Top 500 Leigh Bardugo Quotes (2026 Update)
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401. “Finally, they stood. Inej had predicted that the Menagerie would arrive late – but they still needed to be in position and ready to move when the time came. And yet, they hesitated. The knowledge that they might never see each other again, that some of them – maybe all of them – might not survive this night hung heavy in the air. A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who had become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.”

— Leigh Bardugo

402. “Gentleman scholar’ seems like a good description for you.” “A true gentleman doesn’t boast of the title, and a true scholar has better uses for his time than downing flaming Dr Pepper shots.”

— Leigh Bardugo

403. “That night, Kaz took Saskia’s red ribbon from beneath his pillow. He rolled it into a neat spiral and clutched it in his palm. He lay in bed and tried to pray, but all he could think about was the magician’s coin: there and then gone.”

— Leigh Bardugo

404. “There’s no such thing as too much champagne. Though your head will try to tell you otherwise tomorrow.”

— Leigh Bardugo

405. “Don’t wish for bricks when you can build from stone. Use whatever or whoever is in front of you.”

— Leigh Bardugo

406. “I just don’t get it. I’ve spent my whole life hiding the things I can’t do. Why run from the amazing things you can do?”

— Leigh Bardugo

407. “Thanks for being my best friend and making my life bearable. Oh, and sorry I fell in love with you for a while there. Make sure to write!”

— Leigh Bardugo

408. “Greed may do your bidding, but death serves no man.”

— Leigh Bardugo

409. “If you two keep fighting, you’re going to get us all killed, and I have a lot more card games I need to lose.”

— Leigh Bardugo

410. “Kaz flexed his fingers in his gloves. How did you survive the Barrel? When they took everything from you, you found a way to make something from nothing.”

— Leigh Bardugo

411. “He’d walked into this place buoyed on bravado, a survivor, a champion of the Barrel. He’d leave as another victim of Kaz Brekker.”

— Leigh Bardugo

412. “The problem with wanting,” he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, “is that it makes us weak.” And then, at last, when I thought I couldn’t bear it any longer, he brought his mouth down on mine.”

— Leigh Bardugo

413. “To hell with revenge, to hell with his schemes. If Rollins had done something to Inej, Kaz would paint East Stave with his entrails.”

— Leigh Bardugo

414. “They are orphans again, with no true home but each other and whatever life they can make together on the other side of the sea.”

— Leigh Bardugo

415. “That’s the laugh,” he murmured, but she was already setting off down the quay, her feet barely touching the ground.”

— Leigh Bardugo

416. “I hate hiding how much the stupid things he did hurt me, but I hated the idea of him finding out even more.”

— Leigh Bardugo

417. “Dirtyhands had come to see the rough work done.”

— Leigh Bardugo

418. “Feeling anything for Kaz Brekker was the worst follishness.”

— Leigh Bardugo

419. “Hmm,” she said noncommittally, pretending to examine one of her knives, determined to ignore that grin. Kaz was not a giddy boy smiling and making future plans with her. He was a dangerous player who was always working an angle. Always, she reminded herself firmly. Inej kept her eyes averted, shuffling a stack of papers into a pile on the desk as Kaz stripped out of his vest and shirt. She wasn’t sure if she was flattered or insulted that he didn’t seem to give a second thought to her presence.”

— Leigh Bardugo

420. “We’ll tell each other lies as married couples do. It will be a good game. Go on, wife. Tell me I’m a handsome fellow who will never age and who will die with all of his own teeth in his head. Make me believe it.”

— Leigh Bardugo

421. “He’d broken his leg dropping down from the rooftop. The bone didn’t set right, and he’d limped ever after. So he’d found himself a Fabrikator and had his cane made. It became a declaration. There was no part of him that was no broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken.”

— Leigh Bardugo

422. “Matthias and Wylan seized the rope to pull him up. Jesper wasn’t sure how much Wylan was actually helping, but he was certainly working hard.”

— Leigh Bardugo

423. “Knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do.”

— Leigh Bardugo

424. “One could plot violent espionage and still hope for dessert.”

— Leigh Bardugo

425. “Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too.”

— Leigh Bardugo

426. “I’d prefer a pair of sable-lined swimming trunks. But we can’t always get what we want.”

— Leigh Bardugo

427. “Go on, Van Eck, threaten me. Tell me all the little things I am. You lay a finger on me and Kaz Brekker will cut the baby from your pretty wife’s stomach and hang its body from a balcony at the Exchange.”

— Leigh Bardugo

428. “Al fin y al cabo, a lo mejor el amor simplemente significaba anhelar algo imposiblemente brillante y eternamente fuera de nuestro alcance.- Alina.”

— Leigh Bardugo

429. “Remember, there is no expiration date on your talent. I did not publish my first book until I was 35 years old. If you have a story to tell, it doesn’t matter when you tell it. Just get it onto the page and let go of the idea that somehow it’s less worthwhile because it took you a little longer to get there than it took others.”

— Leigh Bardugo

430. “Nina heaped a plate with food and plunked down beside Matthias on the couch. She folded one of the waffles in half and took a huge bite, wiggling her toes in bliss. “I’m sorry, Matthias,” she said with her mouth full. “I’ve decided to run off with Jesper’s father. He keeps me in the deliciousness to which I have become accustomed.”

— Leigh Bardugo

431. “Oh, it’s worse than that, Van Eck. If I fail, I don’t get paid.”

— Leigh Bardugo

432. “The boom, the bang, the flint and fuss.”

— Leigh Bardugo

433. “In the space of a breath, Kaz had shoved Wylan against the tomb wall with his forearm, the crow head of his cane wedged beneath Wylan’s jaw. “Tell me my business again.” Wylan swallowed, parted his lips. “Do it,” said Kaz. “And I’ll cut the tongue from your head and feed it to the first stray cat I can find.”

— Leigh Bardugo

434. “It’s okay to flout expectations, but never disappoint them.”

— Leigh Bardugo

435. “The boy they called Dirtyhands didn’t need a reason any more than he needed permission – to break a leg, sever an alliance, or change a man’s fortunes with the turn of a card.”

— Leigh Bardugo

436. “I love it when you quote me.”

— Leigh Bardugo

437. “Wylan blushed deeper, and Jesper shook his head. “Play piano, too?” “Flute,” said Wylan defensively. “Perfect.”

— Leigh Bardugo

438. “No,” Maeve had said in her lilting voice. “I miss a good cup of tea, dancing, boys – definitely not rain.” “We dance,” Diana protested. Maeve had just laughed. “You dance differently when you know you won’t live forever.” Then she’d stretched, freckles like dense clouds of pollen on her white skin.”

— Leigh Bardugo

439. “Jesper swung first. Kaz dodged right and then they were grappling. They slammed into the wall, knocked heads, drew apart in a flurry of punches and grabs. Wylan turned to Inej, expecting her to object, for Matthias to separate them, for someone to do something, but the others just backed up, making room. Only Kuwei showed any kind of distress.”

— Leigh Bardugo

440. “The ache of his absence felt like a hook lodged inside her heart. The hurt was always there, but in moments like these, it was as if someone had seized hold of the line and pulled.”

— Leigh Bardugo

441. “As Nina emerged from her thoughts, she realized that she and Matthias were attracting some very unfriendly glances. No doubt there was quite a bit of prejudice against Fjerdans among Ravkans, but this was something different. Then she glanced up at Matthias and sighed. His expression was troubled, and when he looked troubled, he looked terrifying. The fact that he was built like the tank they’d driven out of the Ice Court didn’t help either.”

— Leigh Bardugo

442. “I’ll do all of it. But not tonight. Tonight let’s pretend we’re an old married couple.”

— Leigh Bardugo

443. “Cautious was helpful; paranoid was just another word for distracted.”

— Leigh Bardugo

444. “They did not look to each other for comfort. They kept each other marching.”

— Leigh Bardugo

445. “Zoya picked up a kefta hanging over the back of my chair. It was gold brocade, the sleeves and hem embroidered lavishly in blue, the cuffs marked with jeweled sunbursts. “Sable,” she said to me, stroking the lining. “I have never loathed you more.”

— Leigh Bardugo

446. “Do not bend,” Nina snapped. “Do not leap. Do not move abruptly. If you don’t promise to take it easy, I’ll slow your heart and keep you in a coma until I can be sure you’ve recovered fully.” “Nina Zenik, as soon as I figure out where you’ve put my knives, we’re going to have words.”

— Leigh Bardugo

447. “When evening fell the boy would bring the girl a glass of tea, a slice of lemon cake, an apple blossom floating in a blue cup. He would kiss her neck and whisper new names in her ear: beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart.”

— Leigh Bardugo

448. “I need your skills, Inej. That’s not the same thing. You may be the best spider crawling around the Barrel, but you’re not the only one.”

— Leigh Bardugo

449. “We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns.”

— Leigh Bardugo

450. “I think the first trick to writing a feminist work is to write plenty of women. That way you get to write characters, instead of worrying about paradigms.”

— Leigh Bardugo