Genevieve Cogman Quotes

They blew up a library. A library, Kai. They haven’t just offended me, they have attacked and insulted every single citizen of this place who used that library, who contributed to it, who even so much as might have used it someday in the future.

I don’t care about politics or the greater good or universal peace or whatever. I just want to be left in peace with books.

She wasn’t actually going to lie, but there was…well, there might be an element of flexibility.

We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be focusing on what’s important.

“May I be frank?” Sherrington asked.
Irene sighed. This was always the sign of a fast-approaching insult.

There were so many possible logical holes in that statement that Irene could have used it as a tea-strainer.

I dislike the fact that she treated you like a servant," Kai commented. His voice had an undertone to it that promised reprisals.
"Leave it for the moment," Irene said wearily. "I'm not going to waste my time feeling insulted. And don't you think we've got more serious problems to consider? Much more serious problems?

You can’t trust people in power, dearie. They’ll say whatever they want, all the witnesses will be paid to agree, and then you’re behind bars till the end of your days. Or worse.

Walking through a library—any library—as they made their way to the exterior had its usual comforting, balancing effect on Irene. It was a reassurance that such places existed and that they would continue, even if she herself was as temporary as any other human.

Be careful. Be diplomatic. Try not to blow anything up.

Irene didn’t need Vale’s deductive skills to tell her she was in trouble. But there was something liberating about this. She was surrounded by known enemies, not politics. And she didn’t have anyone to worry about—apart from herself.

She’d sort things out later. She’d explain things later. Right now she just had to make sure there would be a later.

I think the time for blind trust is long over. Now I need answers.

If my friends—my brothers and sisters—have sacrificed themselves, then it was their choice. You, on the other hand, have lied to us and kept us in the dark and used us. You’re probably going to tell me that you did it for a higher cause, that you were just protecting us. But true higher causes don’t have everyone deserting them when they find out the truth, grandmother. Genuine ethical purposes don’t have everyone walking out once they know what’s really going on. And causes that people care enough to die for…”

It was only a hypothesis, but it made an uncomfortable amount of sense.