Quotes from Magic Study

Maria V. Snyder ·  392 pages

Rating: (59.8K votes)


“Living is a risk,' I snapped at him. 'Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a risk. To survive is to know you're taking that risk and to not get out of bed clutching illusions of safety.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“He made a weak attempt to look innocent, but I knew better. 'Should I guess how many concealed weapons you have or should I strip search you?'

'A strip search is the only way to be absolutely certain.' Valek's deep blue eyes danced with delight.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“I took three steps and was wrapped in his arms, where I belonged. No confusion here. No worries here. No troubles here.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Why did Mother ask you to help me rescue Gelsi?" I asked Leif.
"She thought I could assist you in some way. Instead, I had tried to-"
"Kill me? You can join the 'I Want to Kill Yelena Guild.' I hear they have six
members in good standing.
Valek is president since he had wanted to kill me twice."
--Yelena to Leif”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Another relative?" Valek asked.
A broad smile stretched Moon Man's lips. "Yes. I am her mother's uncle's wife's
third cousin."
--Valek and Moon Man”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study



“Many have tried to kill us. All have failed.
-Valek”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Your mother sounds like a formidable woman," Valek said into the silence.
"You have no idea," Leif replied with a sigh.
"Well, if she's anything like Yelena, my deepest sympathies," Valek teased.
"Hey!"
Leif laughed and the tense moment dissipated.
Valek handed Leif his machete. "Do you know how to use it?"
"Of course. I chopped Yelena's bow into firewood," Leif joked.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“When I carved this, my thoughts were on you, love. Your life is like this snake's coils. No matter how many turns it makes, you'll end up back where you belong. With me.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Don't worry. I'm only your escort tonight. I would offer to protect you from the drunken attentions of the other men, but I know all to well that you're quite capagble of holding your own. You're probably armed. Right?"
Always.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Pushing magic toward the candle, I willed it to light. Nothing happened.

Irys made a strangled sound and the candle burned. “Are you directing your magic to the candle?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You just ordered me to light the candle for you,” Irys said in exasperation. “And I did it.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study



“I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Her amber eyes burned into mine with all the hate and loathing she could muster. Underneath, though, she was terrified. Hate and loathing didn't bother me, but fear was a powerful emotion. Fear causes the dog to bite and Roze was one bitch.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Don't feel ashamed for having those feelings and those memories. What happened in the past can't be changed, but they can be a guide for what happens in the future.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“I'd wish you luck, but I don't think it would help.'
'Why not?'
'My lady, you make your own luck.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“How did you—”
“Fool your guards? They’re not very good. They forgot to check the ceiling for spiders.” Valek grinned. His angular face softened. Startled, I realized he wasn’t in disguise. “This is dangerous.”
“I knew falling for you was dangerous, love.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study



“A little present from my run-in with a sword. Or should I say from when the sword had a run-in with me?” His eyes lit up.
“Want to see the scar? It’s cool.” He started pulling his shirt out of his pants.
“Janco,” Ari warned. “We’re not supposed to be fraternizing with the Sitians.”
“But she’s not Sitian. Right, Yelena? You haven’t gone south on us, have you?” Janco’s voice held mock horror.
“Because if you have I can’t give you your present.”
I took my switchblade out, showing the inscription to Janco. “What about ‘Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever’? Does that change if I become an official southerner?”
Janco rubbed the hair on his chin, considering.
“No,” Ari said. “You could change into a goat and it would still apply.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“You look like hell,' he said to me in a low voice.

'Gee, Dax, don’t coat it with honey. Tell me what you really think,' I said.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Bad dreams are ghosts of our fears and worries, haunting us while we sleep. I doubt Valek is in trouble.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Trust, Kiki said, Trust is peppermints.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“In the end, only Leif believed that you were still alive. He thought you might be hiding somewhere, playing a game. As the rest of us grieved, Leif searched the jungle for you day after day.”
“When did he finally stop?” I asked.
“Yesterday.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study



“I gave him a bored look. I had been threatened many times before and had learned that the men who didn’t make verbal threats were the most dangerous.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“If you don’t come back to the Keep, then I’ll be right. And every time you see me, I’ll be insufferably smug.”
“And how’s that different from now?” He laughed and I could see the young carefree boy he had been in his eyes. “You’ve only had a small glimpse of how insufferable and annoying I can be. As the older brother, it’s my birthright.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“He pulled my arm out to expose my bracelet. "When I carved this, my thoughts were on you, love. Your life is like this snake's coils. No matter how many turns it makes, you'll end up back where you belong. With me." His sapphire eyes held a promise. - Valek”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Your fear remains strong. You are not ready to face your story, preferring instead to surround yourself with knots. Someday, they will strangle you.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Pretty stupid,” I called after his retreating form. “To give up before all possible solutions have been tried.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study



“I wanted to dissolve into the floor, mixing myself with the hard stone. A stone had a single purpose: to be. No complicated promises, no worries and no feelings.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Do you really want to know why you lost?” I asked.
“Do you really have an answer?” he countered.
“You need to get off your horse and run with your men. You don’t have the stamina for a long fight. And find a lighter sword.”
“But it was my uncle’s.”
“You’re not your uncle.”
“But I’m the King, and this is the King’s sword,” Cahil said. His brows creased together. He seemed confused.
“So wear it to your coronation,” I said. “If you use it in battle, you’ll be wearing it to your funeral,” I said.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“Unfortunately, diplomacy was a dance I needed to learn.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


“In keeping with his cryptic nature, all your Story Weaver said was 'The horses know where to go.' It's certainly not a military strategy I would use, but I've learned that the south uses its own strategy. And, strangely enough, it works.”
― Maria V. Snyder, quote from Magic Study


About the author

Maria V. Snyder
Born place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The United States
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“If you're texting Magnus to say 'I think u r kewl,' I'm going to kill you."
"Who's Magnus?" Max inquired.
"He's a warlock," said Alec.
"A sexy, sexy warlock," Isabelle told Max, ignoring Alec's look of total fury.
"But warlocks are bad," protested Max, looking baffled.
"Exactly," said Isabelle.”
― Cassandra Clare, quote from City of Glass


“I was a good dog. I had fulfilled my purpose. Lessons I had learned from being feral had taught me how to escape and how to hide from people when it was necessary, scavenging for food from trash containers. Being with Ethan had taught me love and had taught me my most important purpose, which was taking care of my boy. Jakob and Maya had taught me Find, Show, and, most important of all, how to save people, and it was all of these things, everything I had learned as a dog, that had led me to find Ethan and Hannah and to bring them both together. I understood it now, why I had lived so many times. I had to learn a lot of important skills and lessons, so that when the time came I could rescue Ethan, not from the pond but from the sinking despair of his own life. The”
― W. Bruce Cameron, quote from A Dog's Purpose


“HOO JAMES SHIN HOO. Born: James Hoo in Chicago. Age: 50. Added Shin to his name when he went into the restaurant business because it sounded more Chinese. First wife died of cancer five years ago. Married again last year. Has one son: Douglas. SUN LIN HOO. Age: 28. Born in China. Immigrated from Hong Kong two years ago. Gossip: James Hoo married her for her 100-year-old sauce. DOUGLAS HOO (called Doug). Age: 18. High-school track star. Is competing in Saturday’s track meet against college milers. Westing connection: Hoo sued Sara Westing over the invention of the disposable paper diaper. Case never came to court (Westing disappeared). Settled with the company last year for $25,000. Thinks he was cheated. Latest invention: paper innersoles.”
― Ellen Raskin, quote from The Westing Game


“He'd kept this silence because his own secrets were darker, more hidden, and because he believed that his secrets had created hers.”
― Kim Edwards, quote from The Memory Keeper's Daughter


“I read in the papers here a while back some teachers came across a survey that was sent out back in the thirties to a number of schools around the country. Had this questionnaire about what was the problems with teachin in the schools. And they come across these forms, they'd been filled out and sent in from around the country answerin these questions. And the biggest problems they could name was things like talkin in class and runnin in the hallways. Chewin gum. Copyin homework. Things of that nature. So they got one of them forms that was blank and printed up a bunch of em and sent em back out to the same schools. Forty years later. Well, here come the answers back. Rape, arson, murder. Drugs. Suicide. So think about that. Because a lot of the time when I say anything about how the world is goin to hell in a handbasket people will just sort of smile and tell me I'm gettin old. That it's one of the symptoms. But my feelin about that is that anybody that cant tell the difference between rapin and murderin people and chewin gum has got a whole lot bigger of a problem than what I've got. Forty years is not a long time neither. Maybe the next forty of it will bring some of em out from under the ether. If it aint too late.”
― Cormac McCarthy, quote from No Country for Old Men


Interesting books

Song of Susannah
(104.8K)
Song of Susannah
by Stephen King
Calico Jack in your Garden
(159)
Calico Jack in your...
by Karl Wiggins
The Girl Who Chased the Moon
(48.3K)
The Girl Who Chased...
by Sarah Addison Allen
Golden Fool
(52.1K)
Golden Fool
by Robin Hobb
Half Magic
(31.5K)
Half Magic
by Edward Eager
The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version
(3K)

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.