Home > Work > Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1)
1 " Gods, like men, can die. They just die harder, and smite the earth with their passing. "
― Max Gladstone , Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1)
2 " They found the Infirmary of Justice much as they had left it: white institutional walls, too-bright floors, and a reassuring smell of antiseptic. Reassuring at least to Tara, because the smell signalled that the people running this infirmary knew about antiseptic. "
3 " Be careful. As if something’s going to jump us in a library.”“You might be surprised.”“What do you mean?”“You know how people say a book is really gripping?”“Don’t tell me…” Cat trailed off.“Libraries can be dangerous. "
4 " One gets carried away when one feels one’s dinner companion has made an inexcusable moral error. "
5 " The God Wars had not been a pleasant time for Craftsmen and Craftswomen around the world. One day, you’re a simple thaumaturge, idly meddling in matters man was not meant to comprehend. The next, a collection of beings as old as humanity, with legions of followers, declare war on your “kind”, and neighbours who once thought you a harmless eccentric with a fondness for mystic sigils and foul unguents see you as an affront to Creation. "
6 " He drinks the life of those who come too close to him. Steals their youth. Also,” she said after a pause, “he moisturizes. "
7 " Put not your trust in things, but in men. And women. "
8 " For half a century he had stood too close to darkness, and some it crept into his bones. "
9 " A thousand prickling tender touches lit upon her, as if she was caught in a rainstorm and the raindrops were love. "
10 " The course of action for which you argue in your papers, not to mention your private life, would make Craftsmen and Craftswomen no better than the tyrant deities we overthrew in that damn war.” “Language, Elayne.” “My apologies,” she said after another sip of vodka. “One gets carried away when one feels one’s dinner companion has made an inexcusable moral error.” * "
11 " Yes,” she said. “It makes you the most stupid, single-minded collection of religious fanatics I’ve ever come across. I mean,” she amended as growls rose about her and green eyes narrowed, “I could not imagine ever doing something like that, but it’s terribly sweet. "
12 " So you assume we go around painting ourselves with pitch and swooping from rooftops to devour innocents, and call ourselves things like Shale Swiftwing, Beloved of the Goddess, Scout-in-Shadows. "
13 " She screamed. Not a normal scream of pain, but a deep and blind cry as reason deserted her. Of all the screams cataloged in the encyclopedic audio library of the Hidden Schools, Tara’s bore the closest resemblance to the scream of a man whose abdomen was being devoured by a jagged-clawed insect that wore a child’s face. "
14 " Religious men often think about death, and Abelard had given some thought to his last words. “I told you so” had not been on the list. The "
15 " Engineers: they spend so much time solving physical problems and obeying physical rules, they forget that nonphysical phenomena obey rules every bit as strict.” Tara "
16 " The brain shuts down, and the soul watches from a distance as the body tumbles at ever-increasing speed toward doom. This is because, though instinct is good at many things, it’s stupid about death. "
17 " He drinks the life of those who come too close to him. Steals their youth. Also,” she said after a pause, “he moisturizes.” She "
18 " Riding broomsticks, consorting with unholy powers. Who has the time for such pleasantries anymore? Why, I haven’t been on a date since the late eighties. "
19 " One gets carried away when one feels one’s dinner companion has made an inexcusable moral error.” * "
20 " The key difference between gods and men in the manner of their dying was that men possessed only two deep obligations: to the earth, from which came their flesh, and to the stars, from which came their soul. Neither earth nor stars were particularly concerned about the return on their investment. Humans were very good at adding order to the earth, and enlivening the world of the stars with ideas and myth. When a human being died, nobody had a vested interest in keeping her around. "
