Home > Work > The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)
41 " Great men and women are not constrained in the forms their loves may take," said Soto. "You and Jia may love others, but in each other's estimation, you'll always be first among equals.""But it will never be smooth sailing and all sunshine, will it?""What would be the fun in that? "
― Ken Liu , The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)
42 " Sometimes it was hard to tell where the performance ended and the real self began - but what was this "real" self other than a set of performances? "
43 " Often, he felt as though he were sitting alone in the middle of a theater while the same performance was put on every night around him, with different actors saying the same lines in various settings. "
44 " I’m coming home, my beloved, center of my heart. "
45 " But Mata understood that Jizu had been made into something like a saint, a symbol around which people could rally. Such symbols were the most dangerous because they could be made to say whatever those who held the symbol wished. "
46 " The grace of kings is not the same as the morals governing individuals. "
47 " They’re all dear to me, but I admire the dandelion the most. It is hardy and determined, adaptable and practical. The flower looks like a small chrysanthemum, but it’s much more resourceful and far less delicate. Poets may compose odes about the chrysanthemum, but the dandelion’s leaves and flowers can fill your belly, its sap cure your warts, its roots calm your fevers. Dandelion tea makes you alert, while chewing its root can steady a nervous hand. The milk of the dandelion can even be used to make invisible ink that reveals itself when mixed with the juice of the stone’s ear mushroom. It is a versatile and useful plant people can rely on. “And "
48 " In vengeance, even a rabbit can learn to become a wolf. "
49 " A great warrior trusts not his weapons, but himself. When you possess true strength, you can deal a killing blow even if all you have is a blade of grass. “Now "
50 " As the moon rose, I saw the light illuminate an ancient quote from the Ano Classics, carved into one of the broken lintels: ‘All life is an experiment. "
51 " Sir, a reformed man is worth ten men virtuous from birth, for he understands temptation and will strive the harder to not stray. "
52 " We are old friends,” Cogo said. “But men have roles and masks that they wear, and these have a reality of their own. Authority is a delicate thing, and it must be carefully cultivated by proper ritual and action from the governing and the governed alike. "
53 " The gods always spoke ambivalently, and sometimes they even changed their minds in the middle of your asking them a question. Divination was a matter of ascertaining the future through inherently unreliable methods. "
54 " For both women and men, Soto believed that love was more like food. The same dish tired the palate, and variety was spice.The world did not tolerate such betrayals by the wives, if betrayal was what they were, as it tolerated the same betrayals by husbands. But the world was wrong. Accommodations for the vagaries of the heart should be made for women as well as men. "
55 " Motivating a man was about finding the right tender spots to push until he couldn’t wait to do what you wanted, just like defeating a tax dodger involved finding the one thing he cared about and squeezing it until he opened his purse and willingly, tearfully, offered up everything he owed. "
56 " A party was something he was always interested in—free drinks and free food! “The "
57 " Brothers should not take up arms against each other,” Mata said. “You’ve been a great soldier, Rat, the best I’ve ever seen. Let me give you a final gift. "
58 " She thought about the old woman’s words as a smile broke out on her pale white face. She played with a lock of her fiery red hair, and her slender eyes, shaped like the body of the graceful dyran, the rainbow-scaled, ribbon-tailed flying fish, stared into the distance. There was something about this young man who tried to do good without seeming to be too good. She wanted to know him better. "
59 " This investment may well pay off a hundredfold someday.” “You "
60 " Sir, a reformed man is worth ten men virtuous from birth, for he understands temptation and will strive the harder not to stray. "