Khoury Quotes & Sayings

He makes a face and tosses the flower at me. It lands on my cheek, and I pick it up and twirl it between my fingers. I could lie out here all day, not moving an inch, feeling the sun above and the grass below. With a contented sigh, I stretch my arms wide, raking the grass with my fingers - and find myself brushing Aladdin's hand with my own. I pull it away quickly, my cheeks warming. He laughs a little.
"Sometimes," he says, "I forget you're supposed to be four thousand years old. You act as shy as a girl of sixteen."
"I do not!" I sit up and glare at him.
He grins and shrugs, sliding his hands under his head. There are bits of grass stuck in his hair, and after a moment's hesitation, I reach over and flick them away.
Aladdin watches me silently, his throat bobbing as he swallows. I drop my gaze. — Jessica Khoury

When I saw you in the hall with Darian," he says at last, "I felt more angry than I've felt in a long time. I was angry and . . . and afraid, that you wanted to be there, that you wanted him touching you. In that one look, I felt more than I've ever felt with Caspida. Zahra, I think you're right - love isn't a choice. If I could choose to love Caspida, maybe this would all be going differently, but I don't think that's possible. Not anymore."
All the smoke inside me sinks as I stare at him. "What are you saying?"
He turns and meets my gaze squarely. As much I want to, I find it impossible to look away. The intensity of his copper gaze holds me entranced.
"I think you know," he says softly. "Or am I the only one who feels it? — Jessica Khoury

It's time for both of us to be free. — Jessica Khoury

He is nothing. I tell myself this, so that I will not hope for him. I am not allowed to hope. I am a forbidden wish of my own. — Jessica Khoury

You insist you're a monster because you're afraid of being human. — Jessica Khoury

Love makes you weak. It distracts you from the important things. It can make you lose sight of the objective.
-Uncle Paolo — Jessica Khoury

The woman may be a biomedical engineer, but I begin to think that she is a certifiable idiot. — Jessica Khoury

And what does he want?" I turn and face the serving girl. "The same thing we all want. He just won't admit it." I see longing in her eyes, and also anger, when she looks at Aladdin. "Freedom from the past." I — Jessica Khoury

He lifts my hand from the root and presses it to his bare chest, over his heart. My breath stops. I wonder if he can feel the pulse racing in my wrist, because it's beating just as quickly as his heartbeat.
"Do you know the Ai'oan word for heart?" he asks.
I shake my head.
"It's py'a." We're so close, his whisper is right in my ear, and his breath warms the side of my neck. "You are my heart, Pia"
I lick my lips. When did they get so dry?
His other hand cradles the back of my head, tipping my face upward. "A body can't live without a heart. And I can't live without you. — Jessica Khoury

You've ruled before, so tell me, does it get easier?"
"No, but you get stronger. — Jessica Khoury

...there is a somewhere else after this, where everyone drinks elysia and lives forever. — Jessica Khoury

Everytime he looked at her she felt brighter inside, and she yearned to keep his attention, to hold his gaze. — Jessica Khoury

He alone can meet my eyes without disgust or fear. He alone still sees the girl inside the monster. But it is not enough. — Jessica Khoury

I do, and the now-familiar warmth of his lips steadies me. He tastes of salt and the wine we shared with the others at our small farewell party.
Aladdin pulls away first and lifts one of my hands to his lips, kissing the delicate henna patterns on my skin, then turning my arm over to kiss the inside of my wrist. The ship's crew makes themselves busy on the other side of the ship, giving us privacy.
"You're the most beautiful girl in the world," Aladdin murmurs. "Have I ever told you that?"
"Enough to make me wonder if your father was a parrot. — Jessica Khoury

I know who you are," he says.
Something about his tone causes my heart of smoke to flicker in response, and I throw my guard up. "Oh? And who, O boy of Parthenia, am I?"
He nods to himself, his eyes alight. "You're her. You're that jinni. Oh, gods. Oh, great bleeding gods! You're the one who started the war!"
"Excuse me?"
"You're the jinni who betrayed that famous queen - what was her name? Roshana? She was trying to bring peace between the jinn and the humans, but you turned on her and started the Five Hundred Wars."
I turn cold. I want him to stop, but he doesn't.
"I've heard the stories," he says. "I've heard the songs. They call you the Fair Betrayer, who enchanted humans with your . . ." He pauses to swallow. "Your beauty. You promised them everything, and then you ruined them. — Jessica Khoury

If it's a monster they want, then a monster they shall have. — Jessica Khoury

All I wanted was peace between our peoples. But I see now that this is not possible, for my people are ruled by a dreamer, and the jinn are rules by a monster. — Jessica Khoury

Because, well, you're not immortal anymore. At least as far as we know; just because you can bleed doesn't mean you'll grow old and die. Maybe you won't."
"How can we know?"
"There's only one way to find out."
"What?"
He smiles. "You'll just have to live. — Jessica Khoury

Less a point on a map and more a region of the soul, but it is a path I can follow. — Jessica Khoury

As the poets say, stories are truth told through lies. — Jessica Khoury

Now, when he touches me, I feel nothing but Eio, pure and whole and constant. Now, when I look into his eyes, I don't see death- but eternity. For the first time in my life, I am looking into someone's gaze and realizing that not only do I understand what's in his eyes ... he understands whats in mine. — Jessica Khoury

I don't trust you, she whispered, her gaze caught in his as if hypnotized. He was close enough to kiss. He could dominate a room and make her head spin, and his sudden vulnerability confused her. I barely know this boy. She had to remind herself of that when he ran his fingers down her arms, leaving goose bumps in his wake. — Jessica Khoury

Why do you care what happens to her? I thought we humans were vapors to you, here today and gone tomorrow."
"Caspida is . . . different. She reminds me of someone, someone I'd give my life for if I could."
"The queen?" he asks. "The one who died?"
"Roshana. My dear Ro." My voice is soft as a ripple on the water. "She once ruled the Amulens, and Caspida is her descendant. She has Roshana's strength of spirit, and I cannot look at her without thinking of my old friend. If she were to come to harm on my account . . . I could not bear that through the centuries." I already carry a mountain of shame, a constant reminder of that day on Mount Tissia.
Aladdin lifts a hand and brushes the hair back from my face. "You truly are remarkable, Zahra of the Lamp. — Jessica Khoury

Cruelty, I understand. But kindness frightens me, for my defenses are weak against it. ~Zahra — Jessica Khoury

A kind of childlike purity to her repose that made the thought of kissing her seem vile. — Jessica Khoury

Unable to go forward, afraid to go back — Jessica Khoury

You're very pretty," he murmurs, his voice thick with sleep, "for a jinni." "Have you met many jinn?" "No." His lips curl into a dazed grin. "But I've met a lot of pretty girls. — Jessica Khoury

Time has a different meaning for me, and these events that seem so monumental in the moment will one day be nothing more than a line in a scroll. These humans are but letters to be inked into history. A hundred years from now, I will be free. I will have forgotten their names and faces, and the struggles they have will not matter. Time has a way of burying things, shifting like the desert and swallowing entire civilizations, erasing them from map and memory. Always, in the end, everything returns to dust. — Jessica Khoury

There is no brightness without darkness. There is no body without its shadow. — Jessica Khoury

Remember, Pia," he whispers. "Perfect is as perfect does. — Jessica Khoury

Mm!" Joey rubbed his stomach. "I love me some root juice in the morning. Enlivens the senses! — Jessica Khoury

He pulls out the pipe I stole and sticks it between his teeth.
"What do you think?" he asks around the stem. "Do I look noble?"
I snatch it away, and his teeth close with a clack. "Don't you know that will kill you?"
He stares at me a minute, a mischievous light coming into his eyes. Then suddenly he lunges at me.
"Give it back!"
"It's mine! I stole it!"
"I saved you from getting flogged!"
He makes a grab for the pipe, and I roll aside, holding it out of his reach. With a wicked laugh, he tickles my side, and I drop the pipe as I hasten to shove him away.
Aladdin picks up the pipe and brandishes it triumphantly, while I lie in the grass and laugh. — Jessica Khoury

Tell me about your master."
I nod. "He is eighth in line to the throne, the son of - "
"No, no," Caspida interrupts irritably. "Tell me what he is like."
"He is a gambler," I say. There is no point in lying about these things. "He is bold, but reckless. Brave, but impetuous. A man who . . . holds grudges." Pausing, I finish in a whisper, "He would risk his life to save someone else, without even thinking twice."
Caspida turns her head a bit, interest growing in her eyes. "And he sets out on a mad voyage and sails straight into a nest of jinn."
"My master is noble," I say with a smile, "but I made no suggestions as to his intelligence. — Jessica Khoury

As we walk, he begins telling me all the names of the plants we pass. I already know their names, but I don't tell him that. He seems to think that scientists always want to know the names of things, and so I guess he thinks he's being helpful.Anyway, I like listening to his voice. It's deep and a little hoarse, as if he's been yelling all day, and his accent makes every word sound new and exciting, as if he's speaking another language I don't have to strain to understand.
Here is annatto,for repelling insects and curing snakebites. The girls say it makes a love potion, but I don't believe them. They have all tried it on me, and I don't love any of them. — Jessica Khoury

Because when you love someone, that's what you do - you get involved. — Jessica Khoury

Religion has always been the fuel that keeps the furnaces of intolerance and hatred burning. — Raymond Khoury

How many have died that I might live?
And who has died that I might live? — Jessica Khoury

I am the weed cast out of the rose garden. I am the crow chased out of the dovecote. — Jessica Khoury

We're still dancing to tunes created by men who thought that a thunderstorm was a sig of God's anger. — Raymond Khoury

All the world is in your shadow, Zahra. — Jessica Khoury

WHERE IS MY SON?" Uncle Antonio bellows, levelling the two AK-47s he's holding at the lot of us. "Get away from him, you bastards! — Jessica Khoury

May you carry the weight of this betrayal to your grave. — Jessica Khoury

Do you think you're invincible? That you live off nothing but fresh dew and cold fury? — Renee Ahdieh

Use your wish," I whisper to Aladdin, opening my eyes. "Please."
"If I do," he replies softly, "I'll lose you. — Jessica Khoury

Strange," he murmurs.
"What's strange?"
"It's just . . ." He pushes his hair back. "You're not like the jinni in the stories and songs. That jinni was a monster. You seem . . . different."
Then he turns and begins trudging up the next dune, wrapping his cloak around him to keep the wind from tearing at it.
I stand still a moment longer, watching him. "Zahra."
He pauses and looks over his shoulder. "What?"
"My name," I stammer. "I mean . . . one of them. You can call me Zahra."
He turns around fully, his grin as wide and as bright as the moon. "I'm Aladdin. — Jessica Khoury

If you're not free to love, your're not free at all. — Jessica Khoury

I still can't believe it's really you," he murmurs, running his fingers down my cheek. "This face...it's yours, isn't it?"
"The one I was born with," I admit, heat rising under my skin as I feel a surge of shyness. I look down at my hands. "Do you...like it?"
"Zahra."
I can't help but lift my gaze at the warmth in his tone. His eyes are shining, his lips slanted in a small smile.
"You're beautiful," he says. "I mean, you were beautiful before, of course, but knowing that this is the real you...I didn't think I could love you more, but I do. — Jessica Khoury

It's too hot out here. Let's go inside. I'll teach you how to properly enter a room based on who is already there, and whether they are sitting, standing, or eating." Aladdin groans. "I'm sick of playing prince. Let's pick pockets. — Jessica Khoury

I know plenty of dances. My favorite is called Not Getting Your Legs Broken for Stealing Figs from That Baker on Pearl Lane." "That's sure to charm the princess right into a wedding pact. — Jessica Khoury

Her mind drew him in, hid his image at its center, folded over him, the world slid into place, the chaos ceased. — Jessica Khoury

I'm sorry," I whisper.
He takes my face in his hands. "I'm not. I'm not sorry I met you. I'm not sorry I fell in love with you. I have no regrets, Zahra, and neither should you. I love you. — Jessica Khoury

Whore!" he snarls, slamming me into the wall so hard stars burst in my eyes. I hiss at him, the tiger in me threatening to emerge and rip out his throat, but a shout brings me back to myself.
"Zahra!"
I turn my head and see Aladdin running toward us. When he sees that it's Darian holding me roughly against the wall, his face twists into such rage that he seems unrecognizable.
He crashes into Darian before the prince has a chance to say anything. The two slam into the ground, Aladdin throwing a punch that cracks against Darian's jaw.
"Stop it!" I cry. "Prince Rahzad!"
The boys ignore me, rolling and thrashing like dogs.
Leave them! Zhian roars. Let me out!
"How dare you touch her?" Aladdin spits, grabbing Darian by the hair and pressing the prince's face into the stone floor. "You bastard!"
"I didn't give her anything she didn't ask for," Darian hisses back. "Get off me or I'll have you executed! — Jessica Khoury

Love is nothing more than elevated levels of dopamine, nor-epinephrine, and other chemicals. But the way Uncle Antionio's face lights up as they dance ... I wonder what it would be like to feel that. To let the chemicals of romance take over for just a little while. Then I remember that I am immortal and that my body doesn't work like everyone else's. Who knows if I can even feel love? — Jessica Khoury

She said, 'People are like stars, but it's stories that turn us into constellations. If we don't tell our stories, we burn alone in the dark. — Jessica Khoury

My lady," says Aladdin, extending an arm toward the sun, "I give you gold as a token of my love."
"All I want is you," I reply. I turn and kiss him, pulling him against me, feeling the warmth of the dawn in my hair. Then I rest my head on his shoulder, simply feeling his arms around me, his heart beating against me.
"Are you cold?" asks Aladdin. "You're shivering."
"A little."
"I'll go get a blanket. And breakfast. If I can find the kitchen."
"Galley, love. It's called a galley."
"Right. Galley. Got it. I'll ask the captain. What was his name?"
"Sinbad, I think?"
"I'll be right back."
But I catch his hand. "I'm all right. Don't go yet."
He stays with me, and together we watch the sun stain the sea and sky a thousand and one shades of gold. My thumb rubs the ring on my finger, its dents and contours as familiar to me now as my hand.
So this is what it feels like to have all your wishes come true. — Jessica Khoury

Faith is easy when you're standing in front of a miracle. The real test of faith is when there aren't any signs."
~Reilly, The Last Templar pg. 244 — Raymond Khoury

You mean you want me to throw rocks at a bunch of monkeys in a tree in order to compete for food and prove that I, man, am the superior species? Chica," he said, clicking his tongue, "I've been waiting for an opportunity like this my whole life. — Jessica Khoury

That your eyes are like bits of sky seen through the leaves. And that, like the rain washes the mud from the leaves, you ... how did he say it? Oh yes. That you wash the darkness from the world. — Jessica Khoury

I did not seek permission from anyone, General al-Khoury. Nor shall I seek permission from anyone in the future. For anything. — Renee Ahdieh

The Bible tells us the messiah will only return AFTER we've had the final battle between God's children and the army of the antichrist out there in Israel. It's only after that happens that we can be saved by the Rapture ... we're still waiting for the Israelis to bomb the crap out of Iran and kick-start the whole thing. — Raymond Khoury

Smoky, if there's one thing I am, it's adaptable. — Jessica Khoury

Every glance, every touch, every whisper between us has been a pebble added to the scales, tipping me toward a new direction. — Jessica Khoury

I want someone who will look into my eyes and understand everything behind them.
-Pia — Jessica Khoury

Find me, my thief. — Jessica Khoury

What? You don't think I'm perfect?" I can't resist, because he gets so riled whenever I bring it up. "I can run up to thirty miles without stopping. I can jump six feet in the air. There is not a material in this world sharp enough to pierce my skin. I cannot drown or suffocate. I am immune to every illness known to man. I have perfect memory. My senses are more acute that anyone else's. My reflexes rival those of a cat. I will never grow old" - my voice falls, all smugness gone -"and I will never die. — Jessica Khoury

You are like the captain of a ship, and it is your job to tell the crew (your body and mind) what to do. If you don't, you will end up making one bad choice after another. If — John Paul Khoury

Nothing is worth betraying someone you love. ~Aladdin — Jessica Khoury

You can't let something that'll probably never happen ruin your life. You're only helping to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy — Raymond Khoury

Reminding me how fragile this life is and how easily it can be lost. Compelling me to live and to live well, while I still can.
Because sooner or later, we must all face eternity. — Jessica Khoury

Homo ferus: wild human. An unpredictable, nocturnal creature usually found in trees. Caution: may cause bewilderment and disorientation. Also, prone to teasing. — Jessica Khoury

Joey, like an idiot, began clucking and calling to the calf, which only startled it into motion, and it raced off to join its parents.
"Moron," said Avani in a low voice.
"Oh, come on. What's the matter, Canada, did they confiscate your sense of humor at the airport? — Jessica Khoury

I asked her why my father resisted the guards when they always won in the end. Why didn't he just save himself the pain and pay them what they wanted? She told me that sometimes, you can't choose what happens to you, but you can choose who you become because of it. That's why my father fought back. — Jessica Khoury

Jalal," she said, "I can explain."
"There's no need."
"I'm not - "
"I told you; there's no need." He spoke simply. "I trust you. — Renee Ahdieh

In what world did you think you could get away with this?" Jalal seethed. "To my cousin? To my family?" His gleaming hilt continued its punishing onslaught. — Renee Ahdieh

I may as well shackle my wrist to a bolt of lightning as attach myself to a mortal. — Jessica Khoury

Habiba. It's an old word that means dear friend. — Jessica Khoury

Keep your eye on the goal, not the steps you must take to reach it. The goal is everything. The steps are nothing. No matter how difficult the journey is, the goal is always worth it. — Jessica Khoury

The universe sings a deep, eternal song, sound in waves, in deep sighs, in whispers, in swirling chords and rising, falling tones. The music of the worlds, weaving in a pattern that is both chaos and order, both beauty and terror, without beginning, without end. — Jessica Khoury

It's a limitless new world, and we are only just beginning to explore it. — Jessica Khoury

Memory,' wrote the Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury, is a process of organizing what to forget. — Ben Ehrenreich

...I love her. I think I want to be with her."
"Be careful, Captain al-khoury. Those words mean different things to different people. Make sure they man the right things to you."
"Don't be an ass. I mean them."
"When did you mean them?"
"I mean them now. Isn't that what matters?"
A muscle worked in Khalid's jaw. "Now is easy. It's easy to say what you want in a passing moment. That's why a harem waits outside your door and the mother of your child won't have you."
He strode back toward the palace.
"Then what is the right answer, say yidi? What should I have said?" Jalal called out to the sky in exasperation.
"Always. — Renee Ahdieh

Jalal shook his head and moved toward Khalid. "She is. Please give her a chance to explain."
"Leave," Khalid commanded quietly.
"Don't let your fear and your distrust ruin this."
His uncle took Jalal by the shoulder.
"She loves you!" Jalal continued, his tone heedless. "This is not what it seems. Maybe it began as something else, but I would bet my life on what it is now. She loves you. Please don't fall to hate. You're not your father. You are so much more. She is so much more. — Renee Ahdieh

It was a vain attempt at indifference, on both their parts.

For Shahrzad bore silent witness to the truth. It was only for an instant, and they never glanced at each other. Yet, she wondered how anyone could miss it - the subtle shift in Jalal's shoulders, and the telltale tilt to Despina's head.

Shahrzad smiled knowingly. — Renee Ahdieh

Zahra, what happens to you when I make my last wish?"
"When your third wish is granted, you will cease to be my master. You may possess the lamp, but you cannot call me. I will return to it and await the next Lampholder."
Abruptly he stands and walks across the room. When he reaches the wall, he turns and stares down at me. "So to win my revenge, I must lose you. — Jessica Khoury

There's just one rule, just one basic law that everyone lives under : take control or be controlled. — Jessica Khoury

Get control of yourself, Zahra!
My name isn't Zahra. I am Smoke-on-the-Wind, Curl-of-the-Tiger's-Tail, Girl-Who-Gives-the-Stars-Away.
He loves you!
He is just a mortal. Just a boy, a moment in time that will soon pass.
His name is Aladdin.
I have known a thousand and one like him. I will know a thousand and one more. He is nothing.
He is everything. — Jessica Khoury

I pour upward through the long dark tunnel of the spout. I am a funnel of smoke, a whirlwind of fire. I open myself and multiply, swelling into a great cloud over the boy's head. I press a thousand smoky hands against the stone ceiling of the cave. I roll a thousand fiery eyes and stretch a thousand glittering legs. I unfold and unfold and unfold. How good it feels to be out! I crackle with energy and excitement, my blood lightning and my breath thunder. — Jessica Khoury

We were too greedy, grasping for immortality too soon. Perhaps if we had only been patient, content to wait, we would all have forever in the end. — Jessica Khoury

The way he looks at me- steady and silent, bold and bright - makes me feel as if the storm outside were trapped inside me, thunder and rain and light, rolling and crashing. — Jessica Khoury

I should have known better than to open myself to such inevitable pain. When did I forget to stay aloof and unattached? When did I let my armor soften, leaving me vulnerable? This is what I get for playing human. The — Jessica Khoury

He said that seeing and understanding are two different things. Our eyes show us one side of an object, but that doesn't mean there aren't five other sides we can't see. So why thrust your eyes? Why live your whole life thinking that just because you can't see every side to something, those other sides don't exist? — Jessica Khoury

Princess Caspida, I have nothing but respect and admiration for you. Truly you will be the queen this city needs. But I can't marry you."
The princess stands still as stone, her face unreadable. "Why not, Prince Rahzad?"
"I am sorry," he replies. "The truth is, I am in love, but not with you."
He turns to me, and my spirit takes flight like a flock of doves, startled and erratic. I cannot move, cannot speak, as he takes my hands in his and looks me earnestly in the eye. He presses the ring into my palm, and the gold feels as if it burns my skin.
"This belongs to you, and you alone. I've been so blind, Zahra. So caught up in the past that I've failed to see what's happening in front of me. I've been such an idiot, I don't know how I can expect anything from you. But I have to try. I have to tell the truth, and the truth is . . . I love you. — Jessica Khoury

The answer cannot be found. That should be my new life motto. — Jessica Khoury

Maybe reason is neater and more orderly, but nonsense is freeing. — Jessica Khoury

No! Aguaje is for girls. If a man eats to much of it, he starts to look like a woman.

That is the most unscientific thing I've ever heard.

Then you haven't met my cousin Jacari. Too much aguaje. Now the mothers use him as wet nurse. — Jessica Khoury

I chanced a shy look at Sam, and found he was already staring at me. When our eyes met, we both blushed but didn't look away. His curiosity, his energy, his wonder for the world had reawakened the part of me I was so sure I'd lost.
"What now?" he asked.
I smiled. "Next stop the pyramids?"
He grinned, and impulsively I lifted my chin and kissed him. For a moment, the warmth of that kiss drove away the pain and the horrors of the last few days. I leaned into him as much as my bandages allowed, until at last I pulled my lips away and rested my forehead against his.
"The pyramids, the North Pole, the moon," Sam replied, his voice a bit hoarse. "Next stop anywhere, as long as you're there. — Jessica Khoury

A name is a powerful thing. It sets one apart and gives significance. — Jessica Khoury

It's not too late," he says. "Zahra, I - "
"Sh." I lay a finger across his lips. "Don't say it. You will marry Caspida, and you will learn to love each other. You will live a happy life, long after my lamp has passed to new hands."
"I won't make my third wish," he says. "That's the answer! If I don't make the wish, you can stay here in the palace for as long as you want. You'll never have to go back to your lamp. We can fight off anyone who tries to take you from me. — Jessica Khoury

Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart's desire. The question is, are you willing to gamble? How much are you willing to lose? What are you willing to risk everything for? — Jessica Khoury

You are free to leave, as well." Khalid resumed his trek toward his chamber.
Jalal cut it front of Khalid. "You look terrible." His eyes were bright, and his forehead was lined with worry. — Renee Ahdieh