Quotes from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Galen Werner, you may choose one of my daughters to be your bride, and when I die, you shall sit beside her as co-ruler of Westfallin."
"Your Majesty.... I - I don't know - "
Rose felt her knees shaking. Did he not love her after all?
"Psst, Galen?" Pansy tugged on his arm. Galen leaned down. "If Rose doesn't want you," the little girl whispered loudly, "you can marry me."
Galen laughed shakily. "Thanks, Pansy."
"Oh, Rose! Don't just stand there like a lump," Poppy said, poking her in the back. "If he's too embarrased, you should be the one to say something."
"Poppy!" Daisy looked scandalized. "It's not Rose's place to - "
Under cover of their squabbling, Rose took Galen's hand and moved closer to him. "Do you want to marry me?" she whispered in a much quieter tone than Pansy had used.
"Yes," he said.
"If neither of you is going to speak up," King Gregor said, "I shall simply have to decide it for myself!"
"Father," Rose protested, "that won't be necessary!"
"I choose Rose," Galen blurted out at the same time.
"There. Done. Easy." King Gregor clapped his hands.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“No need, no, need. Life is already too short to find it.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“What does it say? Does he love you madly?”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Violet heard the coughing and came running back. She sank down on the bench beside Rose, putting her arm around the older girl and holding a handkerchief to Rose's lips. "What happened?" she asked Galen, her tone just shy of being accusatory.

"I am so sorry, Your Highness," Galen said, backing away. "I made her laugh, and–"

"You made her laugh?" Violet's eyes widened. "She hasn't laughed in weeks!" She smiled at Galen and gave Rose's shoulders a little squeeze.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Saints preserve us,' Dr. Kellen said, and squeezed Galen's shoulder. 'What have we done to our youth?”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“You were a soldier?"

"Yes, sir."

"You barely look old enough to have seen the last battle."

"My father was a career army man, sir. I was there at the first engagement with Analousia, and took up my father's rifle when I was barely fifteen."

"Saints preserve us," Dr. Kelling said, and squeezed Galen's shoulder. "What have we done to our youth?”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Allow me to give you this orange, Your Highness, along with my wishes for a swift recovery.”
“That’s very generous of you, Master Galen,” she replied, a faint light kindling in her eyes, “especially since they are my family’s oranges.” She took it from him, rolling it between her palms. “And considering that my illness if most likely a result of falling into the fountain the day we met.”
Galen winced. He had known she would remember that, but he had hoped she wouldn’t hold it against him. Although, judging by the faint smile on her pale lips, she didn’t mean it in earnest.
“Well, Your Highness, I know that I am indeed handsome, but I can hardly be blamed if my good looks overcame you so strongly that you fainted,” he said, striking a pose.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Where is Galen?" She had many questions to ask the king, and it surprised her a little that this should be the first one to pop out of her mouth. Still, it was just as urgent as any of the others. "What have you done to him?"

"Nothing." The king spread his weirdly elongated hands in an innocent gesture. "The gardener's boy is in perfect health. For the present."

"And then he'll fall off a horse, or slip on the wet pavement? So that you don't need to get your hands dirty?" Rose sneered at him.

He smiled his cold smile. "Keeping one's hands clean – maintaining one's innocence. Is that not the human way?”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Galen stowed the goblets behind a curtain and walked up to twitch the hem of Rose’s shawl. She gasped and looked around.
“Hello,” Galen said in a low voice. “Would you like to dance?”
“So you’re Pansy’s good spirit?”
“I am.”
“Your voice sounds familiar.” Her eyes sparkled. “Could you pretend to snore, so that I could make sure?”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“To Galen’s relief, they reached the silver and pearl gate before Rose could convince Pansy to tell her any more. He rode in the boat with Jonquil and her prince, who was not as stoic as his brothers.
“What did you eat for dinner?” the dark prince huffed.
“What do you mean?” Jonquil frowned at her escort as he rowed.
“You’re so heavy, it’s like you’re wearing iron underthings,” he panted.
“Oh!” Jonquil whacked her prince on the shoulder with her fan. “How rude!”
When their boat reached the island and the black palace, Jonquil leaped out without waiting for assistance. She stalked into the palace ahead of everyone else, with her prince scuttling at her heels, apologizing every step of the way.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“What did you eat for dinner?" the dark prince huffed.
"What do you mean?" Jonquil frowned at her escort as he rowed.
"You're so heavy, it's like you're wearing iron undetrhings," he panted.
"Oh!" Jonquil whacked her prince on the shoulder with her fan. "How rude!”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

“Aye. There’s time enough between battles to knit a dozen scarves and a hundred stockings, as well I know.” He gave a little bark of laughter. “I thought soldiers spent their idle time dicing and wenching.” She gave a surprisingly girlish giggle.”
― Jessica Day George, quote from Princess of the Midnight Ball

About the author

Popular quotes

“One of the schools of Tlön goes so far as to negate time; it reasons that the present is indefinite, that the future has no reality other than as a present hope, that the past has no reality other than as a present memory. Another school declares that all time has already transpired and that our life is only the crepuscular and no doubt falsified an mutilated memory or reflection of an irrecoverable process. Another, that the history of the universe — and in it our lives and the most tenuous detail of our lives — is the scripture produced by a subordinate god in order to communicate with a demon. Another, that the universe is comparable to those cryptographs in which not all the symbols are valid and that only what happens every three hundred nights is true. Another, that while we sleep here, we are awake elsewhere and that in this way every man is two men.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings

“I have never been much of a patriot. My father would not have allowed such a thing while he lived, and his death insured that his wish was carried out. Piter commanded far more affection and loyalty from me than the nation as a whole. But that night, running across the unplowed fields of winter wheat, with the Fascist invaders behind us and the dark Russian woods before us, I felt a surge of pure love for my country.

We ran for the forest, crashing through the stalks of wheat, beneath the rising moon and the stars spinning farther and farther away, alone beneath the godless sky. ”
― David Benioff, quote from City of Thieves

“His heart's occupied elsewhere," said Ben from behind me. "And even if it weren't he's not interested in your kind. But, I'm available and ready."
"You don't have a heart," I told him. "Just a gaping hole where it should have been."
"All the more reason for you to give me yours."
I pounded my forehead against Warren 's back. "Tell me Ben's not flirting with me."
"Hey," said Ben sounding hurt. "I was talking cannibalism, not romance.”
― Patricia Briggs, quote from Blood Bound

“Step 4: Cough and gag.
Step 5: Repeat Step 4 until it feels like maybe your lungs aren't inside your body anymore.
Step 6: Remember that a really cute boy is beside you, so try to cough in a far more attractive manner.”
― Ally Carter, quote from Only the Good Spy Young

“Additionally, you can paint a neon sign over our heads that says, 'Easy meal, follow the flashing lights.”
― Julie Kagawa, quote from The Iron Knight

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.