“We are, all of us, on our own journeys.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Because one moment in life does not define a person," Li Min said. "Without mistakes and misjudgments we would stagnate. It is no shameful thing to be beaten when outnumbered, not when you were brave enough to try. Nor is a scar or injury something to despair over, for it is a mark that you were strong enough to survive.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“The things which are denied to us in life will never create a cage for our souls.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“I understand. There is the journey you make through the world—the one that aches and sings. We come together with others to make our way and survive its trials,” she said. “But we are, all of us, also wayfarers on a greater journey, this one without end, each of us searching for the answers to the unspoken questions of our hearts. Take comfort, as I have, in knowing that, while we must travel it alone, this journey rewards goodness, and will prove that the things which are denied to us in life will never create a cage for our souls.” Nicholas”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Name the horizon, and it’s ours.”
By the time the auditorium doors opened, they were gone”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Mind the hour, mind the date, and find that path which does not run straight.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Half the men worship at her feet; the other half have already proposed marriage, including young Jack, who has sworn to his dear 'miss' that he'll be true if she'll only wait a few more years for him.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“I'm not... I'm not without a heart,' he heard Sophia say, her chin raised, eyes straight ahead. 'I'm not. I just don't have the luxury of being soft. I am trying to survive.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“One day they will name a plague for you,” he said.
“Hopefully a particularly nasty one,” she answered. “A girl can dream.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“I understand. There is the journey you make through the world—the one that aches and stings. We come together with others to make our way and survive its trials," she said. "But we are, all of us, also wayfarers on a greater journey, this one without end, each of us searching for the answers to the unspoken questions of our hearts. Take comfort, as I have, in knowing that, while we must travel it alone, this journey rewards goodness, and will prove that the things which are denied to us in life will never create a cage for our souls.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Stop trying to make me feel better,” Sophia ordered. “It won’t work. I’m determined to be angry and guilty about this for at least another two days, and then again when I’m punching your corpse.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“All cities are jealous of Paris, but Prague is the envy of Paris.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“It is no shameful thing to be beaten when outnumbered, not when you were brave enough to try.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“The worth is in the fight, not the conquest. Do not give up.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“He was staring down another loss, and, though he had to be logical, though he knew her to be logical, he saw the stricken look of betrayal on her face, and all of those arguments threatened to fly away from him. What was history anyway but the lies of the winning few? Why was it worth protecting, when it forgot the starving child under siege, the slave woman on her deathbed, the man lost at sea? It was an imperfect record written by a biased hand, diluted to garner the most agreement from competing parties. He was tempted to see her point, to imagine that she could realign the past and present and future into something beautiful. God, if anyone was capable of it, it would be her.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Nicholas wondered briefly if it was his destiny to be surrounded by women possessing varying degrees of murderous intent.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“I wanted to find something that would make Mom proud of me. Something I could excel at.' she told him. 'But some part of me thought that if I was out there performing, if everyone knew my name, I might reach my father or his family. They might recognize me. They'd hear my music and want to come find me. Know me.'
'I heard you, Etta,' he said softly. 'I heard you.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“There was something else that Hall used to say–that life itself was uncertainty, and the only remedy to its madness was to act boldly.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Why would I ever search out someone who abandoned me? Someone who had no regard for any of us, who ran because he’s too much of a damn coward to stand up to his family!”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“I never would have stopped looking for you. I would have gone to the very edges of time to save you from this.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Either my adorably sadistic grandfather has done something terrible to you, or you’re about to inform me that I’ve died by—rather stupidly, if I say so myself—falling off a mountain,” he said. “Those seem to be the only two reactions I get these days.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Where am I?” she asked, interrupting him.
He seemed startled by her ability to speak, but he stood and retrieved a glass of some amber liquid from a corner table for her. “You sound as terrible as you look, kiddo. Have a sip.”
She stared at it.
“Oh, you’re no fun,” he said with a little pout. “I suppose you’ll want water instead. Wait here and be quiet—can’t raise the alarm just yet, can we?”
Etta wasn’t sure what that meant, but she complied all the same, watching as the young man walked to the door and stuck his head out into the hall.
“You, there—yes, you—bring me a glass of water. And don’t bloody well spit in it this time—you honestly think I’m not well versed enough in that fine art to notice?”
The response was immediate and irritated. “I’m not your damned servant.”
So there are guards after all. The only question was whether they were protecting him, or protecting themselves from him.
“I do believe the official decree from your master and commander was, ‘Give the dear boy what he wants.’ This dear boy wants water. And make it snappy. Pep in your step and all that. Thanks, old chum.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“It wasn't a weakness to have those thoughts, to feel that need to help another, to save lives. It made one human.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Stop it,” Nicholas said. “I know what it is you’re doing—” “The moment I knew you had that inclination, that you were a natural…I recognized myself in you,” Ironwood said. “My father. His father. All forged in the same fire. And when you fought so hard to leave our family’s service, I knew for certain; for a true Ironwood cannot bear stagnation, or to be held against his will. You made your brother seem like nothing more than a yearling. He never had the grit he needed to manage the family—that grit which has kept me searching for the astrolabe all these long years. That which brought you here tonight.” Nicholas startled at the word brother.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Nicholas eased back from her, wondering if this was what death would feel like - the painful release. He had envisioned it so many times as wading out into dark, cool water, letting it rise past his hips, his shoulders, his head. This was a breaking, a thunderclap of agony. How short a person's life was, but how very many times they were asked to die inside.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“When his hands were dry and chapped, he recalled the softness of her skin. When the world shivered at the approaching winter, he recalled the warmth of being beside her. When he felt the sneering judgment of the eyes around him, he recalled the invincibility she'd instilled in him with her belief.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“WINIFRED—WHO, IT SEEMED, HAD BEEN LISTENING AT THE DOOR—handed her a pair of shoes as soon as Etta emerged from the office. By the time Henry appeared at her side, a light coat over his suit jacket, the woman had faded back down the shadows of the hallway like the ghoul she was.
“No coat?” he asked, eyeing her up and down.
“Darling Winifred didn’t think I needed one, apparently,” she said. One of the guards chuckled into his fist, earning him a swat across the chest from the other.
Henry looked mildly startled. “Your mother called her that as well.”
“My mother met that woman and they both survived it?”
One corner of his mouth twitched, and the parts of her that were still raw, and awkward—and, worse—unsure, eased. “I never said they emerged unscathed.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Do you believe in that world you spoke of, the one made for us?' She swallowed, nodding. Her soft lips were against his bare skin, and he was a man, damn it all, and he was burning for her. The words that escaped him were choked with emotion. 'If we aren't to have it in this life, then in the next. If not now, then we'll have forever.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“Please have a seat, Henrietta. Winifred, thank you; that will be all. Ensure we’re not disturbed.”
The older woman bobbed a slight curtsey, giving Etta’s back a parting pinch, hard enough to make her jump forward a step. Etta waited until the woman had vanished through the door in a swirl of dark skirts before turning to Henry and spitting out, “She doesn’t travel through passages, does she? She sacrifices a puppy and flies through the centuries on her broom.”
He gave a sharp cough into his hand.
“I assure you, your great-aunt is quite loving,” Henry said, only to stop and reconsider. “That is, she’s quite loving in her own way…every other Sunday. In May. Won’t you sit?”
Great-aunt. No way in hell.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
“A man made his own future. He chipped it from whatever hardships insinuated themselves into his life; he carved out the happy, glad moments to capture his gratitude for them. It came from the simple magic of merely living. Of surviving. Seeking.”
― Alexandra Bracken, quote from Wayfarer
Alexandra Bracken
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“Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego; All earth-born cares are wrong: Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House
“To my mind, the only possible pet is a cow. Cows love you. They are harmless, they look nice, they don’t need a box to crap in, they keep the grass down, and they are so trusting and stupid that you can’t help but lose your heart to them. Where I live in Yorkshire, there’s a herd of cows down the lane. You can stand by the wall at any hour of the day or night, and after a minute the cows will all waddle over and stand with you, much too stupid to know what to do next, but happy just to be with you. They will stand there all day, as far as I can tell, possibly till the end of time. They will listen to your problems and never ask a thing in return. They will be your friends forever. And when you get tired of them, you can kill them and eat them. Perfect. Durbuy”
― Bill Bryson, quote from Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
“What they failed to teach you at school was that the whole business of being human just got messier and more complicated as you got older. You could tell the truth, be polite, take everyone's feelings into consideration and still have to deal with other people's shit. At nine or ninety.”
― Mark Haddon, quote from A Spot of Bother
“The people can be forced to fear, but not to love.”
― Steve Berry, quote from The Romanov Prophecy
“My last penny! I think I'll squander it on myself. I never feel badly about spending money my dad has earned honestly! I can't decide whether I should buy a balloon or a gumball. A gumball would taste mighty good, but a balloon would be a lot more fun... I'll take a balloon! Sooner or later in life a person has to learn to make decisions! (Sees someone with a different color balloon) Gee, I wish I'd bought a RED balloon.”
― Charles M. Schulz, quote from The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 1: 1950-1952
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