Leigh Bardugo

"There is something more powerful than any army. Something strong enough to topple kings, and even Darklings. Do you know what that thing is?I shook my head, inching away from him. Faith, he breathed, his black eyes wild. Faith."

"Hope was tricky like water. Somehow it always found a way in."

"Nikolai had been told that hope was dangerous, had been warned of it many times. But he’d never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home."

"Greed is your god, Kaz. He almost laughed at that. No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever."

"They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that."

"Are we not all things?"

"“Everyone mourns the first blossom. Who will grieve the rest who fall?”"

"Kaz reached into his coat pocket. Here, he said and handed Jesper a slender book with an elaborate cover. Are we going to read to each other?Just flip it open to the back. Jesper opened the book and peered at the last page, puzzled. So?Hold it up so we don't have to look at your ugly face. My face has character. Besides - oh!An excellent read, isn't it?Who knew I had a taste for literature?"

"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true."

"“Greed is your god, Kaz. He almost laughed at that. No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”"

"I rolled my eyes. "For defending my honor, you dullard."He yanked me beneath a shadowed awning. I had a moment's panic when I thought he'd spotted trouble, but then his arms were around me and his lips were pressed to mine. When he finally drew back, my cheeks were warm and my legs had gone wobbly."Just to be clear," he said, "I'm not really interested in defending your honor."Understood," I managed, hoping I didn't sound too ridiculously breathless."

"I think... sometimes when we find love we pretend it away, or ignore it, or tell ourselves we are imagining it. Because it's the most painful kind of hope there is. It can be ripped away so easily. By indifference. By death."

"We put on our best clothes and die like heroes."

"I think the hard work of writing is just how long a book is terrible before it's good."

"I think we often hold heroines to an absurd standard. Be brave! Be wise! Always know what's in your heart and speak the truth of it! No and no and no. We fight to be brave. We learn to be wise. We struggle to know ourselves and voice what we want."

"“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”"

"Inej placed her hands on Nina’s shoulders. “We’ll see each other again.”“Of course we will. You’ve saved my life. I’ve saved yours.”“I think you’re ahead on that count.”“No, I don’t mean in the big ways.” Nina’s eyes took them all in. “I mean the little rescues. Laughing at my jokes. Forgiving me when I was foolish. Never trying to make me feel small. It doesn’t matter if it’s next month, or next year, or ten years from now, those will be the things I remember when I see you again.”Kaz offered his gloved hand to Nina. “Until then, Zenik.”“Count on it, Brekker.” They shook."

"Sometimes when we find love we pretend it away, or ignore it, or tell ourselves we're imagining it. Because it's the most painful kind of hope there is. By indifference . By death."