The Tropic Of Serpents Quotes
"Not long before I embarked on my journey to Eriga, I girded my loins and set out for a destination I considered much more dangerous: Falchester."
"So far as most of Scirland knew (those few who cared to know), I was a recluse, and had been so since my return from Vystrana."
"I was permitted reclusiveness on account of my personal troubles, though in reality I spent more of my time on work."
"My house in Pasterway was only a short drive from the fashionable district of Havistow, where my eldest brother Paul had settled the prior year."
"The capital was not, in the ordinary way of things, a terribly adventurous place, except insofar as I might be rained upon there."
"I made the trip from Pasterway on a regular basis, as I had affairs to monitor in the city."
"I have been known to bypass the niceties of small talk, and ordinarily I am grateful for it in others."
"The entire jungle of Mouleen lies between them and Bayembe."
"Soldiers do not make a place safe, Isabella. They only make it less dangerous."
"It would not be fair to importune her with my preference."
"I fail to see how this has any relevance for our work, Mr. Wilker."
"Women of your people take the lineage name of their husband, yes? Then this man is not your husband. You came here alone."
"Then the oba will throw you into the Green Hell—if he does not have you executed for witchcraft."
"I have gone about in this condition once a month for my entire adult life, and never polluted anyone."
"It’s pleasant to have time to read, but after a day or two I find myself eager for company."
"The truth is that any such comparison is far more complicated and doubtful than I presented it that evening."
"You may not be aware, sir—unless you make a habit of reading scientific monographs, which I doubt."
"Women sometimes exaggerate their skill, to attract a better husband."
"I cannot be permitted to make my own choices, as Natalie cannot either, but I am somehow to blame for the choices of others."
"The truth is rather more prosaic, I am sure, for I never saw the oba leap any distance at all."
"We are not merely strangers; we were, as I had thought before, new variables."
"How else is one to know that they are important?"
"It is difficult to fall over when one is already on the ground."
"They are attached to aristocratic and royal families, and are often aristocrats in their own right, with all the power and wealth that implies."
"One of those praise-names, rendered into English, is 'he whose legs are made of iron.'"
"This was a man who had taken weakness and made it strength."
"Your mind is sharp; you see things well."
"Everyone practices witchcraft in their hearts when they become angry or upset."
"I was no longer in any condition to argue; indeed, I was in no condition to walk."
"I feel quite better, I insisted, and ate a hearty meal to prove it."
"If you remain healthy for a week, then we may consider it. Until then, you rest."
"He dropped to his knees and rolled me over against my protests, peeling back my eyelids with careful fingers."
"I dreamt of the talking drums, pounding out my doom."
"But at the time, it was nothing short of terrifying, even once the worst was past."
"What mattered was that both groups were in better spirits."
"I had always thought baby birds adorable beyond words. Now I found myself admiring them for their courage."
"Have you ever stood at a precipice and felt a sudden fear, not that you will fall, but that you will fling yourself over?"
"I take the time to describe this stone to you... because I want you to understand what I found that day. I did not know what I was looking at, other than a puzzle."
"Were it not for that ticking clock, I do not know how long I might have dithered."
"The wind tugged at my wings as I went toward the edge of the island, though not so strongly as to risk lifting me off my feet."
"It was a miracle. An uncomfortable one, I must say."
"No one, man or woman, can take into account factors they do not know in the first place."
"I had to balance on the branches of the tree... and use my penknife to cut through the tough, rubber-painted fabric."
"In order to survive, I had to prove my worth as a guide."
"I was exhausted and terrified, and did not yet have my bearings."
"There were many trees about, but this one was of a particular sort... the kind of tree often used for tree-bridges."
"It is not a measure I am willing to take; nor would I forgo the pleasures of my transient friendships if I could."