Quotes from The Invasion of the Tearling

“When it fails, they do call it madness, Lazarus. But when it succeeds, they call it genius.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“This, I think, is the crux of evil in this world, Majesty: those who feel entitled to whatever they want, whatever they can grab. Such people never ask themselves if they have the right. They consider no cost to anyone but themselves.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Corruption begins with a single moment of weakness.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Even small gestures of kindness have the potential to reap enormous rewards. Only the shortsighted man believes otherwise.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“And Kelsea wondered suddenly whether humanity ever actually changed. Did people grow and learn at all as the centuries past? Or was humanity merely like the tide, enlightenment advancing and then retreating as circumstances shifted? The most defining characteristic of the species might be lapse.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Always, we think we know what courage means. If I were called upon, we say, I would answer the call. I would not hesitate. Until the moment is upon us, and then we realize that the demands of true courage are very different from what we had envisioned, long ago on that bright morning when we felt brave.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Pen?”
“Lady?”
“You think I’m pretty.”
He blinked in surprise. “I always found you so, Lady. But it’s true that your face has changed.”
“You always found me pretty?”
Pen shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, Lady. Some women are defined by their appearance, but you have never been one of them.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Whenever she had a problem to consider, she invariably found herself in the library, for it was easier to think when she was surrounded by books.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“If we could be better people,” she would say, “if we could care about each other as much as we do about ourselves, think about it, Lily! Think what the world would be!”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Love was a real thing, Aisa thought, but secondary. Certainly love was not as real as her sword.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“This is a fool’s errand,” Mace grumbled.
“You think all of my errands are foolish, Lazarus. I’m not impressed.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Selfishness and self-destruction, riding hand in hand, as they so often did.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“There's a better world out there, so close we can almost touch it.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“You can defend your kingdom, or you can defend your people, Majesty. You don’t have the manpower to do both at once.”
“People are more important than land.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Anger was the indulgence of a child, not a queen.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Only a fool blames the dealer”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Do you always eat with so many of your Guard, Majesty?”
“Usually.”
“Are security concerns so great?”
“Not at all. I prefer to eat with my Guard.”
“Perhaps when you begin a family, that will change.”
Kelsea narrowed her eyes as Milla began to ladle soup into her bowl. “My Guard are my family.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“The King of Cadare cannot have an alliance on an equal footing with a woman. Marriage ensures that Your Majesty is seen to submit her will to my master in all things.”
Mace moved in sharply, blocking off Kelsea’s right side. She blinked in surprise, for she had sensed no threat from the ambassador or his guards. It took a few moments for her to see it: Mace had actually moved to protect the ambassador. Some of Kelsea’s anger ebbed away then; she smiled at Mace, and felt a rush of affection when he smiled back.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“It’s just … difficult.”
“You’ve noticed the change in her, then.”
“I never cared which face she wore.”
“Ah. So this isn’t new.”
“No.”
“That makes it worse, I think.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“I don’t want to die, Arlen, but I would lay down my life for any of these men, or they for me. That’s a real thing, sacrifice, but you will never understand it.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“Sometime in the last forty-eight hours, Lily had discovered the great secret of pain: it thrived on the unknown, on the knowledge that there was a greater pain out there, something more excruciating that might yet be breached. The body was constantly waiting. When you took away the uncertainty, when you controlled the pain yourself, it was definitely easier to bear,...”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“I know all about the wildness of youth, believe me. But regret has a terrible ability to follow you, long after youth has vanished”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“The problems of the past.
How the problems of the past, uncorrected, inevitably became the problems of the future.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“We have trust, Lady, you and I?”
“I trust you with my life, Andalie.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“It didn’t matter then, anyway. Elyssa had about as much use for books as a cat has for a riding crop. But now …”
Tyler heard the Mace’s unspoken thought easily. Queen Elyssa may not have cared about illiteracy, but Queen Kelsea would care, very much. “But the Queen would never kick you out of the Guard.”
“Of course she wouldn’t. I just don’t want her to know.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“The hawk ripped out his jugular, spraying the morning sunlight with a fine mist of blood.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“The wrongs of the past are not less significant, they’re just harder to fix. And the longer you ignore them in favor of more pressing issues, the worse the harm, until the problems of the past actually create the problems of the future.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

“I’m sober.”
“That’s not my concern. I know you’ll never make that mistake again.”
“Then what’s your concern?” the younger man asked, his tone aggressive.
“You and her.”
― Erika Johansen, quote from The Invasion of the Tearling

About the author

Popular quotes

“Wear pink. It confuses the enemy.”
― Donita K. Paul, quote from DragonFire

“God has to be a sadist to give people life.”
― Hitomi Kanehara, quote from Snakes and Earrings

“This sounds basic, almost too basic to mention, but listening is a strategy and a skill that is losing ground in society. Most people think they are good listeners, but if adults played “the Telephone Game” today, how accurate would the final message be? Listening requires focus, and focus isn’t easy because we’re stretched in several directions. Listening”
― Travis Bradberry, quote from Emotional Intelligence 2.0: With Access Code

“It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal quality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy. We had seen little men artificially held up in high places, and great men artificially held down in low places, and our own justice-loving hearts abhorred this violence to human nature. Therefore, we decreed that every man should thenceforth have equal liberty to find his own level. By this very decree we acknowledged and gave freedom to true aristocracy, saying, "Let the best man win, whoever he is." Let the best man win! That is America's word. That is true democracy. And true democracy and true aristocracy are one and the same thing. If anybody cannot see this, so much the worse for his eyesight.”
― Owen Wister, quote from The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains

“Red Riding Hood is not a fairy tale, but rather a universal story about courage and growing up”
― Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, quote from Red Riding Hood

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.