Leigh Bardugo Quotes & Sayings

The stag had been showing me my strength-not just the price of mercy but the power it bestowed. And mercy was something the Darkling would never understand. — Leigh Bardugo

No one got the better of Kaz. He was the toughest, scariest thing walking the alleys of the Barrel. — Leigh Bardugo

Ten silos," Inej said. "Nine crossings."
"They're a lot taller up close," said Nina. "Are you ready for this?"
Inej couldn't deny they were intimidating. "No matter the height of the mountain, the climbing is the same."
"That's not technically true. You need ropes, picks - "
"Don't be a Matthias. — Leigh Bardugo

He had become a great beast, and yet that beast would devour him — Leigh Bardugo

How many times have you told me you're a monster? So be a monster. Be the thing they all fear when they close their eyes at night. — Leigh Bardugo

Any other impossible feats you'd like us to accomplish?"
The barest smile flickered over Kaz's lips, "I'll make you a list. — Leigh Bardugo

You know I can do it, Kaz, and you know I'm not going to refuse. So why ask?"
Because I've been looking for an excuse to talk to you for two days.
"I want to make sure you know what you'll be dealing with and that you're studying the plans. — Leigh Bardugo

A secret's not like coin. It doesn't keep its value in the spending. — Leigh Bardugo

He watches her the way Harshaw watches fire. Like he'll never have enough of her. Like he's trying to capture what he can before she's gone. — Leigh Bardugo

I've never understood this taste for otkazat'sya. Is it because you thought you were one of them for so long?"
"I had a taste for you, once." His head snapped up. He hadn't expected that. Saints, it was satisfying. — Leigh Bardugo

Then, despite all my better judgement, I asked the question I'd wanted to ask for nearly a year. "You and Mal, back in Kribirsk-"
"It happened."
I knew that and I knew there had been plenty of others before her, but it still stung. Zoya glanced at me, her long black lashes sparkling with rain. "But never since," she said grudgingly, "and it hasn't been for lack of trying. If a man can say no to me, that's something."
I rolled my eyes. Zoya poked me in the arm with one long finger. "He hasn't been with anyone, you idiot. Do you know what the girls back at the White Cathedral called him? Beznako"
A lost cause. — Leigh Bardugo

It's always just you and me. — Leigh Bardugo

Jesper ran a finger up Wylan's forearm, and Wylan flushed a vibrant pink. Matthias couldn't help but sympathize with the boy. He knew what it was to be out of your depth, and he sometimes suspected they could forgo all of Kaz's planning and simply let Jesper and Nina flirt the entirety of Ketterdam into submission. — Leigh Bardugo

I prick him, you bleed. — Leigh Bardugo

The problem with wanting is that is makes us weak. How right he was. I'd wanted so badly to belong somewhere, anywhere. I'd been so eager to please him, so proud to keep his secrets. But I'd never bothered to question what he might really want, what his true motives might be. I'd been too busy imagining myself by his side, the savior of Ravka, most treasured, most desired, like some kind of queen. — Leigh Bardugo

Jes, I've thought about this-"
"Thought of me? Late at night? What was I wearing?"
"I've thought about your powers," Wylan said, cheeks flushing pinker. — Leigh Bardugo

Let me get this straight," Nina said. "You haven't kissed me because the setting isn't suitably romantic?"
"This isn't about romance . A proper kiss, a proper courtship. There's a way these things should be done."
"For proper thieves?" The corners of her beautiful mouth curled and for a moment he was afraid she would laugh at him, but she simply shook her head and drew even nearer. Her body was the barest breath from his now. The need to close that scrap of distance was maddening.
"The first day you showed up at my house for this proper courtship, I would have cornered you in the pantry," she said. — Leigh Bardugo

You wouldn't know a good time if it sidled up to you and stuck a lollipop in your mouth. — Leigh Bardugo

She vanished over the side of the chapel. Kaz stood there, staring at the place she'd been only seconds before. She'd tricked him. The decent, honest, pious Wraith had outsmarted him. He turned to look back at the long expanse of roof he was going to have to traverse to get back to the boat. "Curse you and all your Saints," he said to no one at all, then realized he was smiling. — Leigh Bardugo

She righted herself, her balance returning. Had she really thought the world didn't change? She was a fool. The world was made of miracles, unexpected earthquakes, storms that came from nowhere and might reshape a continent. The boy beside her. The future before her. Anything was possible. — Leigh Bardugo

For my country," she said. "For my people. For every child you put to the pyre. Reap what you've sown, Jarl Brum. — Leigh Bardugo

Before you finish that sentence, I want you to think about what a promise from me costs and what you're willing to pay for it. — Leigh Bardugo

We don't know what may happen next. This is all we've got. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias. — Leigh Bardugo

I might not be a threat, but I could become one. — Leigh Bardugo

Goed morgen, fentomen!" a deckhand shouts to them as he passes by, his arms full of rope. All the ship's crew call them fentomen. It is the Kerch word for ghosts. When the girl asks the quartermaster why, he laughs and says it's because they are so pale and because of the way they stand silent at the ship's railing, staring at the sea for hours, as if they've never seen water before. She smiles and does not tell him the truth: that they must keep their eyes on the horizon. They are watching for a ship with black sails. Baghra's — Leigh Bardugo

I think the first trick to writing a feminist work is to write plenty of women. That way you get to write characters, instead of worrying about paradigms. — Leigh Bardugo

There wasn't even a bed in the room, just a narrow settee where Nina curled up every night. When Kaz had asked Nina why, she'd simply said, "I don't want anyone getting ideas." "A man doesn't need a bed to get ideas, Nina. — Leigh Bardugo

Despise your heart. I wanted to. I didn't want to grieve anymore, to feel loss or guilt, or worry. I wanted to be hard, calculating. I wanted to be fearless. — Leigh Bardugo

Haskell whisked the pistol from his pocket and flipped open the barrel. It was empty. "You little--" Then Haskell barked a laugh and plucked the bullets from Kaz's hand, shaking his head. "You've got the devil's own blood in you, boy. Go get my money. — Leigh Bardugo

Close your mouth before something flies in, I snapped. — Leigh Bardugo

I was impressed, and also unnerved. Being around Nikolai was always like this, watching him shift and change, revealing secrets as he went. He reminded me of the wooden nesting dolls I'd played with as a child. Except instead of getting smaller, he just kept getting grander and more mysterious. Tomorrow, he'd probably tell me he'd built a pleasure palace on the moon. Tough to get to, but quite a view. — Leigh Bardugo

Thanks," said Jesper, and looped his arm around the guard's neck, applying pressure until his body went limp. Jesper slipped the leather strips from around his wrists, secured the guard's hands behind his back, and stuffed the kerchief from his neck into the guard's mouth. Then he rolled the body behind the altar. "Sleep well," Jesper said. He felt bad for the guy. Not bad enough to wake him up and untie him, but still. — Leigh Bardugo

She still talks of fairness. What does fairness have to do with any of this? The people curse my name and pay for you, but you're the one who is ready to abandon them. I'm the one who will give them power over their enemies. I'm the one who will free them from the tyranny of the king. — Leigh Bardugo

You will always be one of us. — Leigh Bardugo

The key to the Shadow Fold is finally within our grasp, and right now, I should be in the war room, hearing their report. I should be planning our trip north. But I'm not, am I?" My mind had shut down, given itself over to the pleasure coursing through me and the anticipation of where his next kiss would land. "Am I?" he repeated and he nipped at my neck. I gasped and shook my head, unable to think. He had me pushed up against the door now, his hips hard against mine. "The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak." And then, at last, when I thought I couldn't bear it any longer, he brought his mouth down on mine. His — Leigh Bardugo

They wanted a Grisha queen. Mal wanted a commoner queen. And what did I want? Peace for Ravka. A chance to sleep easy in my bed without fear. An end to the guilt and dread that I woke to every morning. There were old wants too, to be loved for who I was, not what I could do, to lie in a meadow with a boy's arms around me and watch the wind move the clouds. — Leigh Bardugo

Vile, ruthless, amoral. Isn't that why you hired Kaz in the first place? Because he does the things that no one else dares? Go on, Van Eck. Break my legs and see what happens. Dare him."
Had she really believed a merch could outthink Kaz Brekker? Kaz would get her free and then they'd show this man exactly what whores and canals rats could do. — Leigh Bardugo

I've been waiting for you a long time, Alina" He said. "You and I are going to change the world. — Leigh Bardugo

Thoughts of moonlight and silken hair evaporated in a black bolt of fury. Kaz saw Inej tug on the sleeve of her left forearm, where the Menagerie tattoo had once been. He had the barest inkling of what she'd endured there, but he knew what it was to feel helpless, and Van Eck had managed to make her feel that way again. Kaz was going to have to find a new language of suffering to teach that smug merch son of a bitch. — Leigh Bardugo

He thumbed quickly through the ledger and said, "When people see a cripple walking down the street, leaning on his cane, what do they feel?" Wylan looked away. People always did when Kaz talked about his limp, as if he didn't know what he was or how the world saw him. "They feel pity. Now, what do they think when they see me coming?"
Wylan's mouth quirked up at the corner. "They think they'd better cross the street."
Kaz tossed the ledger back in the safe. "You're not weak because you can't read. You're weak because you're afraid of people seeing your weakness. You're letting shame decide who you are. — Leigh Bardugo

Tell me some lies. — Leigh Bardugo

They're all crazy, Oncat. Invisible armies, monster princes. Let's go set fire to something. — Leigh Bardugo

She's worth it. And one day maybe she'll let me chase her into a chapel. — Leigh Bardugo

Zoya yelped. "That little brat just kicked me."
"Smart kid," said Mal.
I lifted a brow. "Smarter than some."
He had the good grace to blush. — Leigh Bardugo

A moment later the boy whispered, "I don't think you're ugly."
"Shhhh!" the girl hissed. But hidden by the deep shadows of the cupboard, she smiled — Leigh Bardugo

I'm pragmatic. If I were cruel, I'd give him an eulogy instead of a conversation. — Leigh Bardugo

I got used to seeing him waiting for me at the end of corridors, or sitting at the edge of my bed when I fell asleep at night. When he didn't appear, I sometimes found myself looking for him or wondering why he hadn't come, and that frightened me most of all. — Leigh Bardugo

Barrel boys don't have parents. We're born in the harbour and crawl out of the canals. — Leigh Bardugo

And what god do you serve, then?"
"Whichever will grant me good fortune."
"I don't think gods work that way."
"I don't think I care. — Leigh Bardugo

It was a calculated risk."
"It was cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best. Believe me, I know the difference. — Leigh Bardugo

You move forward, and when you falter, you get up. And when you can't, you let us carry you. You let me carry you. — Leigh Bardugo

(...) remember that to use a thing is not to own it. — Leigh Bardugo

They were eye to eye now. He took a step closer and then just stood there, unable to move. He could not do this. The distance between them felt like nothing. It felt like miles. — Leigh Bardugo

Periodically, the Tailor would stop and stretch and give Wylan a mirror so that he could consult on what looked right or wrong. An hour later, Wylan's irises had gone from gold to blue and the shape of his eyes had changed as well.
"His brow should be narrower," Jesper said, peering over Genya's shoulder. "Just a little bit. And his lashes were longer."
"I didn't know you were paying attention," murmured Wylan.
Jesper grinned. "I was paying attention."
"Oh good, he's blushing," said Genya. "Excellent for the circulation. — Leigh Bardugo

I will tell you a story, one I used to tell to a little boy with dark hair. A silent boy who rarely laughs, who listened more closely than I realized. A boy who had a name and not a title — Leigh Bardugo

Another demon. This one walked with soft feet like she'd drifted in from the next world and no one had the good sense to send her back. — Leigh Bardugo

Nina just liked to flirt with everything. He'd once seen her make eyes at a pair of shoes she fancied in a shop window. — Leigh Bardugo

We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren't chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyhow. — Leigh Bardugo

Capture Nikolai. Put him in a cage. See if we could pull him from the shadow's grasp. The too-clever fox, finally caught. I blinked and looked away. I didn't want to cry again. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz, this whole 'shoot me' thing is starting to concern me. — Leigh Bardugo

He'd expected more complaints, but even Wylan had simply put his head down and walked. They're all survivors, Matthias understood. They adapt. — Leigh Bardugo

Do not be afraid. Fear is how they control you. There's so much in the world you don't have to be afraid of, if you would only open your eyes. — Leigh Bardugo

The heat of the incinerator wrapped around Inej like a living thing, a desert dragon in his den, hiding from the ice, waiting for her. She knew her body's limits, and she knew she had no more to give. She'd made a bad wager. It was as simple as that. The autumn leaf might cling to its branch, but it was already dead. The only question was when it would fall. — Leigh Bardugo

Crouched beside the girl, the boy turned to her and whispered, "Why don't you eat?" "Because everything she cooks tastes like mud." "Tastes fine to me." "You'll eat anything." They bent their ears back to the crack in the cupboard doors. A moment later the boy whispered, "I don't think you're ugly." "Shhhh!" the girl hissed. But hidden by the deep shadows of the cupboard, she smiled. IN — Leigh Bardugo

Perfect night for tearing a hole in the universe, no? — Leigh Bardugo

He didn't take her out of the city," she'd said, cheeks glowing with color for the first time since she'd emerged from her battle with parem . "It's obvious he's keeping her there."
But Kaz had simply gazed into the middle distance with that odd look on his face and said, "Too obvious."
"Kaz - "
"How would you like a hundred kruge ?"
"What's the catch?"
"Exactly. Van Eck's making it too easy. He's treating us like marks. But he isn't Barrel born, and we aren't a bunch of dumb culls ready to jump at the first shiny lure he flashes. Van Eck wants us to think she's on that island. Maybe she is. But he'll have plenty of firepower waiting for us too, maybe even a few Grisha using parem ."
"Always hit where the mark isn't looking," Wylan had murmured.
"Sweet Ghezen," said Jesper. "You've been thoroughly corrupted. — Leigh Bardugo

He's horrible."
"But effective. Being angry at Kaz for being ruthless is like being angry at a stove for being hot. — Leigh Bardugo

There are no good men in Ketterdam, Kaz said. And then he'd simply let go. — Leigh Bardugo

Weakness is a guise. Wear it when they need to know you're human, but never when you feel it. — Leigh Bardugo

Three figures emerged in elegant fur hats and heavy wool kefta: one in crimson, one in darkest blue, and one in vibrant purple. "Grisha!" the girl whispered. "Quick!" said the boy. In — Leigh Bardugo

Watch yourself, Nikolai," Mal said softly. "Princes bleed just like other men."
Nikolai plucked an invisible piece of dust from his sleeve. "Yes," he said. "They just do it in better clothes. — Leigh Bardugo

No matter what I said, we both knew the hard truth. We do our best. We try. And usually, it makes no difference at all. — Leigh Bardugo

Ravka is grateful for your service," Sturmhond said as they turned to go. "And so is the crown." He waved once. In the late afternoon light, with the sun behind him, he looked less like a privateer and more like... but that was just silly. — Leigh Bardugo

She would have her ship and he would have his city. — Leigh Bardugo

You can keep your damn scenery. All I want is a warm bed and a glass of wine. — Leigh Bardugo

We don't know what may happen next. — Leigh Bardugo

Sure, I'm skinny,' he said as they hurried back through the stables, 'but I stay drier in the rain.'
'How?'
'Less falls on me. — Leigh Bardugo

He'd told her they would fight their way out. Knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. She would fight for him, but she could not heal him. She would not waste her life trying. — Leigh Bardugo

No matter the height of the mountain, the climbing is the same. — Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows
A smol precious deadly flower, two gaybies, a beautiful Grisha warrior, a grumpy convict, and their brilliant, fearless (and sometimes clueless) leader perform a heist of epic proportions. — Leigh Bardugo

Listen to me," he hissed, his face inches from Oomen's. "You have two choices. You tell me what I want to know, and we drop you at our next port with your pockets full of enough coin to get you sewn up and buy you passage back to Kerch. Or I take the other eye, and I repeat this conversation with a blind man. — Leigh Bardugo

Being a leader means someone is always watching you. — Leigh Bardugo

She'd been so docile that Nina had become concerned. "Maybe she's not getting enough blood to her
brain?" she'd murmured to Matthias. — Leigh Bardugo

I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now. — Leigh Bardugo

You want a love story too? There's none to be had. — Leigh Bardugo

A chemical weevil," said Jesper, "But Wylan still hasn't named it. My vote is for the Wyvil."
"That's terrible," said Wylan.
"It's brilliant," Jesper winked. "Just like you. — Leigh Bardugo

Back at the treasury Matthias had said, He's one of us. She liked that word. Us. A word without division or borders. It seemed full of hope. — Leigh Bardugo

So I'd made my choice. I'd pushed my power down and held it there each day, with all my energy and will, without ever realizing it. I'd used up every bit of myself to keep that secret. — Leigh Bardugo

She wouldn't wish love on anyone. It was the guest you welcomed and then couldn't be rid of. — Leigh Bardugo

There is no one I want more; there is nothing I want more than to be overwhelmed by you. — Leigh Bardugo

Her heart felt too full, a dry creek bed ill-prepared for such rain. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had rescued her from that hopelessness, and their lives had been a series of rescues ever since, a string of debts that they never tallied as they saved each other again and again. Lying in the dark, she realized that for all her doubts, she'd believed he would rescue her once more, that he would put aside his greed and his demons and come for her. Now she wasn't so sure. Because it was not just the sense in the words she'd spoken that had stilled Van Eck's hand but the truth he'd heard in her voice. He'll never trade if you break me. She could not pretend those words had been conjured by strategy or even animal cunning. The magic they'd worked had been born of belief. An ugly enchantment. — Leigh Bardugo

People, particularly big men carrying big rifles, don't expect lip from a scrawny thing like me. They always look a bit dazed when they get it. — Leigh Bardugo

I'd seen the Shadow Fold on many maps, a black slash that had severed Ravka from its only coastline and left it landlocked. Sometimes it was shown as a stain, sometimes as a bleak and shapeless cloud. And then there were the maps that just showed the Shadow Fold as a long, narrow lake and labeled it by its other name, "the Unsea," a name intended to put soldiers and merchants at their ease and encourage crossings. I snorted. That might fool some fat merchant, but it was little comfort to me. I — Leigh Bardugo

Tell him you see me when he takes you in his arms — Leigh Bardugo

So is Tolya, for that matter." Tamar's lips twitched. "Would you like to be the one to tell him he can't come?"
Mal considered this. "Maybe we can disguise him as a really big tree. — Leigh Bardugo

Good luck, Oretsev. Find the firebird, and when this is over, I'll see you well rewarded. A farmhouse in Udova. A dacha near the city. Whatever you want."
"I don't need any of that. Just ... " He dropped Nikolai's hand and looked away. "Deserve her. — Leigh Bardugo

in this moment, I could pretend I wasn't a savior or a Saint, that I could simply choose him, have a life, be in love. That we wouldn't have one night, we would have thousands. — Leigh Bardugo

The Darkling slumped back in his chair. "Fine," he said with a weary shrug. "Make me your villain. — Leigh Bardugo