Quotes from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“You cannot compel love," he said finally, "nor summon it at will. Still less," he added ruefully, "can you dismiss it.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“He stood for a moment, bereavement a sudden, small tear in his soul.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Men are made in God's image, or so I am told. Likewise that we differ from the animals in having reason. Reason, therefore, must plainly be a characteristic of the Almighty, quod erat demonstrandum. Is it reasonable, then, to create men whose very nature— clearly constructed and defined by yourself— is inimical to your own laws and must lead inevitably to destruction? Whatever would be the point of that? Does it not strike you as a most capricious notion— to say nothing of being wasteful?”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“A conclusion is simply the point at which you give up thinking.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“He who throws dirt is losing ground,”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Of course you would protect the woman,” he said. “You protect everyone, John—I don’t suppose you can help it.”
Astonished, Grey opened his mouth to contest this absurd statement, but was forestalled when Percy leaned forward and kissed him softly.
“You are the bravest man I know,” Percy said, his breath warm on Grey’s cheek. “And you will not convince me otherwise.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Would it be better if I’d had daughters?” she asked the mirror, in apparent earnestness.
“No,” she answered herself. “They’d only marry men, and there you are.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“He paused by the window, looking up into a lavender sky, fingers pressed against the icy glass. No stars tonight; the snowflakes came down out of the dark, rushing towards him, endless, uncountable. Silent, too, but not like the stars. Falling snow whispered secrets to itself.

“And you are a fanciful idiot,” he said outloud.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Grey had noticed this female paradox before: women who swooned at the notion of powerful men who would protect them at the same time liked nothing better than an open admission of helplessness on the part of any male within their sphere of influence.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Still, that would not solve the problem; Percy would merely languish in prison until such time as Grey was recovered enough to testify. No, he decided, Hal’s response would more likely be to knock Grey over the head, bundle him into a sack, and have him smuggled aboard a merchantman bound for China, after which he would declare Grey lost at sea, and…

He discovered that he was laughing helplessly at the thought, tears coming to his eyes.

“Christ, Hal, I wish you would,” he said aloud, and quite suddenly thought of Aberdeen, realizing for the first time just how desperately his brother loved him.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“It was a hound of some sort, black and disproportionately long-bodied, with lets so stumpy that they appeared to have been amputated. With large, liquid eyes and a sturdy long tail in constant motion, it resembled nothing so much as and exceedingly amiable sausage.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Wait, let me get that down. Primum: save…men. Secundo: do not…drop…weapon. Tertio—what’s the third thing on this list?”
“Suck my prick,” Grey said rudely. “Ass.”
Percy promptly flipped the sketchbook shut and came toward him, eyes brighter still.
“Wait! I didn’t mean it!”
“Just following orders,” Percy murmured, pinning him to the bed with a deft knee on his thigh, and getting a hand on his flies. “Sir.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“One of my mother’s friends was an artist. He showed me a few things – though warning me that to become an artist was the only certain way to starve.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“You want me to attend your hanging?”
His tone must have contained some of the incredulity he felt, for the captain gave him an impatient look.
“I’d have sent an engraved invitation, had I time,” he said.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“Wainwright was telling some story, his face alight, and even across the room, Grey felt the warmth of his presence. As though he sensed their scrutiny, Percy glanced suddenly in their direction, and shot Grey a smile of such delight in his surroundings that Grey smiled back, delighted in turn to see him manage so well.
Lucinda Joffrey emitted a hum of approval.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “And quite good style, too. Did you dress him?” she inquired.
No, but I should like very much to undress him.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

“A party at which the guests are all of the beautiful persuasion tends to be dull indeed, as they have no conversation that does not pertain to themselves. A successful gathering requires a number of the ill-favored but clever. The beautiful are but ornaments—desirable, but dispensable.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

Video

About the author

Popular quotes

“I tell you, old friend, I'd rather be stuck here in a Strander burrow than blowing smoke rings in Glipwood, where the Fangs spit and howl and kill our spirits. At least we're here because we choose to be. We're here out of bravery and not cowardice.”
― Andrew Peterson, quote from North! or Be Eaten

“Come, Friend, you too must die. Why moan about it so?
Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you.
And look, you see how handsome and powerful I am?
The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life--
A deathless goddess. But even for me, I tell you,
Death and the strong force of fate are waiting.
There will come a dawn or sunset or high noon
When a man will take my life in battle too--
flinging a spear perhaps
Or whipping a deadly arrow off his bow.”
― Homer, quote from The Iliad of Homer

“Sometimes, we play with love, but when you finally realize that you want to get serious, love plays with you.”
― quote from You’re the Password to My Life

“...and Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.”
― Herman Melville, quote from Moby Dick: or, the White Whale

“if fallacious reasoning always led to absurd conclusions, it would be found out at once and corrected. But once an easy, shortcut mode of reasoning has led to a few correct results, almost everybody accepts it; those who try to warn against it are not listened to.”
― E.T. Jaynes, quote from Probability Theory: The Logic of Science

Interesting books

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.