The Unkindest Tide

As my squire, part of Quentin’s job is accompanying me when I do stupid shit; it’s a learning experience. Most of what he’s learning is how to get blood out of his clothes, but hey, at least it’s educational.

What you mean and what you say should be similar, or you risk people not understanding you.

Foolishness and bravery look a lot alike if you’re not paying close enough attention,

Well, kiddo, since your lady knight wants to go hang out in the Undersea like a big asshole, you’re going to go with her.” The Luidaeg flashed a toothy smile. “Call it a learning experience. You’re going to learn why you need to get yourself a better knight if you want to live long enough to be High King.” —The Luidaeg to Quentin re: rescue mission

Sometimes you need to take peoples' minds of their problems if you want those problems to resolve themselves," said Marcia. "Focusing on things can make them worse." "Not all problems go away if you ignore them. Most don't." "No, but not all problems can be fixed. Sometimes you have to wait until the situation changes.

Do you need anything else?” “Basket, oil, herbs,” she said. “And a pony, but I never get that, unless you count the Kelpies, which I don’t. Kelpies are too naughty to count as ponies.” “They’re also horrifying and full of teeth,” said Patrick.

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings:

This doesn’t bring back the ones who were lost. This doesn’t make things right. But it makes things better than they’ve been, and maybe that can be enough to let us move forward, you know? Maybe this is where some of the broken bits get fixed.

Merrow and Sirens and people with pearlized eyes or shimmering scales dusted across their skin, whose heritage teased my tongue with signals I didn’t quite know how to puzzle out.

Loving her would be like loving a natural disaster. Pleasant enough from a distance; all but guaranteed to break your heart.

He did it by twisting the truth until it screamed, but never lying.

Families are complicated. Other people’s families are even more so.

I can’t just snap my fingers and take away distance for no good reason; the magic doesn’t work like that, and let’s all be grateful,” said the Luidaeg. “There have to be limits, even on the Firstborn. We can’t be gods. The world would shatter and turn to dust beneath our feet. ... And all the ones who would be gods are the ones who shouldn’t be gods. ...

Therapy is for people who need to talk about their problems so they can get better. I mean, honestly, most of the purebloods I know would really benefit from some professional help. They get so messed up, and then they never talk about it, until one day they wander off into the nearest forest, or go evil and try to kill everyone, or decide they’d be better off as monsters. Can you imagine how much easier everything would be if people made better choices? Or at least choices that involved less knives?” —Raj to Helen in bonus novella, ‘Hope is Swift

Small untruths between lovers are not necessarily lies; sometimes they can be considered a form of kindness.