Top 40 Justina Ireland Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “It’s a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part.”

— Justina Ireland

2. “I don’t need a spotlight to know a snitch when I see one.”

— Justina Ireland

3. “I ain’t waiting for an opportunity. I’m making one.”

— Justina Ireland

4. “The Force is not so simple, and neither are the emotions of living creatures. Most Jedi have felt the temptation of the dark side. It is only natural. But we resist it. It is a deliberate path to the dark, not a series of bad days. Being a Jedi is about choosing the light over and over again.”

— Justina Ireland

5. “Being a Jedi is about choosing the light over and over again.”

— Justina Ireland

6. “My momma always said the best way to get what you want from people is to give them what they think they want. They expected me to be stupid, so I used that to our advantage.”

— Justina Ireland

7. “Everyone knows that academics are the most ruthless cutthroats around.”

— Justina Ireland

8. “Your grandma used to always tell me that just because something is over doesn’t mean it wasn’t successful. All things end at some point.”

— Justina Ireland

9. “But I can’t change the past; I can only push headlong into an uncertain future.”

— Justina Ireland

10. “The only goal of this world is to stay in it as long as possible. And no one gets to judge how a body does that, especially when the alternative is being eaten.”

— Justina Ireland

11. “But that’s the way life goes most of the time: the thing you least count on comes along and ruins everything else you got planned. I figure it’s much better to just be all-around prepared, since the best defense is a good offense.”

— Justina Ireland

12. “You cannot judge yourself by others, Imri. You can only judge yourself by your own efforts.”

— Justina Ireland

13. “If you judge someone by your expectations instead of their actions, you will always be disappointed.”

— Justina Ireland

14. “But that’s the way life goes most of the time: the thing you least count on comes along and ruins everything else you got planned.”

— Justina Ireland

15. “I learned that I can be ruthless when I need to, and I can be merciful when I’m able.”

— Justina Ireland

16. “His lips twist, filled with malice. “I ain’t yet seen the man who can do that.” “Maybe that’s your problem. You been waiting for a man.”

— Justina Ireland

17. “Jane, I’ve never thought of it that way, that beauty could be a weapon.”

— Justina Ireland

18. “That last bit is a lie, but the easiest lie to tell is the one people want to believe. Even though a man is being devoured onstage, they’re still more worried about their own hides. They begin to file out quickly but much more calmly, the professor all but forgotten. It’s a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part.”

— Justina Ireland

19. “See, the problem in this world ain’t sinners, or even the dead. It is men who will step on anyone who stands in the way of their pursuit of power.”

— Justina Ireland

20. “When are these damn fools going to realize that world is gone, and they ain’t never getting it back? The tall tales they’ve been told ain’t worth their lives, either way.”

— Justina Ireland

21. “Someday, if not today, you will see that this life is nothing without people to love.”

— Justina Ireland

22. “So don’t let nobody tell you any different about the old days. Life is hard now, nothing but suffering, but some kinds of suffering is easier to bear than others.”

— Justina Ireland

23. “That’s the thing with me. Once I read something, I know it forever. Whether I’m supposed to be reading it or not.”

— Justina Ireland

24. “Maybe that’s your problem. You been waiting for a man.”

— Justina Ireland

25. “Sometimes it’s easier to think about other folks’ small hurts than your big ones.”

— Justina Ireland

26. “Why are all pretty boys insane?”

— Justina Ireland

27. “I smile tightly, but say nothing. He is trying to protect me, in the simple way men are always trying to protect women: by stealing away their freedom.”

— Justina Ireland

28. “Surviving can make people right mean.”

— Justina Ireland

29. “You believe strongly enough in an idea, nothing else matters.”

— Justina Ireland

30. “It seems strange that in these very fraught times folks would be more concerned about hardworking people trying to find a better life than the monsters that actually want to eat them.”

— Justina Ireland

31. “The day I came squealing and squalling into the world was the first time someone tried to kill me. I guess it should have been obvious to everyone right then that I wasn’t going to have a normal life.”

— Justina Ireland

32. “The fact Katherine is on my side is as much a surprise as her cool logic.”

— Justina Ireland

33. “It’s overkill, but ain’t no sense in doing something if you ain’t going to go for broke.”

— Justina Ireland

34. “The point is, sometimes when the rabbit gets too fat, too comfortable, he makes mistakes. But the gardener, she ain’t got nothing but time. Because even the hungriest rabbit can’t eat the entire garden. At some point the good sheriff will make a mistake, some gross miscalculation, reveal some weakness, and that’s when we’ll find our freedom.”

— Justina Ireland

35. “Momma always said a healthy serving of scorn before dinner keeps a girl slim.”

— Justina Ireland

36. “The colored folks ain’t all that different from the white working-class folks, since Tuesday is payday for the cowpokes as well and they’re all up in the saloon spending what little they got.”

— Justina Ireland

37. “I know I am more than my skin color.”

— Justina Ireland

38. “I’m going to kill her, and Miss Preston and the mayor. All of them. I’m going to gut them like fish and use them as shambler bait, then I’m going to burn both the school and the mayor’s house to the ground and dance upon the ashes.” “That’s good, Jane, that’s good. It’s good to have goals,” Katherine says, her voice trembling.”

— Justina Ireland

39. “Pray tell me, sir, how does one make another person illegal? That does not sound very Christian.”

— Justina Ireland

40. “We ain’t supposed to carry firearms when traveling into town but I’m always ready for someone to try and take a bite outta me, especially at the university. Everyone knows that academics are the most ruthless cutthroats around.”

— Justina Ireland