Top 140 Rachel Gillig Quotes (2026 Update)
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101. “This isn’t a particularly unique tale of woe. Perhaps you, too, have experienced something good and, in its aftermath, in a moment of sickness or tiredness or humanness, thought, Well, that’s it – my skill is spent. All that’s left to do now is fail. I am but a frayed piece of thread. Spilled ink. A sad little butterfly crushed upon a wheel.”

— Rachel Gillig

102. “The two were together, so the two were the same: “The girl, the King, and the monster they became.”

— Rachel Gillig

103. “I know no one’s going to ask me what I want, the Nightmare said, snide to his bones, but just in case you were wondering, the answer is no. No, I am decidedly NOT agreeable.”

— Rachel Gillig

104. “My body had always been strong – and ever just enough. But whatever my soul was made of was frail. Like birch bark, like gossamer, like the wings of a moth.”

— Rachel Gillig

105. “Swords and armor are nothing to stone.”

— Rachel Gillig

106. “Are you still pretending?” I said, reveling in his gaze. Ravyn gave a surprised laugh and, in front of everyone, leaned in and kissed me. “I never was,” he whispered into my lips.”

— Rachel Gillig

107. “My armor may dent, my sword may break, but I will never diminish.”

— Rachel Gillig

108. “Call me Elspeth,” I said. “We’re about to commit treason together, after all.”

— Rachel Gillig

109. “Elm. The Nightmare slowed his pace. When he looked back at Elm, his voice drifted in the air, oil and honey and poison. “Neither Rowan nor Yew, but somewhere between. A pale tree in winter, neither red, gold, nor green. Black hides the bloodstain, forever his mark. Alone in the castle, Prince of the dark.”

— Rachel Gillig

110. “It is easier, swearing ourselves to someone else’s cause than to sit with who we are without one.”

— Rachel Gillig

111. “I know what I know. My secrets are deep. But long have I kept them. And long will they keep.”

— Rachel Gillig

112. “I think about how easy it would be to do horrible things if I felt I had a good reason.”

— Rachel Gillig

113. “I don’t.” Rory’s voice was gravel. “I was wondering what it would be like. Watching you unravel.”

— Rachel Gillig

114. “I’ve wanted to know you since I saw you all those years ago, riding in the wood, mud on your ankles.”

— Rachel Gillig

115. “No honor among thieves, and even less among gods.”

— Rachel Gillig

116. “Pith, you think there’s something wrong with me – ” “I don’t.” Rory’s voice was gravel. “I was wondering what it would be like. Watching you unravel.”

— Rachel Gillig

117. “Where are we going?” the gargoyle asked again. He looked back at me. “We can’t go without Bartholomew.” I turned away, tears falling down my face. “Wait – wait.” The gargoyle began to sob, more pieces of stone falling from his body. “I’m her squire. We cannot be apart.” He had to be hauled away by Maude, who was already doing the same to Rory. I heard his wailing sobs on the other side of the wall. “Bartholomew!”

— Rachel Gillig

118. “You want to throw me down. And I, prideful, disdainful, godless, want to drag you into the dirt with me.”

— Rachel Gillig

119. “I was the darkness and the darkness was me, and together we rolled with the tide, lulled toward a shore I could neither see nor hear. All was water – all was salt.”

— Rachel Gillig

120. “He was muttering to himself again. “Tell me at least you have something for your feet.” “Like what?” “Like what – like shoes, you twit. Boots. Slippers. Clogs fashioned by your stupid chisel. Anything.”

— Rachel Gillig

121. “It’s going to hurt,” she said, “when the Maiden lets me go. When all the feelings I haven’t felt come rushing in. Are you sure you want to see that?” The moment held Elm in place. Even his breath had gone shallow. Ione dipped her hand into her bodice. When she pulled it back, the Maiden was between her fingers. “Do you?” He managed only one word. “Please.” Never breaking their gaze, Ione held a finger up to her Maiden Card. With three taps, she released herself from its magic.”

— Rachel Gillig

122. “I cannot decide which I like best. The sunrise, or the sunset. They are like life, and her quiet companion, death.”

— Rachel Gillig

123. “It is not like me to be the bearer of bad tidings,” the gargoyle said. “Bartholomew does not know how to swim. But worry not – ” He looked up at me. Smiled proudly. “She has always excelled at drowning.”

— Rachel Gillig

124. “Would that things were different.”

— Rachel Gillig

125. “Reached for his cheek – dragged the corner of his mouth up with my thumb until he wore an absurd half smile. “That’s better. Still foul and unknightly, though.” “Just the way you like me.” Rory nipped the pad of my thumb.”

— Rachel Gillig

126. “When you do the right thing for the wrong reason, no one praises you. When you do the wrong thing for the right reason, everyone does, even though what is right and wrong depends entirely on the story you’re living in. And no one says they need recognition or praise or love, but we all hunger for it. We all want to be special.”

— Rachel Gillig

127. “There you are.” He wrapped me in his arms, holding me against his armored chest like a father would a child. “One day, you will be nothing more than memory, Elspeth Spindle. But not yet.” His yellow eyes rose to the blackened sky. “Don’t leave me alone with these fools.”

— Rachel Gillig

128. “It’s the nice ones you should look out for,” Ravyn said. I glanced up at him. “What about you, Captain? Are you too nice for your own good?” He watched me, something I could not read flashing in his gray eyes. “No, Miss Spindle,” he said. “I’m not nice at all.”

— Rachel Gillig

129. “You know what I think?” he murmured. “I think you like that I’m a bad knight. It’s why you feel so righteous, flaying me with your tongue – why you enjoy throwing me down and grinding your heel into my pride. It does something to you.” He wet his bottom lip. “I’d bet my oath your whole body is awake right now, aching and eager at the thought of putting me in my place.”

— Rachel Gillig

130. “My magic moves, he said. My magic bites. My magic soothes. My magic frights. You are young and not so bold. I am unflinching – five hundred years old.”

— Rachel Gillig

131. “To the child in each of us, yearning to be special. Take my hand, you strange little creature, and together we shall walk beyond the wall.”

— Rachel Gillig

132. “Weariness was king, and I his servant.”

— Rachel Gillig

133. “The Nightmare kept going, pulling in rasping breaths. “Elspeth says if you do not get up, she’ll never kiss you again.” “That’s – not – what she – said.”

— Rachel Gillig

134. “If you treat her like she’s fragile,” Benji said pointedly, “she’ll start to think that of herself. Let her remain as she is, strong and fearsome –.”

— Rachel Gillig

135. “Nothing is free. Nothing is safe. Magic is love, but also, it’s hate. It comes at a cost. You’re found, and you’re lost. Magic is love, but also, it’s hate.”

— Rachel Gillig

136. “For even dead, I will not die. I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream. The nightmare in the night.”

— Rachel Gillig

137. “Anger is a fine weapon, Diviner,” she said, quiet enough so the others wouldn’t hear. “So long as you don’t point it at yourself. Now have some soup.”

— Rachel Gillig

138. “Says the girl who talks to the monster in her head. Not exactly Princess material, are we, my dear?”

— Rachel Gillig

139. “You know this story, Bartholomew, though you do not remember it. I’ll tell it to you as best I can and promise to be honest in my talebearing. If I’m not, that’s hardly my fault. To tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn’t it?”

— Rachel Gillig

140. “You want to throw me down,” Rory said, eyelids dropping as he whispered into my parted lips. “And I, prideful, disdainful, godless, want to drag you into the dirt with me.”

— Rachel Gillig

141. “That was part of their appeal. Gods that couldn’t be seen, even in dreams, were effective. You never knew when they were watching.”

— Rachel Gillig

142. “Because you’ve never been turned by a beautiful woman, have you, Captain?”

— Rachel Gillig

143. “To tell a story is in some part to tell a lie, isn’t it?”

— Rachel Gillig

144. “But poetry is as judicious as violence.”

— Rachel Gillig

145. “It’s not true, you know,” he said. “You don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you.”

— Rachel Gillig

146. “But it felt incomplete, my collection yet whole. And so, for the Nightmare, I bartered my soul.”

— Rachel Gillig