42
" There was a horrible, wrenching sound, a screech of protesting metal, and one of the screams peaked at a shivering, violent point—then dissolved into a strangled mishmash of sounds, of tearing and snapping and popping, of gurgling and thudding. And when they were finished, something, something big, with a cavernous, resonating chest, snarled from not ten feet beyond the security door. "
― Jim Butcher , Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)
48
" And then there she was, a girl of elegant height, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years of age—gawky and coltish, all long legs and arms, but with the promise of stunning beauty to add graceful curves to the lean lines of her body. She was dressed in a pair of my blue jeans, cut off at the tops of her muscled thighs, and my own T-shirt, tied off over her abdomen. A pentacle amulet, identical to my own, if less battered, lay over her heart, between the curves of her modest breasts. Her skin was pale, almost luminous, her hair a shade of brown-gold, like ripe wheat, her eyes a startling, storm-cloud grey in contrast. Her smile lit up her face, "
― Jim Butcher , Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)
51
" I just wouldn’t be safe from myself. I wouldn’t be safe from the loathing I would feel, using a tool made of life’s essence, its energy, to bring an end to life. Magic was more than just an energy source, like electricity or petroleum. It was power, true, but it was a lot of other things as well. It was all that was deepest and most powerful in nature, in the human heart and soul. The ways in which I applied it were crude and clumsy in comparison to magic in its pure form. There’s more magic in a baby’s first giggle than in any firestorm a wizard can conjure up, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. "
― Jim Butcher , Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)
60
" It isn’t that simple, Harry. No matter where you go, there you are.” “Look, I’ve had a long night.” “I know,” my double said. “Believe me, I know. That’s why it’s important to get some of this out now, before it settles in. Before you blow a gasket on your sanity, man.” “I’ve not worried about that,” I lied. “I’m as solid as a brick wall.” My double snorted. “If you weren’t getting pretty close to crazy, would you be talking to yourself right now?” I opened my mouth. Closed it again. Shrugged. “Okay. You’ve got a point. "
― Jim Butcher , Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)