Ali

“And you keep saying you aren't the hero."
"I'm not. You're the hero. I'm just asking a girl to hold my hand.”
― Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace

“How cruel, that sharing someone else's grief did nothing to alleviate it for them. In physics, there were rules and forces, equal and opposite reactions, a balance. But emotions didn’t obey rules, and though sympathy settled over her like a blanket, it did nothing to help him. … Even her hands, which stole power, strength, and life itself. Were powerless to siphon off any of his suffering.”
― Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace

“Cry. Rage. You deserve to. You’re angry, and you should be, but you get to choose whether it will make you bitter or make you better.”
― Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace

“Keep your gods and goddesses on their pedestals if you want, but the rituals, the rules, the isolation? You know that isn’t really from them, right? That’s written by mortals. Men, mostly. We have a bad habit of locking up people who scare us, and the thing that scares men with power most is a woman with more of it.”
― Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace