“Sometimes, if you want to change a man's mind, you have to change the mind of the man next to him first.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Are you badly hurt?"
"Hideously," said the king, without sounding injured at all. "I am disemboweled. My insides may in an instant become my outsides as I stand here before you.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“No 'Glory shall be your reward' for me. Oh, no, for me, it is, 'Stop whining' and 'Go to bed'.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead in the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“I am not sure I trust you."
"You can trust me with your life, My King."
"But not with my wine, obviously. Give it back.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“He didn't marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Relius looked away. "He said that you...cried," he said softly.
"But not that he cried as well," said the queen, amused at the memory. "We were very lachrymose... would you like to hear more romance of the evening? He told me the Guard should be reduced by half, and I threw an ink jar at his head."
"Is that when he cried?"
"He ducked," said Attolia dryly.
"I had not pictured you for a fishwife."
"Lo, the transforming power of love.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“You're awake," he said.
"Phresine is not," pointed out the queen.
"Oh?"
"You gave her lethium."
"She gave it to me first.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Will there be poppy juice in it?"
Phresine shook her head.
"Good. My wife and I agreed that only my wine was to be poisoned.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“One of us might be assassinated and then my heir will be king. Don't give up hope just because chances are slim."
"For the assassination or the heir, your majesty?”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Oh, that," said the king with a shrug. "That isn't your honor, Costis. That's the public perception of your honor. It has nothing to do with anything important, except perhaps for manipulating fools who mistake honor for its bright, shiny trappings. You can always change the perceptions of fools.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“That is ridiculous," she said.
The king agreed. "Like falling in love with a landslide. Only you could fail to notice.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Your Majesty, please get down. My friend Aris is really a very good man, and if you fall off that wall he's going to hang for it, and so will his squad, most of whom are also nice men, and though I can't say I really care if your attendants hang, there are probably many people that do care, and would you please, please get down?"
The king looked at him, eyes narrowed. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that many words in a row. You sounded almost articulate.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“It isn't an easy thing to give your loyalty to someone you don't know, especially when that person chooses to reveal nothing of himself.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT!”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“I knew I would be in the story somewhere," Eugenides interjected.
"Oh no," said Phresine, "This was a humble servant."
"Ouch."
"Though very courageous."
"Not me," whispered Eugenides to his pillow.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“You didn't know I could do that, did you?" he asked, conversationally.
"I did not, Your Majesty," Teleus gasped.
"My grandfather killed a man that way once, using the edge of the wooden sword."
"I hadn't realized the Thieves of Eddis were so warlike."
"They aren't, mostly. But like all men, Teleus, I have two grandfathers." Teleus rolled his eyes to look up at him, and the king said, "One of mine was Eddis."
"Ah," said Teleus.
"Ah, indeed," said the king.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Safety is an illusion, Costis. A Thief might fall at any time, and eventually the day must come when the god will let him. Whether I am on a rafter three stories up or on a staircase three steps up, I am in my god's hands. He will keep me safe, or he will not, here or on the stairs.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“...her queen danced like a flame in the wind, and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth...”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“If you are feeling more yourself, there is a problem best addressed immediately," said the queen.
"In my nightshirt?" The king wriggled, as ever, out of straightforward obedience.
"Your attendants. I have spoken to them. You will speak to them as well."
"Ah. They have seen me in my nightshirt." He looked down at his sleeve, embroidered with white flowers. "Not in your nightshirt, though.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“But there are other words for privacy and independence. They are isolation and loneliness.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“I was listening," the king said, aggrieved. "I closed my eyes to listen better."
"What did you hear?"
"I'm not sure," he said." That's why I was listening so closely. I may have to ask the baron to repeat some parts of his report on his grain tax."
"I am sure you can arrange an appointment."
"I am sure I can too.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“He limped slowly over to his own wooden sword and stooped awkwardly to pick it up. Trailing it on the ground behind him, he limped toward the queen, and the courtyard quieted as he approached and was silent again as he dropped to his knees before her and laid the sword across her lap.
“My Queen,” he said.
“My King,” she said back.
Only those closest saw him nod his rueful acceptance. He lifted his hand to brush her cheek softly. As the entire court listened breathlessly, he said, “I want my breakfast.”
The queen’s lips thinned, and she shook her head as she said, “You are incorrigible.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Your Majesty, you just-" Costis stopped.
"Just what?" the king prompted wickedly.
Nothing would induce Costis to say out loud that the king had almost fallen from the palace wall and that Costis had seen him manifestly saved by the God of Thieves.
The king smiled. "Cat got your tongue?"
"Your Majesty, you are drunk," Costis pleaded.
"I am. What's your excuse?”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“It isn't deep," the Eddisian Ambassador said from the other side of the bed. He was leaning over the wound, looking critical and mildly disappointed. Eugenides didn't miss a beat.
"It is...too...deep!" he insisted, outraged.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“He whines, he complains, he ducks out of the most obvious responsibility. He is vain, petty and maddening, but he doesn't ever quit.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“My beautiful queen. Your entire court is staring at you, and I can't blame them."
They were, too. The queen turned to look. Her glance swept through the crowd like a reaping sickle through grain. Mouths slammed shut on every side. There was a scuffling sound as the people in the back shifted, trying to screen themselves from view. The queen looked back at the king, who was broadly smiling.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Ornon said, "I have seen him jump across atriums four stories above the ground, a distance that would make your blood freeze, and I heard him once confess that he sometimes thinks the distance is beyond him. He always jumps, Your Majesty. The Thieves are not trained in self-preservation. I beg you would take my advice.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
“Then come out," said the king, helping him, "knowing you'll never die of a fall unless the god himself drops you.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, quote from The King of Attolia
Megan Whalen Turner
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“Fuck the drug war. Dropping acid was a profound turning point for me, a seminal experience. I make no apologies for it. More people should do acid. It should be sold over the counter.”
― George Carlin, quote from Last Words
“How astonishing it is that language can almost mean,
and frightening that it does not quite.”
― Jack Gilbert, quote from The Great Fires
“A volte capitano cose che sfuggono alla nostra comprensione. Di una crudeltà intollerabile. Ma questo non significa che dobbiamo rinchiuderci in un angolo e smettere di lottare.”
― Rebecca Serle, quote from When You Were Mine
“There is the natural liar...Always says the thing that sounds best.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Cards on the Table
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― David Hackett Fischer, quote from Washington's Crossing
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