{"author":"Celia McMahon","author_id":"Celia+McMahon","total_quotes":38,"quotes":[{"text":"I lost my family,” he says softly. The tone of his voice justifies my earlier regret. “If you have nothing to love, you have nothing to lose. Even your own life becomes meaningless.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["family","life","losing","losing-family","lost","love","meaningless"],"id":16926,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"You have such faith,” he tells me. “Let it be bigger than your fears.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["bigger","faith","fears"],"id":24714,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"When I am brave enough to say goodbyeI'll use the wings you gave meand away I'll fly.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["brave","fly","goodbye","wings"],"id":42001,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"Why would they lie to us?”“Because deep down, we're all afraid of having peace. Because deep down we know we're all poisoned. We're more afraid of ourselves than we are of others. In that thinking, we deny ourselves the very power that we could have. In that thinking, we put liars on pedestals. Then, when the time is right they proclaim their lies as truth and revel in it as if they did something truly righteous and people will fall to their knees because we never learn if our mistakes are never admitted and cataloged. What better way to destroy a person than to make them realize that everything they ever believed was wrong?","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["books","lies","power","truth"],"id":69131,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"I think, actually I know that it's overwhelmingly possible for men to conduct such atrocities as to kill a man in cold blood, to burn towns and to parade with the the dead on the tips of their swords. People who think they are doing something for the good of all are the most dangerous and stirs their intent deeper. There might have been a time when I thought differently and I would have answered with a quick no but that time had long passed. Do I think it's in human nature to be violent and to succumb to it? Sure I do. It's to justify it, that I think is inhuman.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["evil","human-nature","inhuman","power"],"id":106647,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"I trust you. Those are the last words my father said before he left. That means that every decision I make, I would have to question myself whether it was the right one. I can picture him, expectations in his eyes. Because of that, I can see the same look in others. He could not have damned me more.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["damned","expectations","look","question"],"id":130096,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"I have my own. I don't believe in religion, just as you mentioned. I think it does more harm than good. Believers see it as the one truth, non believers see it as trash and king's use it for power. Not one of them is right.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["belief","believe","truth"],"id":136063,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"Grin is still beside me. His arms are hung tightly as his side and I take his hand. It is like touching stone and he turns stiffly toward me as we begin making our way back to where Rosso had camped the horses. We are both quiet but I know we were both thinking the same thing. That we wish we were out there and that we wish this wasn't happening at the same time. I suddenly feel the need to apologize to him too. It is because of me that his father and brothers are in this situation but that was their choice. When he looks at me, I can see forgiveness in his eyes. Neither of us have to speak to understand and neither of us look back at the people we leave behind.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["forgiveness","grin","leave-behind","speak"],"id":136925,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"Oda once said that when you speak excessively, it isn't necessarily communicating,” Jimmi says as he hunches over, resting his elbows on his knees. He yawns and doesn't cover his mouth.“What does that mean?”“It means that you can shut your mouth and still say what you need to say using the other gifts the gods gave us.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["gifts","gods","say","speaking","talking"],"id":149710,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"},{"text":"I believe that we should all be free to believe what we want and not be condemned for it,” I say without a thought. “I believe in a higher power and that it works within us. Whatever the name doesn't matter, it's the thought behind it that matters. It's the way we live our lives that matter and as long as I believe that there is someone in the sky there to protect us, no one here will ever break me.","author":"Celia McMahon","tags":["believe","faith","gods","sky"],"id":151526,"author_id":"Celia+McMahon"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":38,"pages":4,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}