Quotes from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“In a child's eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“We can never be gods, after all--but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“But love like that doesn't just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always a little love left, underneath.
Yes. Horrible, isn't it?”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“There's truth even in tainted knowledge, if one reads carefully.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“It is blasphemy to separate oneself from the earth and look down on it like a god. It is more than blasphemy; it is dangerous. We can never be gods, after all - but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Fortunately, where reason failed, blind panic served well enough.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“The priest's lesson: beware the Nightlord, for his pleasure is a mortal's doom. My grandmother's lesson: beware love, especially with the wrong man.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“You are what your creators and experiences have made you, like every other being in this universe. Accept that and be done; I tire of your whining.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“...and when I lift my head to scream out my fury, a million stars turn black and die. No one can see them, but they are my tears.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Once upon a time there was a

Once upon a time there was a

Once upon a time there was a

Stop this. It's undignified.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“You are Insignificant. One of millions, neither special nor unique. I did not ask for this ignominy, and I resent the comparison.
Fine. I don't you like you, either.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“There is nothing foolish about hope.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“I am not as I once was. They have done this to me, broken me open and torn out my heart. I do not know who I am anymore.
I must try to remember.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“I remembered Nahadoth's lips on my throat and fought to suppress a shudder, only half succeeding. Death as a consequence of lying with a god wasn't something I had considered, but it did not surprise me. A mortal man's strength had its limits. He spent himself and slept. He could be a good lover, but even his best skills were only guesswork - for every caress that sent a woman's head into the clouds, he might try ten that brought her back to earth.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“So there was love, once. More than love. And now there is more than hate. Mortals have no words for what we gods feel. Gods have no words for such things. But love like that doesn't just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always love left, underneath. Horrible, isn't it?”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“The Nightlord cannot be controlled, child. He can only be unleashed. And you asked him not to kill.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“The younger man stepped away from the table and came toward me, his whole posture radiating menace. Every Darre woman is taught to deal with such behavior from men. It is an animal trick that they use, like dogs ruffling their fur and growling. Only rarely is there an actual threat behind it, and a woman's strength lies in discerning when the threat is real and when it is just hair and noise.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“And in that sliver of time, I felt the power around me coalesce, malice-hard and sharp as crystal.

That this analogy occurred to me should have been a warning.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“It was very bad if the council had resorted to recruiting men. By tradition men were our last line of defence, their physical strength bent towards the single and most important task of protecting our homes and children. This meant the council had decided that our only defence was to defeat the enemy, period. Anything else meant the end of Darre.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Separarse de la tierra y contemplarla desde arriba como los dioses es una blasfemia. No podemos ser dioses... pero podemos llegar a ser menos que humanos con aterradora facilidad.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Whether you live or die is irrelevant. You are Arameri, and like all of us, you will serve.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“beware love, especially the wrong man”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“De esta materia prima están hechos los grandes cuentos, ¿no? Puro romanticismo. En los cuentos, las parejas así viven felices para siempre. Pero los cuentos no dicen lo que sucede cuando se hace eso y se ofende a la familia más poderosa del mundo.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“It is blasphemy to separate oneself from the earth and look down on it like a god. It is more than blasphemy; it is dangerous. We can never be gods, after all—but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“It is important to give just the right instructions. He thinks in loopholes.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“In a child’s eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Men who served anyone could be trusted by no one.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“The Darren language has a word for the attraction one feels to danger: esui. It is esui that makes warriors charge into hopeless battles and die laughing. Esui is also what draws women to lovers who are bad for them--men who would make poor fathers, women of the enemy.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

About the author

Popular quotes

“the bigger the society is, the less functional shame becomes.”
― Christopher Ryan, quote from Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality

“Do not count on the gratitude of deeds done for people in the past,you must make them grateful for things you will do for them in the future.”
― Mario Puzo, quote from Omerta

“Football means soccer, squash is soda, bonkers is nuts—I’m going to need an interpreter or something.”
― Heather Vogel Frederick, quote from Pies & Prejudice

“The feel of your big cock in me is delicious, but far more so when it's moving.”
― Sylvia Day, quote from Seven Years to Sin

“In the universe there are only a few absolutes of value; something is valuable because it can be eaten for nourishment or used as a weapon or made into clothes or it is valuable if you want it and you believe it will make you happy. Then it is worth anything as well as nothing, worth as much as you will give to have something you think you want.”
― Susan Orlean, quote from The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

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.