Home > Work > The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings, #2)
1 " I've learned not to walk in with pistols drawn, but rather to keep them hidden in my petticoats with a hand surreptitiously upon the heel. "
― Mackenzi Lee , The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings, #2)
2 " Because women don't have to be men's equals to be considered contenders; they have to be better. That's the lie of it all. You have to be better to prove yourself worthy of being equal. "
3 " There is a unique sort of agony to entering a party alone. "
4 " It is not a failure to readjust my sails to fit the waters I find myself in. "
5 " My character was forged by independence and self-sufficiency in the face of loneliness, so I assumed the tools for survival were already in my kit, it was just a matter of learning to use them. But not only do I not have the tools, I have no plans and no supplies and seem to be working in a different medium entirely. "
6 " Our best is all we can do, and all we can hold on to is each other. And, zounds, that is more than enough. "
7 " Mythology is all shite anyway,' she says. 'It never has stories about people like us. I'd rather write my own legends, or be the story someone else looks to one day, build a strong foundation for those who follow us. "
8 " And thank God, because I don't want simple. I do not want easy or small or uncomplicated. I want my life to be messy and ugly and wicked and wild, and I want to feel it all. "
9 " You're trying to play a game designed by men. You'll never win, because the deck is stacked and marked, and also you've been blindfolded and set on fire. You can work hard and believe in yourself and be the smartest person in the room and you'll still get beat by the boys who haven't two cents to rub together. So if you can't win the game, you have to cheat. You operate outside the walls they've built to fence you in. You rob them in the dark, while they're drunk on spirits you offered them. Poison their waters and drink only wine. "
10 " The room is warm and smells like dust, and just the presence of so many books makes it easier to breathe. It’s remarkable how being around books, even those you’ve never read, can have a calming effect, like walking into a crowded party and finding it full of people you know. "
11 " I think I want a house of my own," I start, the words a discovery as they leave my mouth. "Something small, so I don't have much housework, but enough room for a proper library. I want a lot of books. And I wouldn't mind a good old dog to walk with me. And a bakery I go to every morning where they know my name. "
12 " It would be so much easier if I did not want to know everything so badly. If I did not want so badly to be reliant upon no soul by myself. "
13 " You’re being sarcastic.” “No, actually I was being flippant, but I can do sarcastic if you’d rather. "
14 " I have challenged fate to chess and am now attempting to keep all my confidence from puddling in my boots. What if I’m the only one betting on myself because everyone but me can see I am not suited to play at all? "
15 " Every time you rolled your eyes and every little smart remark you made about how silly it was for girls to care about their looks. You refused to let me--or anyone!--like books and silks. Outdoors and cosmetics. You stopped taking me seriously when I stopped being the kind of woman you thought I had to be to be considered intelligent and strong. All those things you say make men take women less seriously--I don't think it's men; it's you. You're not better than any other woman because you like philosophy better than parties and don't give a fig about the company of gentlemen, or because you wear boots instead of heels and don't set your hair in curls. "
16 " I'm learning there is no one way for life to be lived, no one way to be strong or brave or kind or good. Rather there are many people doing the best they can with their heart they are given and the hand they are dealt. "
17 " Yes, we have quite literally followed you to the end of the earth," Monty replied, "And there was only mild complaining "
18 " How can you know that if you've never had anyone?""How do you know you want to?" I reply. "I've never drunk octopus ink, but I don't feel the need to. Or like I'm missing anything in not having tasted it. "
19 " I do not want to know things, I want to understand things. I want to answer every question ever posed me. I want to leave no room for anyone to doubt me. "
20 " You deserve to be here. You deserve to exist. You deserve to take up space in this world of men. "