“The Japs,” said one Indian, “have reduced Mandalay to ashes, and their bombers are operating all over the country. They are a barbarous foe and have butchered many of their prisoners.””
“If I were on firewho could I count on to water me down?If I were a pile of ashes who could I count on to gather me in a pretty urn?If I were nothing but dust would anyone chase the wind trying to piece me back together?””
“Hope has no feathersHope takes flighttethered with twinelike a tattered kite,slave to the wind'scapricious drifteager to soarbut needing liftHope waits stubbornlywatching the skyfor turmoil, feeding onthings that fly:crows, ashes, newspapers,dry leaves in flightall suggest windthat could lift a kiteHope sails and plungesfirmly caughtat the end of her string -fallen slack, pulling taught,ragged and featherless.Hope never fliesbut doggedly watchesfor windy skies.””
“Silly Brigid. Love friendship. Just with less clothes, which makes it far more brilliant.””
“Gemma told me that women like being courted, so please read the following reasons that you should marry me. (I only included five. I didn’t want to overwhelm you.) And yes, I realize this isn’t a traditional courtship. It’ll work anyway; I’m irresistible.””
“The Cinderella story in reverse. I only wish there were ashes in the fireplace so I could order you to sweep them out.””
“When you fall in love with me, you’re going to love me madly. Completely. Because that’s who you are.””
“So when life breaks you pick up the pieces and keep moving. Otherwise, you stay broken. And instead of being a survivor, you’re always a victim.””
“When I tell you to take guards, fucking take guards. These bastards owe me their fucking loyalty for a reason and if I tell them to hold your fucking handbag and paint your toenails, they’ll bloody to it!” He spun at the guard who was standing silently by the door. “If you ever paint her toenails, I’ll fucking kill you.””
“What do you want from me, Carwyn?”“Many things.” A lazy smile spread over his face. “But tonight, I want to hold you, and kiss you, and tell you that I love you as often as I like.””
“This is hall. And I do not--”She was cut off as a sharp spear of fire shot out of Arosh’s fingers. Livia pulled a guard in front of her, who immediately turned to ash.“Shut up, woman. I am speaking.””
“I want you … More than I have ever wanted any woman in a thousand years.””
“...and in the summer we would line up three sand dollars John and I had found on our second date when we walked along the ocean holding hands, both of us taut with the knowledge the we had found The One- though neither of us admitted it until much later. It was the same beach where I scattered his ashes. It is good we don't know our own futures.””
“I know the power names hold better than anyone. Yesterday, I was a girl without an identity, someone risen from the ashes of a dead forest. A girl whose only memories were the movements her body made during a slaughter. Now I have a name. And with that comes the expectation that I’m unchanged,””
“The weaving of life between mother and daughter is just like the making of a basket. As time goes by, the interlacing takes shape and becomes stronger.””
“As they passed, women from their doors tossed household slops of EVERY description into the gutter; they ran into the next pool, which overflowed and stagnated. Heaps of ashes were the stepping-stones, on which the passer-by, who cared in the least for cleanliness, took care not to put his foot. Our friends were not dainty, but even they picked their way, till they got to some steps leading down to a small area, where a person standing would have his head about one foot below the level of the street, and might at the same time, without the least motion of his body, touch the window of the cellar and the damp muddy wall right opposite. You went down one step even from the foul area into the cellar in which a family of human beings lived. It was very dark inside. The window-panes, many of them, were broken and stuffed with rags, which was reason enough for the dusky light that pervaded the place even at midday. After the account I have given of the state of the street, no one can be surprised that on going into the cellar inhabited by Davenport, the smell was so foetid””
“All that remains is regret for what might have been. It is like standing in the ashes of a fire you once approached to warm your body a little, but which burned you to the bone instead.””
“If I were on fire who could I count on to water me down? If I were a pile of ashes who could I count on to gather me in a pretty urn? If I were nothing but dust would anyone chase the wind trying to piece me back together?””