Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted
16 quotes
"Do you like to slide?" His voice was eager.Stair rails! Did he suspect me? I forced a sigh. "No, Majesty. I'm terrified of heights.""Oh." His polite tone had returned."I wish I could enjoy it. This fear of heights is an affliction."He nodded, a show of sympathy but not much interest. I was losing him."Especially," I added, "as I've grown taller."
"Hush Hattie!" I said, intoxicated with my success. "I don't want to go to my room. Everyone must know I shan't marry the prince." I ran to the door to our street, opened it, and called out into the night, "I shan't marry the prince." I turned back into the hall and ran to Char and threw my arms about his neck. "I shan't marry you." I kissed his cheek. He was safe from me."
"He put his hand on my waist, and my heart began to pound, a rougher rhythm than the music. I held my skirt. Our free hands met. His felt warm and comforting and unsettling and bewildering--all at once."
"Would you favor me with a dance?" Over all the others I was his choice! I curtsied, and he took my hand. Our hands knew each other. Char looked at me, startled. "Have we met before, Lady?"
"In that moment I found a power beyond any I'd had before, a will and a determination I would never have need if not for Lucinda, a fortitude I hadn't been able to find for a lesser cause."
"I had been able to break the curse myself. I'd had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and the strength."
"ahthOOn SSyng!" I said. "That's farewell.""It sounds evil.""It is," I answered, and we parted."
"But the lost one is with you.Her tenderness strengthens you,Her gaiety uplifts you,Her honor purifies you.More than memory,The lost one is found."
"... He was only a person on the outside and... his insides were ashes mixed with coins and a brain."
"Love shouldn't be dictated"
"Rapid movement was a relief in the midst of so much feeling."
"Everyone else reached the Shores of Sleep, but I remained oceans away."
"If I couldn't sleep, I could read."
"Oak, granite,Lilies by the road,Remember me?I remember you.Clouds brushingClover hills,Remember me?Sister, child,Grown tall,Remember me?I remember you."
"I never saw a lad, page or prince, so eager to learn to do a thing right."
"I wished I could spend the rest of my life... being slightly crushed by someone who loved me."