N. K. Jemisin Quotes

“We will continue to serve you, Lady, whether you’re here or not. What prayers shall we say for you at the dawn and twilight hour?”
She threw me an odd look, as if checking to see if I was joking. I wasn’t This seemed to surprise and unnerve her; she laughed, though it sounded a bit forced.
“Say whatever you want,” she said finally. “Someone might be listening, but it won’t be me. I have better things to do.”
She vanished.

Mother always said that if one must do something unpleasant, one should do it wholeheartedly and not waste effort on regret.

Peace is meaningless without freedom.

At least I’m done with adolescence. Never could stand it; if I don’t want to kill someone, I want to have sex with them.

Those with power would always find some way to exert it over those who didn’t.

Fear was like poison to mortals; it killed their rationality.

This was what I’d asked her to give me. I had no right to complain just because it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

If they will not love me, fear is an acceptable substitute.

Magic is merely communication, after all.
Communication, and conduits.

Funny thing, employment. If you keep doing it, you keep getting paid.

It was the oldest of tricks, to sow dissension between groups that had common interests. Good for deflecting attention from greater mischief, too.

Unreasoning optimism is a fundamental element of childishness.

Even our mortal courtesans have been with gods enough to have acquired a certain ethereal technique. He smiled a salesman's smile, though it never once touched his eyes.
That's what you're selling. Not sex, but divinity. I frowned. Gods, Ahad, at least worship is free.
It was never free. His smile vanished. It hadn't been real, anyway. Every mortal who offered a god devotion wanted something in exchange for it—blessings, a guaranteed place in the heavens, status. And every god who demanded worship expected loyalty and more, in exchange. So why shouldn't we be honest about what we're doing? At least here, no god lies.

I think you’re just so gods-damned certain of your own importance that you haven’t figured it out. So let me make this clear: I don’t care about you. You’re irrelevant. It’s a waste of my energy even to hate you!”

Well. Adolescence is all about making mistakes.