Quotes From "Graceling" By Kristin Cashore

1
I know you don't want this, Katsa. But I can't help myself. The moment you came barreling into my life I was lost. I'm afraid to tell you what I wish for, for fear you'll.. oh, I don't know, throw me into the fire. Or more likely, refuse me. Or worst of all, despise me, " he said, his voice breaking and his eyes dropping from her face. His face dropping into his hands. "I love you, " he said. "You're more dear to my heart than I ever knew anyone could be. And I've made you cry; and there I'll stop. Kristin Cashore
2
I'm not going to wear a red dress, " she said." It would look stunning, My Lady, " she called. She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. "If there's anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I'll hit him in the face. Kristin Cashore
3
What are you grinning at?" Katsa demanded for the third or fourth time. "Is the ceiling about to cave in on my head or something? You look like we're both on the verge of an enormous joke."" Katsa, only you would consider the collapse of the ceiling a good joke. Kristin Cashore
4
Perhaps I can stay by the fire and mend your socks and scream if I hear any strange noises. Kristin Cashore
I wouldn't marry Giddon to save my life,
5
I wouldn't marry Giddon to save my life, " Katsa said. "Not even to save yours."" Well." Raffin's eyes were full of laughter. "I'd leave that part out. Kristin Cashore
6
You won't even take your bow? Are you planning to throttle a moose with your bare hands, then?"" I've a knife in my boot, " she said, and then wondered, for a moment, if she could throttle a moose with her bare hands. Kristin Cashore
In the end, Leck should have stuck to his lies....
7
In the end, Leck should have stuck to his lies. For it was the truth he almost told that killed him. Kristin Cashore
8
Raffin appeared again, a floor above her, on the balconied passageway that ran past his workrooms. He leaned over the railing and called down to her. "Kat! ""What is it?"" You look lost . Have you forgotten the way to your rooms?"" I'm stalling."" How long will you be? I'd like to show you a couple of my new discoveries."" I've been told to make myself pretty for dinner." He grinned. "Well in that case, you'll be ages." His face dissolved into laughter, and she tore a button from one of her bags an hurled it at him. He squealed and dropped to the floor, and the button hit the wall right where he'd been standing. When he peeked back over the railing, she stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, grinning. "I missed on purpose, " she said." Show off! Come if you have time." He waved, and turned into his rooms. Kristin Cashore
I have no doubt that you are more than capable...
9
I have no doubt that you are more than capable of bringing the Monsean queen and my son and the rest of my sons and a hundred Nanderan kittens through an onslaught of howling raiders if you chose to. Kristin Cashore
You're afraid of your own anger.
10
You're afraid of your own anger. Kristin Cashore
11
Skye kissed her forehead. "You saved my life." Katsa smiled. "You Lienid are very outward in your affection."" I'm going to name my firstborn child after you." Katsa laughed at that. "For the child's sake, wait for a girl. Or even better, wait until all your children are older and give my name to whichever is the most troublesome and obstinate." Skye burst into laughter and hugged her, and Katsa returned his embrace. And realized that quite without her intending it, her guarded heart had made another friend. Kristin Cashore
Hidden yourself in a hole and dared to burden no...
12
Hidden yourself in a hole and dared to burden no one with your grievous friendship? I will have friends, Katsa. I will have a life, even though I carry this burden. Kristin Cashore
13
Lady Katsa, is it?" "Yes, Lord Prince.""I've heard you have one eye green as the Middluns grasses, and the other eye blue as the sky."" Yes, Lord Prince.""I've heard you can kill a man with the nail of your smallest finger." She smiled. "Yes, Lord Prince.""Does it make it easier?"" I don't understand you."" To have beautiful eyes. Does it lighten the burden of your Grace, to know you have beautiful eyes? . Kristin Cashore
Your brothers are the foolish ones for not seeing the...
14
Your brothers are the foolish ones for not seeing the strength in beautiful things. Kristin Cashore
15
The only way for you to keep your mind straight is to run from those who would confuse you. Kristin Cashore
16
How absurd it was that in all seven kingdoms, the weakest and most vulnerable of people - girls, women - went unarmed and were taught nothing of fighting, while the strong were trained to the highest reaches of their skill. Kristin Cashore
17
But everyone has some kind of power to hurt people. Kristin Cashore
18
He leaned heavily on the desk now, as if danger had strengthened him before and its lack now made him weak. Kristin Cashore
19
There was no helping her tears. For they would leave Po behind… She cried into his shoulder like a child. Ashamed of herself, for it was only a parting, and Bitterblue had not wept like this even over a death. ‘Don’t be ashamed, ' Po whispered. ‘Your sadness is dear to me. Don’t be frightened. I won’t die, Katsa. I won’t die, and we’ll meet again. Kristin Cashore
20
They seemed no closer to the tops of the peaks that rose before them. It was only by looking back, to the forest far below, that she knew they'd climbed. Kristin Cashore
21
A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else? Kristin Cashore
22
Please, Katsa, " he finally said. "At least talk to me". She swung around to face him. "What it there to talk about? You know how I feel, and what I think about it."" And what I feel? Doesn't it matter? Kristin Cashore
23
I can't know your feelings", he said , "if you don't know them yourself. Kristin Cashore
24
You know, ” he said, “I wish you could see this cave.”“ What’s it like?” He paused. “It’s...beautiful, really.”“ Tell me.” And so Po described to Katsa what hid in the blackness of the cave; and outside, the world awaited them. Kristin Cashore
25
She wanted to cause him pain for taking a place in her heart she wouldn't have given him if she'd known the truth. Kristin Cashore
26
Alone in the forest, Katsa sat on a stump and cried. She cried like a person whose heart is broken and wondered how, when two people loved each other, there could be such a broken heart. Kristin Cashore
27
It's as if when I open myself up to every perception, things create their own focus. Kristin Cashore
28
When she came back minutes later with a great, fat, skinned rabbit, Po had built a fire. The flames cast orange light on the horses and on himself. "It was the least I could do, " Po said, drily, "and I see you've already skinned the hare. I'm beginning to think I won't have much responsibility as we travel through the forest together."" Does it other you? You're welcome to do the hunting yourself. Perhaps I can stay by the fire and mend your socks, and scream if I hear strange noises. Kristin Cashore
29
It was a strange monster, for beneath its exterior it was frightened and sickened by its own violence. It chastised itself for its savagery. And sometimes it had no heart for violence and rebelled against it utterly. Kristin Cashore
30
Everyone was willing to take some small risk to lessen the damage of their ambition and disorder and lawlessness. Kristin Cashore
31
She would thump them both, and she would apologize to neither. Kristin Cashore
32
It's only water, " she said." Tell that to a drowning man, " Giddon said. Kristin Cashore
33
What she really loved was to hang over the edge and watch the bow of the ship slice through the waves. She loved it especially when the waves were high and the ship rose and fell, or when it was snowing and the flakes stung her face. Kristin Cashore
34
If she took Po as her husband, she would be making promises about a future she couldn't yet see. For once she became his wife, she would be his forever. And, no matter how much freedom Po gave her, she would always know that it was a gift. Her freedom would be not be her own; it would be Po's to give or to withhold. That he never would withhold it made no difference. If it did not come from her, it was not really hers. Kristin Cashore
35
They sat on the outcropping of stone and at bread and fruit. Kasta watched the long grass moving around them. The wind pushed it, attacked it, struck it in one place than another. It rose and fell again. It flowed, like water." Is this what the sea is like?" Kasta asked, and they both turned to her, surprised. "Does the sea move the way this grass moves?"“ It's like the sea, ” she said. Giddon’s eyes on her were incredulous.“ What? Is it such a strange thing to say?”“ It’s a strange thing for you to say.” He shook his head. He gathered their bread and fruit, then rose. “The Lienid fighter is filling your mind with romantic notions. Kristin Cashore
36
Kasta looked from one of them to the other, the two of them shaking hands, understanding each other's concern. She didn't see where Giddon came off feeling insulted. She didn't see how Giddon had any place in it at all. Who were they, to take her fight away from her and turn it into some sort of understanding between themselves? She would knock his nose from his face. She would thump them both, and she would apologise to neither. Kristin Cashore
37
A man who fights you as he does is no better than an opportunist and no worse than a thug. Kristin Cashore
38
Something caught in her throat at this second thanks, when she'd threatened him so brutally. When you're a monster, she thought, you are thanked and praised for not behaving like a monster. She would like to restrain from cruelty and receive no admiration for it. Kristin Cashore