Quotes from The Pawn

Steven James ·  427 pages

Rating: (7.3K votes)


“Plastic people flashing fake smiles at a pretend world.”
― Steven James, quote from The Pawn


“None of us can know what it's like for someone else. It's what makes us individuals. We each have our own pain, our own mistakes. But we can reach out toward each other, help each other. That's what makes us human.”
― Steven James, quote from The Pawn


“All of life is a complex game of strategy; moves, and countermoves, taking and losing pieces, setting up for the final”
― Steven James, quote from The Pawn


“All of life is a complex game of strategy; moves, and countermoves, taking and losing pieces, setting up for the final endgame.”
― Steven James, quote from The Pawn


“He said souls can be just as bloody and torn up as bodies can. He called it the other kind of violence.”
― Steven James, quote from The Pawn



About the author

Steven James
Born place: The United States
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“The Sultan tapped his tented fingers, staring into the distance. Suddenly, he lunged toward me, took hold of my wrist, and pulled me roughly down to sit on the cushion beside him. “This . . . mermaid,” he said through clenched teeth, leaning in so close to me that I could smell the mint on his breath. “The one who sang to the king at night.” His voice was fierce, but quiet. I couldn’t tell if anyone but me could hear. “How . . .” he began. “How did she think of the king . . . in her heart?”
I glanced quickly up at his face and saw there a look that took me by surprise. An oddly soft, vulnerable, hurting look. The look of a man who might cry out in his sleep at night, like a child. But then the stony mask slid back.
“Did she despise him,” the Sultan asked, “for making her sing for her life each night? Did she only pretend affection to save her own skin? Did she . . . loathe him for what he had done before, to his other wives? For his . . . sins?”
“No, my lord,” I said softly. “She loved him.”
“Do you swear it?” He gripped my wrist harder, until it hurt.
“Yes, my lord. She told me—” I stopped, corrected myself. “She told the mermaid with the broken fin. She said the king—the merman king, my lord—she said that he had a deep hurting inside him. She said that she wanted to soothe him. And when the mermaid with the broken fin . . . questioned how the queen could love him—because of the things you just said, my lord—the queen said, ‘I’m not ashamed of loving him. There’s nothing wrong with loving someone. It’s hating—that’s what’s wrong.”
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