Top 80 Fonda Lee Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “No one could deny that Kaul Hilo has a way with his people. It came from genuine concern, and was a talent more mysterious to Anden than any jade ability.”

— Fonda Lee

2. “People are born selfish; babies are the most selfish creatures, even though they’re helpless and wouldn’t survive a day on their own.”

— Fonda Lee

3. “Even the biggest tigers grow old, Hilo had once said. But even the oldest tiger was still a tiger.”

— Fonda Lee

4. “Possibilities that lay in the past were illusions, closed doors, as meaningless as unfulfilled intentions.”

— Fonda Lee

5. “A man who wears the crown of a king cannot wear the jade of a warrior. Gold and jade, never together.”

— Fonda Lee

6. “Fate worked in mysterious and beautiful ways.”

— Fonda Lee

7. “The clan is my blood,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion, but perfectly steady. “And the Pillar is its master.”

— Fonda Lee

8. “It was strange, Shae thought – Green Bones revered jade, but it was not the gems themselves that were worthy of reverence. Jade had meaning because of the type of person one had to become to wear it. Jade was the visible proof that a person had dedicated their life to the discipline of wielding power, to the dangers and costs of being a Green Bone.”

— Fonda Lee

9. “In a war, you wield every weapon you have, including words. Especially words.”

— Fonda Lee

10. “Expectations are a funny thing,” Wen said. “When you’re born with them, you resent them, fight against them. When you’ve never been given any, you feel the lack of them your whole life.”

— Fonda Lee

11. “You’d think it would be easier to face death as you get older, but it doesn’t work that way. You get more attached to life, to people you love and things that are worth living for.”

— Fonda Lee

12. “Any defiance of the wild leads at best to a fragile, temporary victory. Nature and fate are their own capricious monsters, ones that cannot be tamed any more than a roc ever truly belongs to her ruhker.”

— Fonda Lee

13. “He wasn’t dead yet. A man could be shot or stabbed, he could be fatally wounded, spurting his life out upon the ground, and still have a few precious minutes to bring down his enemy.”

— Fonda Lee

14. “True love, Hilo mused, was sensual and euphoric, but also painful and tyrannical, demanding obedience.”

— Fonda Lee

15. “We women claw for every inch we gain in this world, and you’d worked too hard for your place on Ship Street to let it be taken from you.”

— Fonda Lee

16. “The clan is my blood and the Pillar is its master,” she whispered. “I have a lot of regrets in life, but those oaths aren’t one of them.”

— Fonda Lee

17. “Don’t show off how much you hate a man until you’re ready to be his enemy.”

— Fonda Lee

18. “The mind cannot adjust quickly to a fundamental change in reality without breaking. If the moon vanished from the sky, people would not believe it; they would think it was a trick of light or clouds. Anden felt it would be a long time before he accepted the truth.”

— Fonda Lee

19. “You didn’t need to speak sweetly and offer patronage at every turn to these people. You had to be honest with them and show that they had more to gain from your friendship than your enmity.”

— Fonda Lee

20. “She thought, Two strong-minded women in a man’s world, if they do not quickly become allies, are destined to be incurable rivals.”

— Fonda Lee

21. “So many problems between people, even those who loved each other, came from a lack of communication and honesty.”

— Fonda Lee

22. “Summer had barely begun and already the city of Janloon was like a spent lover – sticky and fragrant.”

— Fonda Lee

23. “Only children and gods are arrogant enough to judge what they can’t understand. There’s no point being afraid of their opinions.”

— Fonda Lee

24. “Anden let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.”

— Fonda Lee

25. “The way to defeat a chess master was not with greater genius, but by forcing her to play a different game.”

— Fonda Lee

26. “Mutual survival was the basis of brotherhood and loyalty, even of love.”

— Fonda Lee

27. “A misunderstanding between friends is okay. A misunderstanding between enemies isn’t.”

— Fonda Lee

28. “Screw you, Hilo,” she snapped. “I can kill my ex-boyfriends myself.”

— Fonda Lee

29. “On his deathbed, the disgraced king is said to have lamented, “I’ll be remembered not for who I was, but for what I wasn’t. Perhaps it’s for the best. Let the gods judge me for what I did not do.”

— Fonda Lee

30. “Gazing at Wen’s lovely, trusting face, he was struck with remorse that he couldn’t, even with the consuming love he felt for her, promise not to break her heart.”

— Fonda Lee

31. “Funny, isn’t it? No matter where you are in the world, the one thing that keeps men from killing each other is a fear of what’ll happen after they’re dead.”

— Fonda Lee

32. “Was it possible, Lan wondered, to be both a strong leader and a compassionate person, or were those two things opposing forces, pushing each other away?”

— Fonda Lee

33. “Rain fell, not steadily but with insulting indifference.”

— Fonda Lee

34. “Now they were everywhere, along with more people, new factories, foreign-influenced street foods like tempura meatballs and spicy cheese curd.”

— Fonda Lee

35. “I will practice humility: putting my beloved before myself, expecting no praise or reward, for now we are joined in all things.”

— Fonda Lee

36. “I couldn’t be Pillar without you, and I still can’t. We’ve both hurt each other because we were too stubborn about what we expected, and we paid badly for that. But what’s the point of life if we give up on the people we love?” He enfolded her into his arms and stroked her smooth hair. He kissed her on the forehead and cheeks and mouth. “Wen, will you be my Pillarman?”

— Fonda Lee

37. “The unexpected gentleness of the words affected Anden like a violent physical blow, rocking him back on his heels, but they broke down the dam in his throat.”

— Fonda Lee

38. “Don’t ever make the mistake that I did. Don’t show mercy.”

— Fonda Lee

39. “Hilo draped his arms over Shae’s shoulders and hugged her, then spoke into her ear. “I could still kill him for you.” “Screw you, Hilo,” she snapped. “I can kill my ex-boyfriends myself.”

— Fonda Lee

40. “Out of small resentments, spring great wars.”

— Fonda Lee

41. “When is life ever like a story where the characters get exactly what they deserve, good or bad?”

— Fonda Lee

42. “Refusing to wear jade, you’re like a goose that won’t go near water.”

— Fonda Lee

43. “When you love a person, you are expected to give them their freedom, but when you love a monster, you keep it caged.”

— Fonda Lee

44. “Nothing good’s coming, when the dogs start disappearing from the streets.”

— Fonda Lee

45. “The Son family and other Lantern Man petitioners had wanted Hilo to send his men to intimidate the union bosses and break up their gatherings, rough folks up if needed, force them back to work. Hilo had snorted. “What do they think we are? Hired thugs?”

— Fonda Lee

46. “The grimace on Hilo’s face was terrible. “How could you say I made you into a weapon? Like I didn’t love you and treat you like my little brother, like you were nothing to me but a tool? How could you say that?”

— Fonda Lee

47. “I will practice compassion: giving gratitude for my beloved, suffering when they suffer, for now we are joined in all things.”

— Fonda Lee

48. “Sometimes, Andy, the people you think you can count on, they let you down in a bad way, and that’s hard to take. But for the most part, you give a man something to live up to, you tell him he can be more than he is now, more than other people think he’ll ever be, and he’ll try his godsdamned best to make it true.”

— Fonda Lee

49. “You can make a rational, well-informed choice, and still be unprepared for what it means.”

— Fonda Lee

50. “Jade warriors are young, and then they are ancient.”

— Fonda Lee