This Savage Song Quotes
"But no matter what she did, St. Agnes Academy kept forgiving her. That was the problem with Catholic schools. They saw her as someone to be saved."
"The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn’t angry or drunk. She was desperate."
"Where are you, Kate? she asked herself. It was a game she sometimes played, ever since she learned about the theory of infinite parallels, the idea that a person’s path through life wasn’t really a line, but a tree, every decision a divergent branch, resulting in a divergent you."
"Forgive me father for I have sinned, she thought, striking it against the doorframe."
"Nothing personal, she added aloud as the match flared to life, sudden and bright."
"Run, said a voice in her head—soft, urgent, instinctual—as the chapel burned."
"Maybe in one of them, there were no monsters."
"The city didn’t need a moral code. It needed someone willing to take control. Someone willing to get his hands dirty. It needed Harker."
"Good and bad were weak words. Monsters didn’t care about intentions or ideals."
"Monsters, monsters, big and small, they’re gonna come and eat you all."
"Every weakness exposes flesh, and flesh invites a knife."
"Life is short, you know? You can't spend it afraid."
"People are users. It's a universal truth. Use them, or they'll use you."
"Everything was heightened, like the volume on his life was turned up but not in an exciting way."
"Every comment and every thought felt like a spark on dry wood."
"And she looks like a girl. She doesn’t exactly exude murderous kingpin."
"Because that is where the real monsters are."
"How many of the students were on these pills? How many of the citizens in North City? Did the medicated calm keep them from fanning the flames of violence? Did it help them pretend the world was safe? Did it hold them together? Did it help them sleep?"
"Where are you? she asked herself. Away. Whole. Sane. Happy."
"People were made of pieces—looks and smells, sure, but also sounds."
"According to the counselor, I have a violence problem."
"Our purpose is not to bring peace. It is to bestow penance."
"Whoever you really are, I’m going to figure it out."
"Stop being selfish. We were not made for want. It has no place in us."
"They can tell the difference, you know, between good and bad."
"If you want to run, I won’t stop you, but first, help me find another phone."
"Hope you don’t mind, I got a little blood on it."
"Kidnapped by vicious Sunai. Please start a war in my name."
"We have to get out of the red until I hear from my father," she said.
"What does it say?" asked August. "Your message."
"Can’t rush art," said August as he rested the bow on the strings.
"And the bad news?" asked August, tucking the violin under his chin.
"You’re a really shitty monster, August Flynn."
"You also live. You don’t spend every day wondering why you exist, but don’t feel real."
"I promise, Katherine, the problem will be solved—"
"Safe," she said with a hollow smile. "That is a pretty word."
"Nobody gets to stay the same, little brother."
"What’s so funny?" asked August, pushing to his feet.
"I wish we could stay the same," whispered August.
"Don’t worry, August. I’m not afraid of the dark."
"I don’t suppose you know how to drive?" "No. I can probably figure it out—" "That’s okay. We already have plenty of ways to die."
"Is this something they teach at boarding school?" "Oh yeah. This, breaking and entering, monster killing. It’s all standard."
"Yeah. I mean, most people want to escape. Get out of their heads. Out of their lives. Stories are the easiest way to do that."
"What happened to her?" "She’s never been all there," he said. "For the longest time I thought...I didn’t get it until recently."
"Sunai are the result of tragedies," he said, "acts of horror so dark they upset the cosmic balance."
"One moment I didn’t exist and the next I did, and I spend every day scared I’ll just stop being again, and every time I slip, every time I go dark, it’s harder to come back. It’s all I can do to stay where I am. Who I am."
"That’s life, August. You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re monster or human. Living hurts."
"It’s okay," he said cheerfully, "I’m better now, don’t you see, I’m—" "About to set the woods on fire."
"Why are there so many shadows in the world, Kate? Shouldn’t there be just as much light?"
"I don’t want to be a monster." "You’re not," she said. "You’re just someone who wanted to be something else, something you’re not."
"The worst part was he could feel it happening."
"They slid through his thoughts and out of his mouth and then they were gone before he could grasp their meaning."
"You’re not a father. You’re not even a man. You’re a monster."
"The same way I stay human. One day at a time."