149 Quotes & Sayings By Melina Marchetta

When I turn around, he cups my face in his hands and he kisses me so deeply that I don't know who is breathing for who, but his mouth and tongue taste like warm honey. I don't know how long it lasts, but when I let go of him, I miss it already. Melina Marchetta

He is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and it's not about his face, but the life force I can see in him. It's the smile and the pure promise of everything he has to offer. Like he's saying, 'Here I am world, are you ready for so much passion and beauty and goodness and love and every other word that should be in the dictionary under the word life?' Except this boy is dead, and the unnaturalness of it makes me want to pull my hair out with Tate and Narnie and Fitz and Jude's grief all combined. It makes me want to yell at the God that I wish I didn't believe in. For hogging him all to himself. I want to say, 'You greedy God. Give him back. I needed him here. Melina Marchetta

When it was over, she gathered him in her arms. And told him the terrible irony of her life. That she had wanted to be dead all those years while her brother had been alive. That had been her sin. And this was her penance. Wanting to live when everyone else seemed dead. Melina Marchetta

It’s against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do. Melina Marchetta

What if she's all I give you in this life of ours, my love?" she asked quietly. "Then I'll shout at the goddess in fury, " he said fiercely. "I'll beg to know why I've been given so much when other men have so little. Melina Marchetta

This is the best night of my life, " Raffy says, crying." Raffy, half our House has burnt down, " I say wearily. "We don't have a kitchen."" Why do you always have to be so pessimistic?" she asks. "We can double up in our rooms and have a barbecue every night like the Cadets."Silently I vow to keep Raffy around for the rest of my life. Melina Marchetta

What's with what you're wearing?" Griggs asks while we stand outside waiting for the others." It's pretty hideous, isn't it?" I say." Don't force me to look at it, " he says. "It's see-through." That kills conversation for a couple of seconds. Melina Marchetta

I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Griggs." Anson Choi feigns surprise. "What's her name?"" I didn't actually catch her name, " Griggs continues." Lily, " Raffaela says over her shoulder and this time I give her a sideways look." Great to know that I'm in love with a girl with a cool name."" It's Taylor's middle name, " Raffaela calls back again. Melina Marchetta

I can't believe I said it out loud. The truth doesn't set you free, you know. It makes you feel awkward and embarrassed and defenseless and red in the face and horrified and petrified and vulnerable. But free? I don't feel free. I feel like shit. Melina Marchetta

So what does the winner get in the end?" Tate asked." They get to sit around with the losers and say, 'I am King Xavier of the world.' Repeat after me."" And me?" Tate asked." You get to be my queen."" How come you're the leader of the community?" Narnie asked, almost smiling. "Why can't Tate be?" Webb looked at his sister, grinning. "Why can't you, Narnie?"Fitz leaned his head on Narnie's shoulder. "And I'll be your queen?"" You can be the eunuch, " Jude said, shoving him out of the way, "and I'll be her prince." He bowed and took Narnie's hand, kissing it, and their eyes met. It was awkward for a moment until Narnie looked away. Melina Marchetta

Sir Topher finally looked up. “Because any hope beyond that, my boy, would be too much. I feared we would drown in it.”" Then I choose to drown, ” Finnikin said. “In hope. Rather than float into nothing. Melina Marchetta

He hesitated, remembering something Finnikin had said to him on their journey. That somehow, even in the worst of times, the tiniest fragments of good survive. It was the grip in which one held those fragments that counted. Melina Marchetta

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road. The prettiest road I’d ever seen, where trees made breezy canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-La. We were going to the ocean, hundreds of miles away, because I wanted to see the ocean and my father said that it was about time the four of us made that journey. I remember asking, 'What’s the difference between a trip and a journey?' and my father said, 'Narnie, my love, when we get there, you’ll understand, ' and that was the last thing he ever said. Melina Marchetta

Worse still, he doesn’t know how to follow the piper anymore because it’s a path Tom has lost faith in. And the piper knows it. Tom can see it in his father’s eyes now. And the more he stares, the clearer it becomes. Melina Marchetta

But say he forgets about me or meets someone else or pretends I don't exist. I look at her and then at Trini and Raffy."Teresa, Teresa. Have we taught you nothing?" Raffy says in an irritated voice. "It's war. You go in and you hunt him down until he realises that he's made a mistake" Teresa looks hopeful." It's not as if men haven't gone to war for dumber reasons" Trini adds. Melina Marchetta

The music department is going to do a musical next year, " he tells me, rolling his eyes like I would. Justine is running toward me, and I can tell by the look on her face that she's found out about the musical, too. I sigh, shaking my head. "I have to give Justine a lesson in holding back, " I tell him. "She's just way too enthusiastic". She grabs my arms in excitement. "We're doing Les Mis."I scream hysterically, clutching her as we jump up and down. . Melina Marchetta

Arjuro made a scoffing sound. ‘You think Lumatere will invade because of you? Are you that important?’ Froi looked away. ‘Isaboe would invade if you kidnapped a servant, let alone a friend.’‘ Isaboe? We’re on first-name terms with the Queen of Lumatere, are we?’ Gargarin asked. Froi found himself bristling. ‘What? Do you think I’m some cutthroat for hire who they found hanging around the palace walls with the words “I wantto kill a Charynite King” tattooed on my arse? . Melina Marchetta

We approach the house and I wave at Jimmy. "And if he thinks he's eating with us, he's got another thing coming, " my dad says. Jimmy approaches us and takes the shopping bags from me, looking inside them." Lamb roast. Am I invited? Melina Marchetta

So I ring Justine Kalinsky and I say, "It's Francesca Spinelli, " and she says, "Francesca, you've got to stop using last names. How are you doing?" and I say "I feel like shit", and I don't know how it happens, but by eight o'clock that night I'm lying next to her on the couch with Siobhan and Tara and we're eating junk food and watching a Keanu movie. And I want to stay on that couch for the rest of my life. Melina Marchetta

Do you want to hang out? At your place or something?" Hanging out with Jimmy Hailler will mean that I have to say hello to him every day. I'm not ready to say hello to him every day. Too much commitment. It's bad enough that I'm sharing chocolate brownies swith him. I shake my head. "Not today. Melina Marchetta

We’re not eight kingdoms, but an entire land with one heartbeat. It’s why people like you and I need to record our people’s stories so we can find those moments when our paths cross, and only then will we know true peace. Melina Marchetta

So I'm cruising down the road and the object of my thoughts is racing down the street, screaming that her father is a cop. A public servant, very flattering" " I like a man in uniform" He laughed. 'Do you like pizza?' 'What a ridiculous question. I suppose you're going to ask me if I like pasta next? Melina Marchetta

Play me something that makes me feel; This soul inside me is made of steel. Brain is breathing, but heart’s not beating And, babe, I need you to make things real. Walk inside me without silence, Kill the past and change the tense. Empty gnawing and the ache is soaring; Take me places that make more sense. Melina Marchetta

Today this courtyard was filled with great warriors. What is more? But it was not filled with great men who have the heart to rule a kingdom. Any man can kill, Finnikin. It is a stroke, an action with one's hand. But not every man knows how to lead. Melina Marchetta

It's against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do. Melina Marchetta

Lucian's father had warned him to fear idle men. Without the pride gained from a good day's work, they were left to their vices and the doubts that crowded their head. Their hatred. Their envy. Melina Marchetta

There's a song that I hear at the back of my heart that I feared for so long, when I sensed you were there. And I think of those times when you crept into my dreams and I thought you a threat to curse my sweet king. But it was the boy in your belly that whispered to mine, and even before that, you lived in my spirit. Because I think of those times when I was a child. I prayed to the gods and I begged for a sign. I know that they sent you, despite the blood of all those you loved shed at the hands of my kin. For you were the one who found him in exile and though it took time, you led Froi to his home. And you've sent me this trinket that hardened my heart, because I wanted your words and a sign of true peace. But I’ve opened it now after all these long weeks, and Froi stares at it, speechless, when I hold out my hand. And we see it before us, our spirits shaking. The brilliance of color: the same ruby ring. Oh, you’ve outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring’s a promise of peace, and I’m greedy with hope. It’s a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though you say it’s a gift from a king to a king, I say it’s a sign from a queen to a queen. Melina Marchetta

If I had to wish for something, just one thing, it would be that Hannah would never see Tate the way I did. Never see Tate's beautiful, lush hair turn brittle, her skin sallow, her teeth ruined by anything she could get her hands on that would make her forget. That Hannah would never count how many men there were, or how vile humans can be to one another. That she would never see the moments in my life that were full of neglect, and fear, and revulsion, moments I can never go back to because I know they will slow me down for the rest of my life if I let myself remember them for one moment. Tate, who had kept Hannah alive that night, reading her the story of Jem Finch and Mrs. Dubose. And suddenly I know I have to go. But this time without being chased by the Brigadier, without experiencing the kindness of a postman from Yass, and without taking along a Cadet who will change the way I breath for the rest of my life. Melina Marchetta

The string slices into the skin of his fingers and no matter how tough the calluses, it tears. But this beat is fast and even though his joints are aching, his arm's out of control like it has a mind of its own and the sweat tat drenches his hair and face seems to smother him, but nothing's going to stop Tom. He;s aiming for oblivion. Melina Marchetta

The depression belongs to all of us. I think of the family down the road whose mother was having a baby and they went around the neighborhood saying, "We're pregnant." I want to go around the neighborhood saying, "We're depressed." If my mum can't get out of bed in the morning, all of us feel the same. Her silence has become ours, and it's eating us alive. Melina Marchetta

And suddenly I know I have to go. But this time without being chased by the Brigadier, without experiencing the kindness of a postman from Yass, and without taking along a Cadet who will change the way I breath for the rest of my life. Melina Marchetta

I think my family has come a long way. The sad thing is that so many haven't. So many have stayed in their own little world. Some because they don't want to leave it, others because the world around them won't let them in. Melina Marchetta

He could hardly breathe at the though of his son and Quintana in Sorel with no one to protect them. Melina Marchetta

Men don't rape women because their women are ugly, " cousin Jostien said, but there was a protest at his words. "That's what my fa said! He says that inside their hearts and spirits they are nothing but little men who need to feel powerful. Melina Marchetta

There's not much you need to know about the world. Except how to use a sword and trust very few. Melina Marchetta

I remember passion. Melina Marchetta

...I don't believe you should be a virgin when you get married, ' Sera said. 'You should experiment. Men do'' Yes, but only if you're in love with them, ' I said. Melina Marchetta

What about the contacts your mum had?” his dad asked.“ I rang and spoke to four very polite computers who gave me all these options and then cut out on me. Then I tried the post office, because they were advertising, and I spoke to another computer. Very rude, that one. Don’t think it recognized ‘Are you shitting me?’ as an option.”“ You know why that is?”“ Why is that, Dominic?” Tom had asked drolly, because he knew he was going to be told why.“ Because we don’t live in a society anymore, Tom. We live in an economy. We’re not citizens. We’re customers. That’s what this government’s done to us. Melina Marchetta

A different Australia emerged in the 1950s. A multicultural one, and 30 years on we're still trying to fit in as ethnics and we're still trying to fit the ethnics in as Australians. Melina Marchetta

I don't despise you for what you allowed to happen to me. I despise you because when I was released, you refused to be found and I needed you more than anything in my life. Not to mend my broken bones, Arjuro. I needed my brother to mend my broken spirit. Melina Marchetta

Our spirit is mightier than the filth of our memories. Melina Marchetta

I still wake with your name on my lips every morning. Melina Marchetta

How unladylike of you to mention such a thing. Melina Marchetta

He knows bad days. Bad days take him completely by surprise. They make him not trust the good days because it's likely something is lurking twenty-four hours away. Melina Marchetta

It still amazes him how they could have been misled by her personality in Year Eleven. It's what depression does to a person, it changes them completely. Melina Marchetta

People divulge things to you that they would not divulge to anyone else. Melina Marchetta

She made a sound of regret. ‘We come second, you and I, Luc-ien, ’ she said. ‘Our allegiance is always to our kingdoms. Without that allegiance, our people would fall.’ She placed her head back against his chest and he felt her tears. ‘This is not our time.’‘ But that will never mean I love you less, ’ he said. Melina Marchetta

Oh, you've outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring's a promise of peace and I'm greedy with hope. It's a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though you say it's a gift from a king to a king, I say it's a sign from a queen to a queen. Melina Marchetta

In the games of queens and kings, we leave our dreams at the door and we make do with what we have. Sometimes if we’re fortunate, we still manage to have a good life. Melina Marchetta

Then he holds her and for a moment I hear total silence; that totally silent part of a cry that announces that the most horrible grief is going to follow. And it does, and he's muffling it, but I can hear and I want someone to come over and jab her with a sedative because its pitch pierces my soul. Melina Marchetta

They always prided themselves on looking youthful. “Forty’s the new thirty, ” they’d joke. Until heartbreak and grief enter your life, and then forty’s the new one hundred. Melina Marchetta

Do not cry, ” she said fiercely, but her own tears flowed. “Do not cry, Finnikin. For if we begin, our tears will never end. Melina Marchetta

The boy in the tree sobs uncontrollably when I tell him about the Hermit and my mother, yet his eyes light up each time I mention Hannah. And every single time he asks, “Taylor, what about the Brigadier who came searching for you that day? Whatever became of him?” I try to explain that the Brigadier is of no importance to my story, but he always shakes his head as if he knows better. Melina Marchetta

Each day, at the same time, Jude would return and they would be there, led by Webb, whose life could not have been more different than his. Where Webb's memories of childhood were idyllic and earthy, Jude's reeked of indifference. Webb read fantasy; Jude read realism. Webb believed a tree house was the perfect place for gaining a different perspective on the world; Jude saw it as perfect for surveillance and working out who or what was a threat to them. They argued about sport codes and song lyrics. Jude saw the rain-dirty valley; Webb saw Brigadoon. Yet, despite all this, they connected, and the nights they spent in the tree house discussing their brave new worlds and not so brave emotions made everything else in their lives insignificant. Somehow the world of Webb and Fitz and Tate and Narnie became the focus of Jude's life. Melina Marchetta

Simple dreams are the hardest to come true Melina Marchetta

How can you just forget a person completely until the moment you see his face again? Melina Marchetta

Lucian was beginning to get used to hearing her small observations at night. More than anything, he realized he liked her voice in the dark. It made him feel less lonely. Melina Marchetta

We didn't let them do anything to us, Travanion, " Beatriss said fiercely, "They did it without out permission. Melina Marchetta

I need voices of reason and of hysteria and of empathy. I need to have an Alanis moment. I need advice from Elizabeth Bennett. I need Tim Tams and comfort food. Melina Marchetta

I miss the Stella girls telling me what I am. That I'm sweet and placid and accommodating and loyal and nonthreatening and good to have around. And Mia. I want her to say, "Frankie, you're silly, you're lazy, you're talented, you're passionate, you're restrained, you're blossoming, you're contrary." I want to be an adjective again. But I'm a noun. A nothing. A nobody. A no one. Melina Marchetta

Are you calling us pigs?’ Froi asked, watching as Rafuel winced for the tenth time at the formality of Froi’s Charyn.Rafuel thought for a moment and then nodded.‘ Actually yes, I am. Pig-like.’Froi turned back to Trevanion and Perri, who were discussing the need for longbow training in the rock village.‘ What is it?’ Perri asked Froi.‘He said we eat like pigs.’ Trevanion and Perri thought about it for a moment and then went back to their conversation. Melina Marchetta

If you close your eyes, you get to control your own darkness. Melina Marchetta

The gods do make playthings of us. But it is we mortals who provide them with tools. Melina Marchetta

God knows what possessed me, but having that science book in my hand propelled me to immediate action. So I hit her with it. Melina Marchetta

Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words? Melina Marchetta

In the end, the sum of my vices is all me. Melina Marchetta

Tom always did anger well. Hid it well, but showed it even better Melina Marchetta

Just ask how I'm feeling, I want to say. Just ask and I may tell you. But no one does. Melina Marchetta

You can't go around feeling too much. Melina Marchetta

Maybe memories should be left the way they are. Melina Marchetta

For reasons he couldn’t understand a sadness came over him and it was then he saw the girl standing on the other side of the dirt road, her eyes pools of absolute sorrow, her light brown hair glowing in the splinters of sunlight that forced their way through the trees. Melina Marchetta

He's my father! " she bellowed, pointing to Trevanion."Vestie! " Beatriss said firmly, stopping to stare up at her. "I'll snip at the tongue if I ever see it in such a way again! Trevanion, speak to her." Vestie hung her head, shamefaced." Vestie, " he said, his voice still gentle." Yes, Father.""Shout it out louder, my love. Shout it out louder. Melina Marchetta

Sometimes you don't let us talk about how we're feeling. If we feel scared, you say, 'Nothing to worry about, guys, ' but that doesn't make it go away. It makes it grow. Melina Marchetta

We have a dilemma, then, ” Finnikin said fiercely. “Because I prayed that you would grow old and hold my children in your arms as you held me. My prayers have not been answered yet, Trevanion. So whose prayer is more worthy? Yours or mine? Melina Marchetta

When one is silent, those around speak even more, my lord. Melina Marchetta

He took my hand, made me stand on the branch and asked, "What can you see from here?" "Nothing" I said, " Know what I can see? From this distance everything is so bloody perfect". Melina Marchetta

Do you miss being friends with Santangelo?" I ask her after the lights are out and we're almost asleep." What makes you think were friends?"" Everything." I hear her yawn." Being enemies with him is better." she tells me. There's a long pause and I think she's going to say something more but she doesn't and it's just silence for a long while. Melina Marchetta

Mama says that satisfaction isn't what I should search for. Respect is. Respect?I detest that word. Probably because in this world you have to respect the wrong people for the wrong reasons. Melina Marchetta

If there was one weapon he had against these savages, it was not acknowledging their existence. Melina Marchetta