Top 140 Rachel Gillig Quotes (2026 Update)

1. “I’m just the wind in the trees, the shadow, and the fright. The echo in the leaves... the nightmare in the night.”

— Rachel Gillig

2. “Be safe,” I whispered to the wind as Ravyn Yew disappeared beyond the gate. Had I known they’d be the last words I’d say to him aloud, I might have chosen them differently.”

— Rachel Gillig

3. “Be wary. Be clever. Be good.”

— Rachel Gillig

4. “He came for the girl... And got the monster instead.”

— Rachel Gillig

5. “I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream.” Her yellow eyes flickered to Ravyn. “The nightmare in the night.”

— Rachel Gillig

6. “I gritted my teeth. When I spoke, my voice was not gentle. “That Hauth Rowan does not exist, Ione. You’ve made him up in your mind.”

— Rachel Gillig

7. “I know as well as you that magic is the oldest paradox. The more power it gives you, the weaker you become.”

— Rachel Gillig

8. “Above rowan and yew, the elm tree stands tall. It waits along borders, a sentry at call.”

— Rachel Gillig

9. “It is not they who bring the reckoning, Ravyn. It is you. It is us.”

— Rachel Gillig

10. “And with every kiss, every flick of his tongue, Ravyn was... pushing me toward an inevitable, ruinous fall. He did not let me fall right away. By his sighs, the muffled, contented growls, he was taking his time with me. Laying waste to me.”

— Rachel Gillig

11. “Magic always comes at a cost.”

— Rachel Gillig

12. “My laughter was hollow. “Better distrustful than delusional.”

— Rachel Gillig

13. “Except, in this fairy tale, the maiden has blood on her hands.”

— Rachel Gillig

14. “His wingspan is broad and his beak is quite sharp.”

— Rachel Gillig

15. “My thoughts festered until my mind turned septic.”

— Rachel Gillig

16. “Which is more intricate?” he mused. “The designs of men, trying to reach gods, or that of gods, trying to reach men?” My hammer collided with a chunk of granite. “What is either to the intricacies of women, who reach both?”

— Rachel Gillig

17. “I’ll do anything you ask of me.”

— Rachel Gillig

18. “There is no weakness in pain.”

— Rachel Gillig

19. “The gargoyle remained cross-eyed a second, then slowly turned his gaze to me. “Did he just try to smite me, Bartholomew?” Rory’s gaze jerked. “Bartholomew? That’s your name?” “Pith, you’re thick – no. He calls everyone Bartholomew.” “What the hell for?” Rory pivoted back to the gargoyle. “What the hell for?”

— Rachel Gillig

20. “You’re smiling.” Elm looked over the table. “Does no one else find that incredibly unnerving?”

— Rachel Gillig

21. “There was a way to lie and tell the truth at the same time. That’s how the best lies are told – with just a sliver of truth.”

— Rachel Gillig

22. “When the Nightmare turned, his smile was gone. “I, too, have waited.” “To kill the Rowans?” “My aim is vast. There are many truths to unveil in the wood. Circles that began centuries ago will finally loop.” He let out a sigh. “Though I fear, with so many idiots around me, that I must do everything myself.”

— Rachel Gillig

23. “His teeth clicked together in a familiar lullaby rhythm. I find it strangely comforting, even with our minds threaded together, that I must endlessly explain things to you, Elspeth.”

— Rachel Gillig

24. “You don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you.”

— Rachel Gillig

25. “A hundred years,” he said to her, as if she were the only one in the room. “I’ll love you for a hundred years – and an eternity after.”

— Rachel Gillig

26. “Reading is a faith requiring suspension of belief in a shrine of knowledge and imagination.”

— Rachel Gillig

27. “Not everything had to hurt to be holy. Bad, to be good. But damn me if I wanted it to sometimes.”

— Rachel Gillig

28. “He has looked pain in the eye – and refused to let it make a monster of him.”

— Rachel Gillig

29. “It was difficult to look at her. Beneath the ache that existed between them was a thin, fragile thread. One Ione had slipped through the eye of a needle and plunged into Elm’s chest, past all his bricks and barbs, though she didn’t yet realize it. It was uncomfortable, pretending she was not sewn into him.”

— Rachel Gillig

30. “Saying there must be another way does not make it so.”

— Rachel Gillig

31. “He always seemed to open the door to himself the moment I needed somewhere to go.”

— Rachel Gillig

32. “Human life is short. You are not as a tree, stoic and unyielding, but a butterfly. Delicate, fleeting. Inconsequential.”

— Rachel Gillig

33. “Am I all that you imagined?” I said, looking down at her. “Or am I so much more?”

— Rachel Gillig

34. “Rory rolled his eyes. Brought his wax-laden thumb to my mouth. “You don’t like it when I’m a bad knight,” he muttered, “and you don’t like it when I’m a good one.” I reached out. Smudged blood he’d shed sparring from his own bottom lip and wiped it on my dress. “Have you considered that’s because I don’t like you at all?”

— Rachel Gillig

35. “You believed a story, and that story was a lie. The Omens are not divine. They are mortals who are paid like kings to live like gods.”

— Rachel Gillig

36. “I am stronger than my doubts.”

— Rachel Gillig

37. “My darling, you’ve always had a choice.”

— Rachel Gillig

38. “Highwayman, Destrier, and another. One of age, of birthright. Tell me, Ravyn Yew, after your long walk in my wood – do you finally know your name?”

— Rachel Gillig

39. “Don’t worry, Bartholomew,” the gargoyle called. “If you accidentally kill her, I will not be upset.”

— Rachel Gillig

40. “But no matter how often I asked, he would not tell me who he was or how he had come to exist in the Nightmare Card.”

— Rachel Gillig

41. “It sounds awful when I say it out loud.” “True things often do.”

— Rachel Gillig

42. “You’d like me better if you called me Rory.” “I’d like you better if you were on your back again.” He smiled. An unfamiliar heat burrowed into my face. “From throwing you and your inferior strength down, obviously.” “Loud and clear, Diviner. I hear you loud and clear.”

— Rachel Gillig

43. “But first, I want a hundred years with you.”

— Rachel Gillig

44. “It felt better than it should, hearing my father stick up for me. But stronger than the tug at the corner of my lips was a dull, aged pain, knotted deep in my chest, reminding me of the truth, ever present, between us. He hadn’t always stuck up for me.”

— Rachel Gillig

45. “Here we are, my darling girl, he whispered to me. The end of all things. The last page of our story.”

— Rachel Gillig

46. “But the tide always turns, and the truth always outs.”

— Rachel Gillig

47. “Then be angry, Ione.” Elm pressed his mouth to her forehead. “It looks well on you.”

— Rachel Gillig

48. “I am a battlefield of admiration.” He nodded at the horizon. “I cannot decide which I like best. The sunrise, or the sunset. They are like life, and her quiet companion, death.”

— Rachel Gillig

49. “Fear not, Bartholomew! Every day has its dog.”

— Rachel Gillig

50. “Get up, the Nightmare called. Get up, Elspeth.”

— Rachel Gillig