Rather than stay behind to languish,
I will come and overtake you—
Tie at each turn of your road
A guide-knot, my lord!

The Man'yōshū, 28 ~ The Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai translation

Like the hidden stream
trickling beneath the trees
down the autumn mountainside,
so does my love increase
more than yours, my Lord.

The Man'yōshū ii.92, Translated by I.H.Levy

Of Love

He wills and loves right
who wills and loves naught:
Who loves what he wills,
loves not what he ought.

The Cherubinic Wanderer, II.60 ~ Angelus Silesius, translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch

When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.

~ Lord Falkland

Its my ambition to say in ten sentences what anyone else says in a whole book.

~ Nietzsche

Attolia reached to pull from its fabric padding the knife she carried along her ribs, but it was gone. Gone as well were the ceremonial knife from her belt and even the tiny blade hidden in the twists of her hair.
She looked at Eugenides to see his eyes open and his hand holding all three knives, their blades spread in a fan. He tossed them one at a time, into the air, catching each by the blade as it came down and tossing it up again, one-handed, then holding them out, handles first, to the queen. She hesitated, expecting him to pull them back, but he didn't move.
"Have all three," he said.
When she'd taken them, he pointed to a spot just below his heart.
"An upward stroke here," he said, "would be most efficient, but almost anywhere would do the job. You can push me into the water." he said. "I don't know if I can swim with one hand or not."
Attolia waited, sensing a trap. The moon disappeared behind a cloud. Eugenides was only a dark form against the darker water behind him. "Before you make your decision," he said, "I want you to know that I love you."
Attolia laughed. Eugenides flushed in the dark.
"I have been surrounded by liars all my life and never heard one lie like you," said Attolia, smiling.
"It's the truth." Eugenides shrugged.

The Queen of Attolia ~ Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief leaned closer to the queen to speak almost into her ear. "From shadow queen to puppet queen in one rule," he whispered. "That's very impressive. When he rules your country and he tells you he loves you, I hope you believe him."

The Queen of Attolia ~ Megan Whalen Turner

He shook his head, perhaps in self-contempt, and shrugged. "I dream about her at night."
Eddis looked down at him and said dryly, "We have heard you screaming."

The Queen of Attolia ~ Megan Whalen Turner

"What would I have done," Eddis repeated in a low voice, more anguished than her shouting, "what would I have done if she'd caught you and cut you to pieces and sent the pieces back to me?"
"Buried them," said Eugenides.

The Queen of Attolia ~ Megan Whalen Turner

Her words surprised Gen. "You aren't the boy hero any more," she said.
"Was I ever?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
She smiled, wondering again where he had picked up that particular facial expression. "Oh, certainly you were the golden boy," she said. "You kept the entire population amused. And since you brought Sounis to his knees, you've been the darling of the court as well."
"The magus said something along those lines. All that glory, and I missed it," Eugenides said mournfully.

The Queen of Attolia ~ Megan Whalen Turner

Don't you think that humans
are just animals, who are full of hopes?
Whether it's an animal or a plant,
they know who they are once they are born.
Only humans, keep hoping and live to this day like that.

Asou Haruto ~ One Litre of Tears

I'll will... become your first fan for you.

Riko ~ Buzzer Beat

ARCIMBOLDO'S GLASS FOR THE GODS was written in golden letters over the door, and right beside it was a sign: MAGIC MIRRORS FOR GOOD AND WICKED STEPMOTHERS, FOR BEAUTIFUL AND UGLY WITCHES, AND EVERY SORT OF HONEST PURPOSE.

The Water Mirror, The Dark Reflections Trilogy ~ Kal Meyer

I can clean the dirt from this place even if I can't clean you from your wickedness, young man.

Sophie, Howl's Moving Castle ~ Diana Wynne Jones

Fuji Minami: Well, wouldn't it be great if we could work together even ten years from now?
In ten years, you'll become some kind of a hot shot, and we'll work overtime together.
Then we'll laugh and talk about how hopeless you were when you first came here.
Wouldn't that be awesomely fun?
Ishida Yuya: There's a huge difference...
Fuji Minami: Eh?
Ishida Yuya: Actually, I cannot even think of ten minutes from now,
let alone ten years into the future.
Me in ten years, something that much in the future,
there's only one single person in the entire world who is thinking of such a thing.
Just one.
Only you, Fujii-san.

Episode 3 ~ Sapuri