Home > Work > Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)
21 " Sevro sniffs my neck and makes a noise of distaste. “By Jove. You wretch. Did you dip yourself in piss before the occasion?” “It’s cologne,” I say. “Mustang bought it for me last Solstice.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Is it made out of piss? "
― Pierce Brown , Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)
22 " Sevro grins. “Listen, Thraxa, kids are like dogs. Some whimper, some bark, some growl. You just gotta find the right language and then speak it back at them.” Alexandar smirks. “You can speak to dogs?” “I talk to you, don’t I? "
23 " They all want a part of it. A part of the pain that's not theirs. Nod their heads. Wrinkle their foreheads. Now they want to pity it, gorge on my pain. And when they're done or bored or too sad, they whisk themselves away to stare at a screen or stuff their fat faces, thinking 'How lucky am I to be me.' And they they forget the pain and say we should be good citizens. Get a job. Assimilate..They planted us in stones, watered us with pain, and now marvel how we have thorns. "
24 " But history is so often molded from tainted clay by those who remain. "
25 " I suppose that is what every man must tell himself in war.” His voice rasps and he sucks again on the water tube. “That there will be an end, and when it is done, enough of himself will remain. Enough to be a father. A brother. A lover. But we know it isn’t true. Don’t we, Darrow? War eats the victors last. "
26 " The key to learning, to power, to having the final say in everything, is observation. By all means, be a storm inside, but save your movement and wind till you know your purpose. "
27 " Men call him father, liberator, warlord, Slave King, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the war-torn planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-third of his life. "
28 " Do not let fear touch you. Fear is the torrent. The raging river. To fight it is to break and drown. But to stand astride it is to see it, feel it, and use its course for your own whims. "
29 " If you are wise and lucky and live long as me, you will learn this pain is just a drop in the sea. "
30 " Sharing a life threads more than flesh and blood together. It weaves her memories in and around and through mine. The more I know of her, the more I share of her, the more I love her in a way the boy I used to be never knew how to love. Eo was a flame, dancing against the wind. I tried to catch her. Tried to hold her. But she was never meant to be held. My wife is not as fickle as a flame. She is an ocean. I knew from the first that I cannot own her, cannot tame her, but I am the only storm that moves her depths and stirs her tides. And that is more than enough. "
31 " Stories are the wealth of humanity! "
32 " For those who dine with war and empire, the bill always comes at the end. "
33 " After ten years of war, I no longer believe in moments of peace. "
34 " Sevro…are you going to be civil?” He shrugs. “Good enough. "
35 " I loved you before I ever met you. I will love you until the sun dies. And when it does, I will love you in the darkness. "
36 " Those you protect will not see you. They will not understand you. But you are the Gray wall between civilization and chaos. And they stand safe in the shadow you cast. Do not expect praise or love. Their ignorance is proof of the success of your sacrifice. For we who serve the state, duty must be its own reward. "
37 " New’ generally means someone’s just trying to make money off something old. "
38 " The destroyer of a civilization too often resembles its founders. "
39 " A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots. —LORN AU ARCOS "
40 " Anything gentle that lives long, hides its stinger well. "