Top 100 Darren Shan Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “I sucked blood from one of my best friends.”

— Darren Shan

52. “I mean, seriously, what lady of taste could resist a shiny green head of hair like mine?”

— Darren Shan

53. “If I’d known how wrong I was – if I’d had any idea of the awful night that lay ahead – I’d have run after him and never returned to that disgusting circus of blood, that revolting circus of death.”

— Darren Shan

54. “Conquering the world was a simple thing; commanding one’s spirit was the real challenge.”

— Darren Shan

55. “If this were a made-up story, it would begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed.”

— Darren Shan

56. “The dead are the best listeners in the world. The corpse takes it all in, never interrupts, doesn’t criticize me, lets me waffle on for as long as I like.”

— Darren Shan

57. “Of course I have nightmares-Who doesn’t?”

— Darren Shan

58. “You are a creature of the darkness, the same as myself and Mr. Dowling. Like us, I fear that you will end up destined to play a cruel, vicious part in the shaping of the future. Some of us cannot escape the damnable reach of fate.”

— Darren Shan

59. “Too easily impressed,” Evanna tutted, resuming her former appearance. “You shouldn’t judge by what’s on the outside. Only a fool falls for a pretty face. Are you fools?”

— Darren Shan

60. “But I don’t think Art’s an Einstein – he likes tugging ears, biting people and burping too much to be a genius.”

— Darren Shan

61. “The pair smiled desperately at one another. And for the first time ever, despite the fact that everyone he knew – even the gods themselves – would condemn him for it, Jebel didn’t think of Tel Hesani as a slave, but as an equal.”

— Darren Shan

62. “We all have to do things we don’t like in life.”

— Darren Shan

63. “Who’s going to help me and Bec kick some Shadow ass? -Page 172.”

— Darren Shan

64. “When it comes to impending, unavoidable extinction, ignorance is bliss.”

— Darren Shan

65. “I used to imagine the spider creeping down, crawling into my mouth, sliding down my throat, and laying loads of eggs in my belly. The Baby spiders would hatch after a while and eat me alive, from the inside out.”

— Darren Shan

66. “As Jebel tried in vain to fall asleep, he became aware of a small clicking noise. He turned and looked at the woman. Her robe was raised above her knees and she was scratching at a wound on her thigh. She had worked her way through to the bone and was picking at it with her nails.”

— Darren Shan

67. “Then set the hounds loose, boy – it’s time to kick demonic ass!”

— Darren Shan

68. “You stole from a member of the undead.”

— Darren Shan

69. “Why do you want to be a vampire?” he asked. “It is not much fun. We can only come out at night. Humans despise us. We have to sleep in dirty old places like this. We can never marry or have children or settle down. It is a horrible life.”

— Darren Shan

70. “One night of slavery is too much.”

— Darren Shan

71. “What use was money if you didn’t have the time to enjoy it?”

— Darren Shan

72. “I can give you two words,” I tell him. “The second is off. Can you guess the first?”

— Darren Shan

73. “Are cobwebs a treat where you come from?”

— Darren Shan

74. “I do not mock the beliefs of others. This world is large enough for a thousand religions. Every race has the right to its own.”

— Darren Shan

75. “An assistant could be just what the witch doctor ordered.”

— Darren Shan

76. “Some of the tension seeped out of the air when the doors closed behind us.”

— Darren Shan

77. “You know your problem?” I snap at Shark. “You use too many metaphors. Ants, fish, and rabbits, all in the same breath. That’s an abuse of the language.” Shark smiles. “I never.”

— Darren Shan

78. “Those who hate are doomed to become slaves to their hatred. It consumes them like a disease, but it is an illness they cannot–or do not want to–live without.”

— Darren Shan

79. “I always knew there was power in the earth, but it must be much stronger than I imagined to resist such a relentless foe, day after day, night after night, year after year.”

— Darren Shan

80. “It’ll be like a game of chess. We can let the game unfold as it did before, but if we want to avoid checkmate, we’ll have to readjust the pieces a few moves shy of the finish.”

— Darren Shan

81. “Appearances, Darren,” she said. “Never let them fool you.”

— Darren Shan

82. “The secret to success is to stop when you’re ahead.”

— Darren Shan

83. “I say to hell with Generals, Princes and the rest. Life is too short. I want to live, fight, love, die. Not waste my time studying.”

— Darren Shan

84. “Death is not the end. It is a midway state.”

— Darren Shan

85. “As a warrior, she won’t have allowed herself to mourn. But women can’t make themselves as detached as men. Our hearts are bigger. We feel loss in a way men don’t. Orna has the body and mind of a warrior but her heart is like mine, and I know inside she’s weeping.”

— Darren Shan

86. “I’ve never met a politician who didn’t deserve to be tossed into a pit full of Kallin,” Beranabus grunts.”

— Darren Shan

87. “So easy to take it for granted, but this is something no normal human was made to see. The world of magic has blessed me with wonders and it’s only right to stop every now and then to appreciate it.”

— Darren Shan

88. “As long as you’re breathing, your story’s still going.”

— Darren Shan

89. “It helps to know where you are going before you set out.”

— Darren Shan

90. “I don’t think anyone ever remembers what they were really like as kids. Adults think they do, but they don’t. Photos and videos don’t capture the real you, or bring back to life the person you used to be. You have to return to the past to do that.”

— Darren Shan

91. “Doubt finds its way into all men’s hearts.”

— Darren Shan

92. “Harkat delayed for another frustrating moment, then nodded gruffly. “OK. But if they kill us on... our way out, I’ll never speak... to you again.”

— Darren Shan

93. “Man wasn’t made to share the universe with gods. Their ways are not meant for the humble likes of us. But we’ve decoded some of their secrets regardless. Like worms, we’ve grabbed on to the talons of eagles and learned some small truths and means of flight. But we can never really fly. We try, and succeed to a certain extent, but the fall is always – will always be – there.”

— Darren Shan

94. “Nightmares. The world on fire. Running. Burning. Screaming. Calling for help. Everybody else on fire too. Jolt awake. Vampires around me. Nightmare still playing at the back of my mind. Convinced the cell’s on fire. I try to break free. They hold me down. I curse them. Struggle. Pain gushes through me. Wince. Relax. Return to fire-plagued dreams.”

— Darren Shan

95. “One of the things is that in times of severe disorder, you can’t worry about the dead, only the living.”

— Darren Shan

96. “People need devils and dark gods, if only to give them a foe to rally against, an obstacle to overcome. Your people understood that there can be no light without darkness, no good without evil, no triumph without setbacks. You can’t kill me because I’m part of all that you are, all you’ve done and plan to do. You don’t have to like me. You can even loathe me. But you must accept me.”

— Darren Shan

97. “Vampires are always saying good-bye. We never stop anywhere very long. We are forever picking up our roots and moving on to new pastures. It is our way.”

— Darren Shan

98. “We laugh. Bec stares at us uncertainly, then joins in. She sounds a bit like Bill-E when she laughs, and for a few happy moments it’s as if me, my brother and uncle are together again, relaxing in Dervish’s study, sharing a joke, not a care in the world.”

— Darren Shan

99. “I hoped the writing would help me get things straight in my head, especially with regards to Kurda, but I was just as confused by the end as I’d been at the beginning. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t help feeling that Kurda had been both a hero and a villain. Things would be simpler if he was one or the other, but I couldn’t pigeonhole him. It was just too complicated.”

— Darren Shan

100. “Bill-E his knife. He grimaces and tries to wipe the muck off on his.”

— Darren Shan