Shadow of Night Quotes

“Memories were short and history unkind. It was the way of the world.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“With knot of one, the spell's begun.
With knot of two, the spell be true.
With knot of three, the spell is free.
With knot of four, the power is stored.
With knot of five, the spell with thrive.
With knot of six, this spell I fix.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“In every moment, for the rest of my life, I will be choosing you.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“We don’t lock up books in this house,” Philippe said, “only food, ale, and wine. Reading Herodotus or Aquinas seldom leads to bad behavior.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Children needed love, a reliable source of comfort, and an adult willing to take responsibility for them.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Change is the only reliable thing in the world.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Gallowglass returned to Sporrengasse with two vampires and a pretzel.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“I turned to leave, then whirled around and flung my arms around Philippe’s massive shoulders. How could such a man ever be broken? “What is it?” Philippe murmured, taken aback. “You will not be alone either, Philippe de Clermont,” I whispered fiercely. “I’ll find a way to be with you in the darkness, I promise. And when you think the whole world has abandoned you, I’ll be there, holding your hand.” “How could it be otherwise,” Philippe said gently, “when you are in my heart?”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“You’re impossible. Stop worrying about what other women do. Be your own extraordinary self.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“You tell me that magic is just desire made real. Maybe spells are nothing more than words that you believe with all your heart,”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“In every ending there is a new beginning.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“monsters always look just like ordinary men.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile."..' Opportunity is fleeting, experiment dangerous, and judgement difficult.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Giving a woman your whole life is meaningless without giving her your whole heart as well.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“You have found a woman who is worthy of you, with courage and hope to spare, Matthaios.’ ‘I know,’ Matthew said, taking my hand. ‘Know this, too: you are equally worthy of her. Stop regretting your life. Start living it.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“I trust my wife's judgement... That's what Philippe says about Granny, just before all hell breaks loose.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“The most terrifying monsters always look just like ordinary men.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Sir. My lord. Master Roydon." The young man blurted out most available titles except for "Your Majesty" and "Prince of Darkness." These were implied nonetheless.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“fine initium novum,’” Matthew said, gazing upon the land of his father as though he had, at last, come home. “‘In every ending there is a new beginning.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“For storms will rage and oceans roar,
When Gabriel stands on sea and shore,
And as he blows his wondrous horn,
Old worlds die and new be born.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Sex and dominance. It’s what modern humans think vampire relationships are all about,” I said. “Their stories are full of crazed alpha-male vampires throwing women over their shoulders before dragging them off for dinner and a date.” “Dinner and a date?” Matthew was aghast. “Do you mean . . . ?” “Uh-huh. You should see what Sarah’s friends in the Madison coven read. Vampire meets girl, vampire bites girl, girl is shocked to find out there really are vampires. The sex, blood, and overprotective behavior all come quickly thereafter. Some of it is pretty explicit.” I paused. “There’s no time for bundling, that’s for sure. I don’t remember much poetry or dancing either.” Matthew swore. “No wonder your aunt wanted to know if I was hungry.” “You really should read this stuff, if only to see what humans think. It’s a public-relations nightmare. Far worse than what witches have to overcome.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Magic was nothing more than desire made real,”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Stop trying to be perfect. Try being real for a change.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Nightmares are like Master Harriot’s star glass. They are a trick of the light, one that makes something distant seem closer and larger than it really is.” “Oh.” Jack considered Matthew’s response. “So even if I see a monster in my dreams, it cannot reach me?” Matthew nodded. “But I will tell you a secret. A dream is a nightmare in reverse. If you dream of someone you love, that person will seem closer, even if far away.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“If you’re angry with me, say it. If I’ve done something you don’t like, tell me. If you want to end this marriage, have the courage to end it cleanly so that I might—might—be able to recover from it. Because if you keep looking at me as though you wish we weren’t married, you’re going to destroy me.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“My experiences thus far had me planning to throttle the first Tudor historian I met upon my return for gross dereliction of duty.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Ysabeau wanted me to know she approved of you. Like the gold from which it is made, you are steadfast. You hide many secrets within you, just as the bands of the ring hide the poesies from view. But it is the stone that best captures who you are: bright on the surface, fiery within, and impossible to break.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Your father says a wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountaintop.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“We face a dark future if children stop asking questions, Susanna," Goody Alsop remarked.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Diana: You are everything we dreamed you would one day become. Life is the strong warp of time. Death is only the weft. It will be because of your children, and your children’s children, that I will live forever. Dad   P.S. Every time you read “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” in Hamlet, think of me.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night