Leia: Princess of Alderaan

Good intentions aren't enough. They're not meaningless, but - that's where we have to start. Not where we end.

Great evil can only be fought by the strong. People need spiritual fuel as much as they need food, water, and air. Happiness, love, joy, hope—these are the emotions that give us the strength to do what we need to do.

My parents. My friends. My world. These are the things the Empire can never take away.

Apparently, every once in a while, leadership meant abandoning decorum and yelling as loud as you could.

We hate the Empire’s cruelty and violence. How can we claim to be morally superior when we stoop to violence ourselves?” Mon Mothma answered him. “There comes a time when refusing to stop violence can no longer be called nonviolence. We cease to be objectors and become bystanders. At some point, morality must be wedded to action, or else it’s no more than mere…vanity.

Nobody liked to admit this, but courage had a short half-life. You had to act while you had it.

Nobody learns anything new without failing the first few times they try. You have to face that and figure out how to get back up again. That means learning how to fail is the most important lesson of all.

You’re learning the most powerful lesson of all, my daughter,” Breha continued. “You’re learning how to fall.

My growth is stunted already. If I'm stuck being short, I may as well have the caf.

Alderaan had any number of traditions about braids, about who wore them, and when, and why. The customs varied from continent to continent, age to age. But always, one of the most profoundly intimate acts was to allow someone else to take the braids down.

With a deliberately melodramatic sigh, Breha put one hand to the front of her scarlet silk wrapper. “I suppose a tiny bit of me hoped that my daughter’s first romance wouldn’t be so…suitable. Sometimes it does a girl good to fall for a bit of a scoundrel, now and then.

We must try to stand and succeed, but we must never fail to stand.

I think two side buns tonight. Do you agree, Your Highness?” “Whatever.

Authority can be given, but leadership must be earned.

Sometimes it does a girl good to fall for a bit of a scoundrel, now and then.

If Kier Domadi wanted to put his arms around her—well, he’d find a way. Or she would.

You know, every once in a while, it's okay to just live for yourself." Kier held up a hand, forestalling her objection. "I'm not telling you to be, I don't know, selfish or trivial. You'd never want that; that's not who you are. But it's all right to just, you know, be a person. Every once in a while, you can let go and live in the moment. I think you have to. Because if you're carrying the weight of the worlds every single day, you get tired. You don't have strength when you need it most, because you already burned yourself out." That sounded... much too familiar.

trust you with my life. But I don’t trust the Empire with yours.

Leia Organa is not a child." Her voice carried through the room, commanding the kind of attention that would halt a more crowded gathering than this one. She slowly stood. "Leia has had her Day of Demand. She's growing into an adult -- a representative of the next generation. And make no mistake, they're the generation who will bear the brunt of what's to come. They're the ones who'll do most of the fighting and most of the dying. They're the ones who will do most of the rebuilding afterward, if we are so fortunate as to see an 'after.' We need the young with us. Without them, this war is lost before it's begun.

Tyranny turns us into liars, she thought, hating herself even as she applauded.

How many people die because of Palpatine's rule every year? Is it deadlier to fight against that kind of tyranny or to let it flourish? When is it time to give up on peace and take up arms?

The point of a negotiation is to make each party feel as though they’ve won.

We look at our challenges—at our lessons—as things we master in order to achieve our goals. But the most important lessons in life sometimes have to do with what happens when we fail. How do we know when to surrender and walk away? How do we judge our own part in our failures? Is it something to learn from, or just bad luck? And how do we pick ourselves up again afterward? - Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan

The impatience you felt before kissing someone you liked wasn't nearly as bad as the impatience you felt afterward.

Bear witness, she thought. That’s all you can do for them now, so do it.

The earlier we begin, the more influence our lessons will have.

It wasn’t like she had tons of experience, but the kiss seemed like a good one to her. Great, even. Possibly even spectacular. Then Kier kissed her again, and she realized it could get even better, more than she’d ever dreamed.

Maybe.” They were so close now Leia could feel his breath against her cheek. “Do I have somebody like that already?” Kier tilted his head, studying her expression. At least, she thought he was. At the moment it was hard to look anywhere but his lips. “Yeah. You do.