Home > Work > Cytonic (Skyward, #3)
1 " Evolution doesn’t ‘try’ to do anything,” M-Bot said. “But like it or not, you are the pinnacle of its work. All evolutionary pressures throughout all the ages among your species have resulted in you.”“Bet it feels embarrassed,” I said "
― Brandon Sanderson , Cytonic (Skyward, #3)
2 " Was…was that a cow? "
3 " Sometimes it's too easy to forget the things you should remember — and far too easy to remember the things you really should forget. "
4 " All people must accept that we have the potential to do terrible things. It is part of seeing our place in the universe, our heritage, and our natures. But in that acceptance we gain strength, for potential can be refused. Any hero who could have been a monster is more heroic for the choices he or she made to walk another road. "
5 " I’m not exactly a “there are nuances to this situation” type of girl. I’m more of an “if it’s still moving, you didn’t use enough ammunition” type of girl. "
6 " I could be afraid, then become courageous. I could be small-minded, then come to understand. I could be selfish. Then move beyond it. I could start as human, then allow myself to become something more. "
7 " You look just fine.""Ah, 'just fine.' Exactly what a woman loves to hear.""I'm sorry," he said. "I meant to say that you look like a barbarian who just finished killing her seventeenth rabid tiger to make a necklace out of their incisors. "
8 " stories say something. About us, and about where we came from. They’re a reminder that we have a past, a history. And a future. "
9 " I’m a collection of stories stuffed into a brain with no context, trying so very hard to simply keep going. "
10 " See? One step at a time. You can do this. I can do this. Whatever it takes.” He nodded by wobbling his drone up and down. “Okay!” he said. “Whatever it takes. My! That feels good. To at least pretend we’re in control! I like it. Is this how you feel all the time? "
11 " Okay, I could deal with this. I could accept this. Deal with this, brain! "
12 " Spensa,” M-Bot said, hovering along beside me, “I am not enthused by my first experiments in self-determination. My chronometer details that since my awakening, I’ve spent a frightening amount of my time lost, pouting, or being chased by interdimensional monsters. "
13 " Children in the future were going to insist my adventures were too outlandish—and therefore I wasn’t an actual historical person, but one that was obviously made up, like Gilgamesh or David Bowie. "
14 " You cannot be defined by your questions. Only by what you do with them. "
15 " Maybe it doesn’t matter what he thinks. It’s hard to feel that, but I can say it. That feels like a different kind of lying. One that’s not all untrue. "
16 " Poems don’t deserve numbers, "
17 " Get better. Learn to accept that sometimes what you feel isn’t invalid, but that it doesn’t mean you have to act according to those feelings either. "
18 " However," he continued, "duty should not be accepted without question. Duty can be a motive, but should not be an excuse. "
19 " I was Spensa, and my soul was fire. "
20 " You will not distract me from my current purpose, adversary. Though you have fought admirably, I will defeat you, then compose poetry for your funeral.” “This…um…isn’t to the death, Hesho.” “I will defeat you,” he said in the same exact tone, “and compose poetry for your retirement party. "