“Have you ever played chess, Kitty?”
I eyed her. What did a board game have to do with this? “Not really.”
“You and I should play sometime. I think you would like it,” she said. “It’s a game of strategy, mostly. The strong pieces are in the back row, while the weak pieces—the pawns—are all in the front, ready to take the brunt of the attack. Because of their limited movement and vulnerability, most people underestimate them and only use them to protect the more powerful pieces. But when I play, I protect my pawns.”
“Why?” I said, not entirely sure where this conversation was going. “If they’re weak, then what’s the point?”
“They may be weak when the game begins, but their potential is remarkable. Most of the time, they’ll be taken by the other side and held captive until the end of the game. But if you’re careful—if you keep your eyes open and pay attention to what your opponent is doing, if you protect your pawns and they reach the other side of the board, do you know what happens then?”
I shook my head, and she smiled.
“Your pawn becomes a queen.” She touched my cheek, her fingers cold as ice. “Because they kept moving forward and triumphed against impossible odds, they become the most powerful piece in the game. Never forget that, all right? Never forget the potential one solitary pawn has to change the entire game.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“But the world is out there, and it understands that the illusion of knowledge and freedom is not the same as the real thing. Eventually it will fade, and there are those who will do whatever it takes to make that happen sooner rather than later.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“The world doesn't exist because you gave it permission.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“I doubt he'll come all this way for an orange," she said as she tapped her spatula against the side of the bowl. That was what I loved most about Nina: she'd heard it all, and nothing any of us threw at her ever surprised her. "You know, once upon a time, everyone could walk into a marked and buy anything they wanted."
I snorted. "Fairy takes start with 'once upon a time' Nina."
"It was a fairy take of sorts, but that didn't make it any less real," she said lowering the bowl to focus on me. "It's frightening how much things change in seventy-one years.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“I would know something was missing. I would know my life was pointless, even if I never understood why. Even if we'd never met, even if you never existed, I would still love you beyond all reason for the rest of my life.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“You and I should play sometime. I think you would like it,' she said." It's a game of strategy, mostly. The strong pieces are in the back row, while the weak pieces - the pawns - are all in the front, ready to take the brunt of the attack. Because of their limited movement and vulnerability, most people underestimate them and only use them to protect the more powerful pieces. But when I play I protect my pawns.'... 'They may be weak when the game begins, but their potential is remarkable. Most of the time, they'll be taken by the other side and held captive until the end of the game. But if you're careful - if you keep your eyes open and pay attention to what your oppenent is doing, if you protect your pawns and they reach the other side of the board, do you know what happens then?' I shook my head, and she smiled.
"Your pawn becomes a queen."... 'Because they kept moving forward and triumphed against impossible odds, they become the most powerful piece in the game.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“The world doesn’t exist because you gave it permission,”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“Even if we’d never met, even if you never existed, I would still love you beyond all reason for the rest of my life.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“the illusion of knowledge and freedom is not the same as the real thing.”
― Aimee Carter, quote from Pawn
“After all, reading is arguably a far more creative and imaginative process than writing; when the reader creates emotion in their head, or the colors of the sky during the setting sun, or the smell of a warm summer's breeze on their face, they should reserve as much praise for themselves as they do for the writer - perhaps more.”
― Jasper Fforde, quote from The Well of Lost Plots
“Please. If you were mostly dead in the middle of the road I'd obviously stop. And then I'd watch you die."
Kate to Will”
― Elizabeth Scott, quote from Perfect You
“No one’s life should be rooted in fear. We are born for wonder, for joy, for hope, for love, to marvel at the mystery of existence, to be ravished by the beauty of the world, to seek truth and meaning, to acquire wisdom, and by our treatment of others to brighten the corner where we are.”
― Dean Koontz, quote from Life Expectancy
“Why was I holding on to something that would never be mine?"
(But isn't that what people do?)”
― Bret Easton Ellis, quote from Lunar Park
“Do you see this heart-stopping beauty? Look closely, because in a moment your heart will stop.”
― Stephen King, quote from Black House
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