Home > Work > The Novels of the Jaran: Jaran / An Earthly Crown / His Conquering Sword / The Law of Becoming (Jaran, #1-4)
1 " There’s little enough joy, and far too much pain, in a world like this not to appreciate the beauty that comes your way. He "
― Kate Elliott , The Novels of the Jaran: Jaran / An Earthly Crown / His Conquering Sword / The Law of Becoming (Jaran, #1-4)
2 " I believe that there is truth to be found inside every person, but that very few people find it because it is dark inside, and deeply hidden, and the trees grow thickly. "
3 " He, who the sword of heaven will bear Should be as holy as severe; Pattern in himself to know, Grace to stand, and virtue go; More nor less to others paying Than by self offenses weighing. Shame to him whose cruel striking Kills for faults of his own liking! "
4 " I don’t know,” said Diana. “I gave up a long time ago trying to decide whether we’re ever ourselves or are only playing roles. And who could tell which the role was, the passionate kisser or the ruthless conqueror? Maybe they both are roles. Or maybe they’re both true. Can’t two contradictory things exist inside one person? "
5 " Was it not Democritus of your own country who said, ‘Well-ordered behavior consists in obedience to the law, the ruler, and the woman wiser than oneself’? Although in the text I read the words were written as, ‘the man wiser,’ but I can only suppose the scribe wrote the word wrong or meant it to be ‘Elder. "
6 " But aren’t all of us like a fine weaving? The pattern the world sees often hides the threads.” Tess "
7 " Hyacinth, we all have our limits. I can’t save the world. I can’t stop this war. Maybe, just maybe, I can communicate a few things through art. "
8 " When acquaintances embrace, one can read the gap between them. When friends, when siblings embrace, no matter how close, there is still an infinitesimal distance, like a layer of molecules, separating them. When a mother hugs her child, they meet. But when lovers embrace, they don’t just meet but join. Tess "
9 " You’re not afraid to take risks.” “Neither are you, Diana. Don’t ever lose that quality. Once a person stops pushing and growing, she is as dead in the spirit as if she were dead in the flesh. "
10 " The problem with meddling,” said Charles under his breath, “is that for every problem you solve, you create two more. "
11 " Sometimes, when you wished too hard for something, you paid a bitter price. "
12 " There are no chances.” He favored her again with that unreadable look. “You succeed or you fail. Battles are not won by men who refuse to take risks.” It "
13 " I meant that in politics there may be times when it’s expedient to leave someone in power who’s become incompetent, because in a web like that, there are ways to circumvent the damage that person might do. But "
14 " But you will die in any case, Ilyakoria. What good is everlasting fame to a man if he dies unloved? "
15 " When by the power of the heavens the whole world from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun shall be at one in peace, then so shall we all be at peace. You may believe that your country is far away, but not so far away that we cannot ride there. You may believe that your mountains are high beyond measure, but not so high that we cannot cross them. You may believe that the seas are vast, but not so broad that our ships cannot sail them. The gods who live in the heavens will make what was difficult easy, and what was far away, near. "
16 " Coming onstage for her first entrance, Diana felt transported to some ancient scene. They could have been any group of itinerant actors out making their way along the Silk Road, the famous Earth trade route that ran across the mountains and deserts and steppes of Asia, stopping in this medieval oriental city made glorious by its marble colonnades and gentle silk banners. Even "
17 " Yana,” he said gravely, “you must learn the basic lesson that those who have power will use it, and those who don’t must learn to control those who do. You "
18 " And once you saw the world from three, or five, different roads, the view was never the same. The map changed and altered, and its details became more accurate. The landmarks receded or grew, depending on the angle from which you observed them, and at once, there might be an escarpment from which the astonished traveler would rendezvous with her selves and could suddenly comprehend the land as it truly was. "
19 " If we stay as we have been, then we will die, just as a pool dries up in the summer if there is no rain. We must change if we want to live. But we must also remain who we are and who the gods gifted us to be. "
20 " Why is it that you and I suppose that if we want something, it must come to pass?” Charles’s lips quirked up into a smile so colored by grief that it felt almost as if other people had been brought by that tiny expression into the hushed solitude of the chamber. “There’s an old saying: ‘be careful what you wish for; you might get it. "
