Frances Hardinge Quotes

• Tea is the magic key to the vault where my brain is kept.

  Frances Hardinge

  Keys, Magic, Tea

  41 Copy quote

• I am anything I wish to be. The world cannot choose for me. No, it is for me to choose what the world shall be.

  Frances Hardinge

  Wish, World

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• Truth is dangerous. It topples palaces and kills kings. It stirs gentle men to rage and bids them take up arms. It wakes old grievances and opens forgotten wounds. It is the mother of the sleepless night and the hag-ridden day. And yet there is one thing that is more dangerous than Truth. Those who would silence Truth’s voice are more destructive by far. It is most perilous to be a speaker of Truth. Sometimes one must choose to be silent, or be silenced. But if a truth cannot be spoken, it must at least be known. Even if you dare not speak truth to others, never lie to yourself.

  Frances Hardinge

  Mother, Kings, Lying

  "Fly by Night". Book by Frances Hardinge, October 7, 2005.

  2 Copy quote

• Tips for aspiring writers: don't be afraid of writing rubbish. It's very easy to become hypnotised by an empty page or screen. It's tempting to abandon a half-finished work because you can't make it perfect. I hereby give you permission to write things that aren't perfect, make mistakes, try things that don't work, experiment with styles you're not used to and generally throw words around. You'll learn much faster that way.

  Frances Hardinge

  Mistake, Writing, Giving

  3 Copy quote

• Brand a man as a thief and no one will ever hire him for honest labor - he will be a hardened robber within weeks. The brand does not reveal a person's nature, it shapes it.

  Frances Hardinge

  Men, Thieves, Doe

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.104, Pan Macmillan

  2 Copy quote

• The world is like a broken wrist that healed the wrong way, and will never be the same again.

  Frances Hardinge

  Broken, World, Way

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• Words were dangerous when loosed. They were more powerful than cannon and more unpredictable than storms. They could turn men’s heads inside out and warp their destinies. They could pick up kingdoms and shake them until they rattled.

  Frances Hardinge

  Powerful, Destiny, Men

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.433, Pan Macmillan

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• Everybody knew that books were dangerous. Read the wrong book, it was said, and the words crawled around your brain on black legs and drove you mad, wicked mad.

  Frances Hardinge

  Book, Mad, Black

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.12, Pan Macmillan

  0 Copy quote

• My good lady,’ interrupted Clent, ‘are you telling me that he is not the Luck? That you have in some way obfuscated the chronology of his nativity?’ Seconds passed. A beetle flew into Mistress Leap’s hair while she stared at Clent, then it struggled free and flew off again. ‘Did you lie about when he was born?’ translated Mosca.

  Frances Hardinge

  Lying, Hair, Luck

  3 Copy quote

• Mosca said nothing. The word ‘damsel’ rankled with her. She suddenly thought of the clawed girl from the night before, jumping the filch on an icy street. Much the same age and build as Beamabeth, and far more beleaguered. What made a girl a ‘damsel in distress’? Were they not allowed claws? Mosca had a hunch that if all damsels had claws they would spend a lot less time ‘in distress’.

  Frances Hardinge

  Girl, Night, Jumping

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Twilight Robbery”, p.105, Pan Macmillan

  3 Copy quote

• Oh, painted smirk of a hopeless dawn, the girl is still wearing her breeches.

  Frances Hardinge

  Girl, Dawn, Smirk

  16 Copy quote

• In Mosca’s experience, a ‘long story’ was always a short story someone did not want to tell.

  Frances Hardinge

  Long, Stories, Want

  0 Copy quote

• I find it hard to believe that a lady like...’ Pertellis hesitated, and coughed. ‘There is something elevated in the female spirit that will always hold a woman back from the coldest and most vicious forms of villainy.’ ‘No, there isn’t,’ Miss Kitely said kindly but firmly, as she set a dish in his hand. ‘Drink your chocolate, Mr Pertellis.

  Frances Hardinge

  Believe, Hands, Missing

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.348, Pan Macmillan

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• Ordinary life did not stop just because kings rose and fell, Mosca realized. People adapted. If the world turned upside down, everyone ran and hid in their houses, but a very short while later, if all seemed quiet, they came out again and started selling each other potatoes.

  Frances Hardinge

  Kings, People, Rose

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.315, Pan Macmillan

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• I want my chirfugging goose back!

  Frances Hardinge

  Want, Geese

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.179, Pan Macmillan

  3 Copy quote

• You, sir, are a romantic, and I'm afraid the condition is incurable. -Eponymous Clent

  Frances Hardinge

  Conditions

  0 Copy quote

• Sometimes fear made you angry. Perhaps after years anger cooled, like a sword taken from a forge. Perhaps in the end you were left with something very cold and very sharp.

  Frances Hardinge

  Taken, Years, Cold

  0 Copy quote

• Well, you will have to do. If you had died along with your mother, I would have taught the cat to read.

  Frances Hardinge

  Mother, Cat, Taught

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.3, Pan Macmillan

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• My child, you have a flawed grasp of the nature of myth-making. I am a poet and storyteller, a creator of ballads and sagas. Pray do not confuse the exercise of the imagination with mere mendacity. I am a master of the mysteries of words, their meanings and music and mellifluous magic.

  Frances Hardinge

  Children, Exercise, Imagination

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.21, Pan Macmillan

  3 Copy quote

• If wits were pins, the man would be a veritable hedgehog.

  Frances Hardinge

  Men, Would Be, Hedgehogs

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Fly By Night”, p.115, Pan Macmillan

  24 Copy quote

• Revenge is a dish best served unexpectedly and from a distance - like a thrown trifle.

  Frances Hardinge

  Revenge, Distance, Dishes

  "Twilight Robbery". Book by Frances Hardinge, 2011.

  0 Copy quote

• No." Mosca bit her lip and shook her head firmly. Books no longer seemed quite enough. I don’t want a happy ending, I want more story.

  Frances Hardinge

  Book, Stories, Want

  0 Copy quote

• Desperation is a millstone. It wears away at the very soul, grinding away pity, kindness, humanity and courage. But sometimes it whets the mind to a sharpened point and creates moments of true brilliance. And standing there, nose tickled by the dusty hide of the stuffed deer head, such a moment visited Mosca Mye.

  Frances Hardinge

  Kindness, Soul, Humanity

  0 Copy quote

• Push something in someone’s face, and they will shove it away reflexively. Threaten to snatch it away from them, and sometimes they become convinced that it is what they want.

  Frances Hardinge

  Want, Faces, Sometimes

  0 Copy quote

• You’re a peach full of poison, you know that?" Mosca snapped back, but could not quite keep a hint of admiration from her tone.

  Frances Hardinge

  Poison, Hints, Peaches

  Frances Hardinge (2011). “Twilight Robbery”, p.109, Pan Macmillan

  1 Copy quote

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