Mab Quotes & Sayings

They stared at each other for a moment, perplexed by their newfound siblinghood. 'So we're the Luke and Leia of hell,' Mab said. — Jennifer Crusie

There was a small stone in her palm, a deep blue opal. I leaned a little closer, eyeing it. It was set on a silver stud - an earring.
"It should suffice to contain the parasite for what time remains," Mab said. "Put it on."
"My ears aren't pierced," I objected.
Mab arched an eyebrow. "Are you the Winter Knight or some sort of puling child?"
I scowled at her. "Come over here and say that."
At that, Mab calmly stepped onto the shore of Demonreach, until her toes were almost touching mine. She was several inches over six feet tall, and barely had to reach up to take my earlobe in her fingers.
"Wait," I said. "Wait."
She paused.
"The left one."
Mab tilted her head. "Why?"
"It's ... Look, it's a mortal thing. Just do the left one, okay?"
She exhaled briefly through her nose. Then she shook her head and changed ears. — Jim Butcher

When he was kidnapped by the Iron King and taken into the Nevernever, she didn't hesitate to go after him. And she didn't stop there. When her magic was sealed by Mab, leaving her defenseless in the Winter Court, she somehow managed to survive, even when she thought you had turned on her. When the Scepter of the Seasons was stolen by the Iron fey, she went after it, despite having no magic and no weapon with which to defend herself. And when the courts asked her to destroy the false king, she accepted, even though the Summer and Iron glamours within her were making her sick, and she couldn't use either of them effectively. She still went into the Iron Kingdom to
face a tyrant she didn't know if she could overcome.
"Now," Ariella finished, turning toward me, "do you still believe humans are weak? — Julie Kagawa

O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you ...
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep. — William Shakespeare

I will find you another long-forgotten Queen Mab poem in no time. Depend on it. I refuse to let Cody or anyone else know more about English Literature than me. So calm yourself, Elfish, and let an expert take over. — Martin Millar

Barbie was no longer afraid of anything. It was like the thing Mab had said about belief. The belief is sometimes the biggest part of it all. You can choose to believe in your published book being held in the loving hands of strangers, your name tattooed forever on the heart of the one you adore; you can choose to believe in tiny red-haired pesky piskies--all the things 'they' may tell you not to believe in. But who are they anyway? What do they know? What makes them any more real? — Francesca Lia Block

Fox and Scorpion came to a brook," Mab murmured, her voice low, sweet. "Wide was the water. Scorpion asked Fox for a ride on his back. Fox said, 'Scorpion, will you not sting me?' Scorpion said, 'If I did, it would mean the death of us both.' Fox agreed, and Scorpion climbed onto his back. Fox swam, but halfway over, Scorpion struck with his deadly sting. Fox gasped, 'Fool, you have doomed us both. Why?' 'I am a scorpion,' said Scorpion. 'It is my nature. — Jim Butcher

You have your orders," Mab shouted at the guards. "To the Deeps with her."
The men led me from the great hall, taking me along a series of corridors to the back of the castle, then winding through another long corridor and into a spiraling stairwell that appeared to have no end. We went further and further down until finally it ended so deep in the ground it felt like a grave. My pulse quickened as we reached the bottom.
A single dark door lay ahead. — H.D. Smith

Mab turned back to me and eyed me up and down. She quirked one eyebrow, very slightly, somehow conveying layers of disapproval toward multiple aspects of my appearance, conduct, and situation, and said, 'Finally.'
'There's been a lot on my mind,' I replied.
'It seems unlikely that your cares will lighten,' Queen Mab replied. 'Improve your mind.' — Jim Butcher

So many terrible things are done for love," Mab's voice said. "For love will men mutilate themselves and murder rivals. For love will even a peaceful man go to war. For love, man will destroy himself, and that right willingly. — Jim Butcher

Sorry to wake you, but we have to be somewhere soon, remember?"
Ash grunted and, to my surprise, shifted to his back and put the pillow over his head. "I don't suppose I could convince you to go without me," he groaned, his voice muffled beneath the fabric. "Tell Mab I've been eaten by a manticore or something? — Julie Kagawa

It's not that they're small, the fair folk. Especially not the queen of them all, Mab of the flashing eyes and the slow smile with lips that can conjure your heart under the hills for a hundred years. It's not that they're small. It's that we're so far away. — Neil Gaiman

Ash nodded. "Look for Oberon or Mab," he said grimly, scanning the battlefield. "They'll likely be on opposite sides of the river. Try not to engage anything, Goodfellow. We don't want a fight - we just want to get the scepter to the queen."
"Don't kid yourself, Prince." Puck grinned and drew his daggers, pointing to Ash with the tip. "You're a traitor, Meghan's the Summer princess, and I'm Robin Goodfellow. I'm sure the ranks of Unseelie will just let us waltz right through. — Julie Kagawa

I'm neither a magician, nor a wizard," Mab's deep voice sounded behind him. John was startled.
"But you are. I mean you must be. You can do magic."
"Not magic, Sword Bearer. /Miracles/."
....
"But you do magic!" John said, bewildered.
"No, Sword Bearer. It is true that I have power from the Changer, but the power I have is His power, not ours. It is to be used in his service. Magic is stolen power. The power that Qhahdrun has is magical power. It was stolen from the Mystery of Abomination when he rebelled against the Changer. Qhahdrun really thinks it belongs to him, but one day it will be taken from him. For at the last all power will go back to the Changer from whence it came. — John White

Working for Mab now, are you, Wolfman?" he smirked. "Like a good little attack dog? Will you also roll over and beg if she asks? — Julie Kagawa

Could just be Chicago. Which can be just as scary as Mab, some days. — Jim Butcher

Ren easily stepped around me. "I'll get it."
"You know, I can do that."
He kept going. "I'm just being a gentleman."
"More like he's being an overprotective bully," Tink commented from where he suddenly appeared in the hallway. "I was hoping you'd be gone by now. Alas, Queen Mab and your God both hate me. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

After you die, you're going to hell for being a dishonest bastard, and you'll burn for eternity."
The guy snatched his hand back. "I don't believe in Hell."
"Most people don't until they get there." Mab smiled at him. "Of course, if you stop lying and cheating, you can probably redeem yourself. If not, have them put marshmallows in your coffin. There's a bight side to everything, I always say. — Jennifer Crusie

Mab had the kind of power you had to describe using exponents. — Jim Butcher

Mab narrowed her eyes, and a little smile graced her lips. "Impudent," she said. "It's sweet on you. — Jim Butcher

Just answer me this. Is she worth it?" Ash's face went blank and cold, like a door slamming shut.
"Would this be considered payment for finding sweetfinger?" he replied in a voice dead of emotion.
The dwarf snorted. "Yeah, sure, whatever. But I want a serious answer, Prince."
Ash was still for a moment. "Yes," he murmured, his voice so low I barely caught it. "She's worth it."
"You know Mab will tear you apart for this."
"I know."
-Dwarf and Ash — Julie Kagawa

She leaned forward, looking utterly inhuman, and I fought the urge to run screaming from the throne room. "I have heard of your exploits, Meghan Chase, " the queen rasped, narrowing her eyes. "Did you not think I would find out? You tricked a prince of the Unseelie Court into following you into the Iron Realm. You made him fight your enemies for you. You bound him to a contract that nearly killed him. My precious boy, almost lost to me forever, because of you. How do you think that makes me feel?" Mab's smile grew more predatory, as my stomach twisted in fear. — Julie Kagawa

Tomorrow we go back to normal?"
"Sure," Mab said. "It'll be like none of this happened. Except I'll still be pregnant, and you'll still be making dragons, and Glenda will still be pretending that Dreamland is Cancun, and Weaver will still own the only green velvet demon in captivity. Other than that, perfectly normal."
"I just meant no demons trying to kill us," Cindy said. "My baseline for normal is a lot lower than yours. — Jennifer Crusie

Mab: You know, Bill, you should see an optometrist about that rolling-eye problem. Makes you look rude and patronizing. — Jennifer Crusie

You mean before Mab Monroe staked him out and barbecued him like a pork chop for all his friends to see," I replied. "And you too. Pity, dear old dad getting roasted like that right in front of you. — Jennifer Estep

Sometime [Queen Mab] driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again — William Shakespeare

Lies. Mab cannot change who you are. — Jim Butcher

So," he said. "Mab."
I grunted vaguely in reply.
"You hit that," Sanya said. — Jim Butcher

So you were good enough for the Cullach Gorrym, good enough to marry Dorelei mab Breidaia, good enough to beget Alba a successor, but not good enough for the Queen's daughter?" Urist's lips curled with scorn. The tip of his knife flicked upward. "Well, that's what I think of that, lad." The red yarn parted and fell. — Jacqueline Carey

I saw Oberon charge into the fray on a huge black warhorse, glamour swirling around him, and sweep a hand toward the thickest of the fighting. Vines and roots erupted from the ground, coiling around the Iron fey, strangling them or pulling them beneath the earth. Atop a rise, Mab raised her arms, and a savage whirlwind swept across the field, freezing fey solid or impaling them with ice shards. The armies of Summer and Winter howled with renewed vigor and threw themselves at the enemy. — Julie Kagawa

Mab Jones' poetry is suffused with a cool wit and a wisdom beyond her years. She is a superb performance poet in the tradition of Joolz Denby and Pam Ayres and, like them, her work is beautifully layered and contains bittersweet depths. — Phill Jupitus

Thomas grunted. "Might have been smarter for them to have left you alone. Now you know something."
I made an exasperated sound. "Yes. Those fools. By trying to kill me, they've revealed their very souls. I have them now."
Thomas gave me a steady look. "Being Mab's bitch has made you a pessimist."
"I am not a pessimist," I said loftily. "Though that can't last."
That made Thomas grin. "Nice."
"Thank you. — Jim Butcher

But be warned, Queen Mab, this is not yet over. One way or another, I will have my daughter back. Oberon — Julie Kagawa

I can't be yours forever, Mab," I told her, the words flying into my mouth as if by magic. "I already belong to someone else. I belong to Alice! — Joseph Delaney

Their world will eat at you," Mab said. "Strip you away bit by bit. Cut off from the Nevernever, you will not survive. Whether it takes one mortal year or a thousand, you will gradually fade away, until you simply cease to exist." Mab stepped closer, pointing at me with the scepter. "She will die, Ash. She is only human. She will grow old, wither and die, and her soul will flee to a place you cannot follow. And then, you will be left to wander the mortal world alone, until you yourself are only a memory.And after that-" the queen opened her empty fist "-nothing. Forever. — Julie Kagawa

I feel convinced that the true interests and solid happiness of man are promoted by the advancement of truth; yet I cannot but mourn over the pleasant errors which it has trampled down in its progress. The fauns and sylphs, the household sprite, the moonlight revel, Oberon, Queen Mab, and the delicious realms of fairy-land, all vanish before the light of true philosophy; but who does not sometimes turn with distaste from the cold realities of morning, and seek to recall the sweet visions of the night? — Washington Irving

I'd had a key to the marina's locks at one time, but I'd lost track of it when I got shot, drowned, died, got revived into a coma, haunted my friends for a while, and then woke up in Mab's bed.
(My life. Hell's bells.) — Jim Butcher

Oh my Queen Mab, I thought you were dead! Or at least knocked up! And I thought I'd be dead, because no one but Jerk-Face over there knew about me, and I thought I would starve. Starve to death!" "Tink," Ren warned, voice low. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

[Mab] was pale, beautiful on a scale that beggared simple description, and I harbored a healthy and rational terror of her. — Jim Butcher

Think of every fairy-tale villainess you've ever heard of. Think of the wicked witches, the evil queens, the mad enchantresses. Think of the alluring sirens, the hungry ogresses, the savage she-beasts. Think of them and remember that somewhere, sometime, they've all been real.
Mab gave them lessons. — Jim Butcher

I am somewhat proud of this," Mab's cold voice said. "To be sure, the White Christ never suffered so long or so terribly as did this traitor. Three days on a tree. Hardly enough time for a prelude. When it came to visiting agony, the Romans were hobbyists. — Jim Butcher

Rage filled me at her words - cold, black, unending rage. Whatever happened to me, Mab would not hurt my sister again. She would not. — Jennifer Estep

Bria was silent for a moment. "What - what were you dreaming about?"
I shrugged. "The usual. The night that our mother and Annabella died. I always see different parts of it, different bits and pieces."
"What did you see tonight?"
I grimaced, even though she couldn't see it in the darkness. "Oh, tonight was a real doozy. I dreamed about watching them die, about seeing them both disappear into balls of flames as Mab's elemental Fire washed over them."
"Oh. — Jennifer Estep

This is war, human." Mab's voice was cold and remorseless. "It is either kill or be destroyed ourselves. — Julie Kagawa

I was Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn, son of Mab, former prince of the Unseelie Court, and I was not afraid of a witch on a broom. — Julie Kagawa

I hope he doesn't expect us to make a wish on the thing," I continued, as Ash scanned the surroundings, wary and alert as always. "I've learned my lesson, thanks. I'd rather go to tea with Mab than make a wish on something called the Wishing Tree in the middle of the Nevernever."
"You have no idea how relieved I am to finally hear you say that." Ash was still gazing around the clearing, looking solemn apart from the grin in his voice. — Julie Kagawa

So," I demanded, trying to sound confident, "where can we find this trod to New Orleans?"
"The frost giant ruins," Ash replied, looking thoughtful. "Very close to Mab's court." At Puck's glare, he shrugged and offered a tiny, rueful smirk. "She goes to Mardi Gras every year."
I pictured the Queen of the Unseelie Court flashing a couple of drunken partygoers, and giggled uncontrollably. All three shot me a strange look. "Sorry," I gasped, biting my lip. "Still kind of giddy, I guess. — Julie Kagawa

My queen," he breathed, one hand reaching up to frame my cheek, making my stomach jump and twirl. "I belong to you. No matter what Mab says, no matter how long I've been in Tir Na Nog, my life is yours. Nothing will ever make me leave your side. — Julie Kagawa

You'd think as long as I was gambling with my soul, I would have thought to get Mab to throw in fifty bucks an hour plus expenses. — Jim Butcher

If we generic gay and lesbian whitefolks set as our movement's goal being assimilated into American culture, getting 'our piece of the pie,' we ignore or deny the reality that gay and lesbian people of color will never be assimilated in the same way within this system because it was constituted to exclude them. — Mab Segrest

If you want to live, if you want your friends and family to live, I expect you to do more than survive it," Mab said, sweeping out. "I expect you to skin them alive. — Jim Butcher

Now that I've got this to keep me safe off the island," I said very quietly, "what's to stop me from having Alfred drop you into a cell right this second, and solving my problems myself?" "I am," Mab said. She gave me a very small, very chill smile, and held up her finger. There was a tiny droplet of my blood upon it, scarlet against her pale skin. — Jim Butcher

Ooh, Snowberry, you were right," one of them said, wrinkling her nose like she smelled something foul. "She does reek of a dead pig in the summer. I don't know how Mab can stand it."
Clenching my fists, I tried to keep my cool. I was so not in the mood for this now.God, it's like high school all over again. Will it never end? These are ancient faeries, for Pete's sake, and they're acting like my high school pom squad. — Julie Kagawa

Ash," Mab crooned as he drew near. "My poor boy. Rowan told me what happened between the two of you, but I know you had your reasons. Why would you betray me?"
"I love her. — Julie Kagawa

I dropped the bug with a shudder. 'Is that why Mab wants me?' I asked Ash, who still stood a few feet away. 'As a weapon?'
'Ridiculous isn't it?' Grimalkin purred. 'She cannot even use glamour. She would be a horrible assassin. — Julie Kagawa

I'm your enemy, meghan. never forget that. if Mab tells me to kill you in front of the entire court, it's my duty to obey. — Julie Kagawa

As Mab explains to Will why using magic has to hurt ... Think about guns. If it hurt you to shoot a gun, don't you think people would think harder about when and where and why they did it? — Tessa Gratton