We were born for sacrifices.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“He took her face in his bloody hands. "I’ll come and find you wherever you are. I’ll not stop breathing until I do. So you’re going to have to promise me that you won’t lose hope. That you will keep yourself alive.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“There's not much you need to know about the world. Except how to use a sword and trust very few.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“No stories or explanations,' Finnikin had once told him. 'When it comes to women, straight into an apology and you will find the rest of your life bearable.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I fear that I will do something to bring harm to those I love," Froi said. "So I follow their rules to ensure that I won't."
"But what if you bring harm or fail to protect those you don't know? Or don't love? Will you care as much?"
"Probably not."
"Then choose another bond. One written by yourself. Because it is what you do for strangers that counts in the end.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Near the window, Finnikin stood with both hands against the wall, his head bent over her. As always, the intimacy between them made Froi ache.
"I promise you," Finnikin said. "I've already shouted at her and used a very, very reprimanding tone."
"I was quivering," the Queen said, stepping out from behind Finnikin.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Phaedra shook her head. “If your people mean no offense, they should not speak their thoughts out loud in front of their children, Tesadora. Because it will be their children who come to slaughter us one day, all because of careless words passed down by their elders who meant no harm.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Sometimes... sometimes keeping alive is too tiring," she whispered, wringing her hands. Before he knew what he was doing, he pressed his lips against her brow. "Don't ever say that. Ever.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Don't ever ask me again if I hate living anywhere with you and Jasmina. This Rock reminds me of the boy I was and being with you in the palace reminds me of the man I want to be.'
'Not just any man,' she whispered. 'A King. Mine.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Quintana of Charyn's body was a map of hatred.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“I heard your song the moment we were born. And years later, it dragged me back from the lake of the half-dead when all I wanted to do was die. Each time someone tried to kill me, it sang its tune and gave me hope.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Is your queen what you are searching for in a woman, Froi?"
"I never imagined I was looking for something in a woman. But if I did, I'd have to judge her by the way I felt laying beside her before I went to sleep at night and how I felt in the morning waking up to her."
"Oh, too profound, my friend. Much too profound.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“A kiss is the prize?’ he asked sadly. ‘Even more than giving me the rest of you? It should be the other way round, Princess. In the real world, it's called courting. You let a lad kiss you and then you offer him more.’
‘Let me tell you something, Olivier,’ she said with tears of sorrow in her eyes, ‘this is my real world.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Arjuro made a scoffing sound. ‘You think Lumatere will invade because of you? Are you that important?’
Froi looked away. ‘Isaboe would invade if you kidnapped a servant, let alone a friend.’
‘Isaboe? We’re on first-name terms with the Queen of Lumatere, are we?’ Gargarin asked.
Froi found himself bristling. ‘What? Do you think I’m some cutthroat for hire who they found hanging around the palace walls with the words “I want
to kill a Charynite King” tattooed on my arse?”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“...the greatest weapon against big stupid men was a sharp mind.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“What are you doing?" she asked, trying to raise herself.
"First, I thought I'd show you what a pity it would be if they cut off my wicked tongue.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Lucian was beginning to get used to hearing her small observations at night. More than anything, he realized he liked her voice in the dark. It made him feel less lonely.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Imagine who she would be if we unleashed her onto the world. I think she would rip the breath from all of us.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“And he saw it in her eyes. Still. The belief that there could be someone other than herself. You, he wanted to shout. You. No one but you. Stupid, stupid girl.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“How seven days had passed since she had disappeared from existence.
That it would take the eyes of the gods to find her.
Or the heart of the Lumateran exile.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“Men don't rape women because their women are ugly," cousin Jostien said, but there was a protest at his words.
"That's what my fa said! He says that inside their hearts and spirits they are nothing but little men who need to feel powerful.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
“He's my father!" she bellowed, pointing to Trevanion.
"Vestie!" Beatriss said firmly, stopping to stare up at her. "I'll snip at the tongue if I ever see it in such a way again! Trevanion, speak to her."
Vestie hung her head, shamefaced.
"Vestie," he said, his voice still gentle.
"Yes, Father."
"Shout it out louder, my love. Shout it out louder.”
― Melina Marchetta, quote from Froi of the Exiles
Melina Marchetta
Born place: Sydney, Australia
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“Why did she do it? Nobody dared to ask. Because - what courage! Who had the courage to burn herself? Twenty aspirin, a little slit alongside the veins of the arm, maybe even a bad half hour standing on a roof: We've all had those. And somewhat more dangerous things, like putting a gun in your mouth. But you put it there, you taste it, it's cold and greasy, your finger is on the trigger, and you find that a whole world lies between this moment and the moment you've been planning, when you'll pull the trigger. That world defeats you. You put the gun back in the drawer. You'll have to find another way.
What was that moment like for her? The moment she lit the match. Had she already tried roofs and guns and aspirins? Or was it just an inspiration?
I had an inspiration once. I woke up one morning and I knew that today I had to swallow fifty aspirin. It was my task: my job for the day. I lined them up on my desk and took them one by one, counting. But it's not the same as what she did. I could have stopped, at ten, or at thirty. And I could have done what I did do, which was go onto the street and faint. Fifty aspirin is a lot of aspirin, but going onto the street and fainting is like putting the gun back in the drawer.
She lit the match.”
― Susanna Kaysen, quote from Girl, Interrupted
“Whatever enjoyment I might have had at the time would disappear overnight like snow melting on a warm roof.”
― S.J. Watson, quote from Before I Go to Sleep
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear.”
― Meg Cabot, quote from The Princess Diaries
“Human beings believe just as they breathe - in order to survive.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, quote from The Angel's Game
“Would you like to borrow a pair of my panties to wave around at the next Council meeting to get the point across?”
His eyes flashed. “Got any to spare?”
I could’ve picked somebody rational. But no, I had to fall in love with this arrogant idiot. Come to the Keep with me, be my princess. Mourn me when your crazy dad kills me. Yeah, right.”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from Magic Bleeds
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