Viola Quotes

“His noise is getting quieter, but I can still see it there still-
See how he feels the skin of my hand against his, see how he wants to take it and press it against his mouth, how he wants to breathe in the smell of me and how beautiful I look to him, how strong after all that illness, and how he wants to just lightly touch my neck, just there, and how he wants to take me in his arms and-
"Oh, God," he says, looking away suddenly. "Viola, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
But I just put my hand to the back of his neck-
And he says, "Viola-?"
And I pull myself towards him-
And I kiss him.
And it feels like, finally.”
― Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men

“Often the right path is the one that may be hardest for you to follow. But the hard path is also the one that will make you grow as a human being.”
― Karen Mueller Coombs, Bully at Ambush Corner

“And she says, “Then let’s just take the effing road and get ourselves to Haven.”
I smile, a little. “You said effing,” I say. “You actually said the word effing.”
― Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go

“And it feels like, finally.”
― Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men

“He looks up and the loss in his Noise is so great it feels like I'm standing on the edge of an abyss, that I'm about to fall down into him, into blackness so empty and lonely there'd never be a way out.
"Todd," I say again, a catch in my voice. "On the ledge, under the waterfall, do you remember what you said to me? Do you remember what you said to save me?"
He's shaking his head slowly. "I've done terrible things, Viola. Terrible things-"
"We all fall, you said." I'm gripping his hand now. "We all fall but that's not what matters. What matters is picking yourself up again.”
― Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

“But what he's forgetting," she says. "What he's forgotting is that me and Todd, we ran halfway across this planet together, by ourselves. We beat his craziest preacher. We outran an entire army and survived being shot and beaten and chased and we bloody well stayed alive this whole time without being blown up or tortured to death or dying in battle or anything."
She takes her hand of Lee so she's balancing just against me.
"Me and Todd? Together against the Mayor?" She smiles. "He doesn't stand a chance.”
― Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

“He's a woman.
He's a grown woman
He's a old woman.”
― Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go

“This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.”
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

“You went up a girl and came down a woman.”
― Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men

“Or perhaps we should just ask Todd."
I pound the glass right at his face. He doesn't even flinch.
And then she says, "Todd would never tell you. Never."
And the Mayor just looks at me.
And he smiles

My stomach sinks, my heart drops, my head feels so light I feel like I'm going to drop right to the ground.
Oh, Viola-
Viola, please-
Forgive me.
"Captain Hammar," the Mayor says and Viola's plunged into the water again, unable to not scream out in fright as down she goes.
"NO!" I shout, pressing myself against the mirror.
But the Mayor ain't even looking at her.
He's looking right at me, as if he could see me even if I was behind a brick wall.
"STOP IT!" I shout as she's thrashing again-
And more-
And more-
"VIOLA!"
And I'm pounding even tho my hands are breaking-
And Mr. Hammar is grinning and holding her there-
"VIOLA!"
And her wrist are starting to bleed from where she's pulling-
"I'LL KILL YOU!"-
I'm shouting into the Mayor's face-
With all my Noise-
"I'LL KILL YOU!"-
And still holding her there-
"VIOLA! VIOLA!"-
But it's Davy-
Of all people-
It's Davy who stops it.”
― Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

“I’m proud of you, son,” he said. “I guess it has finally sunk in that it’s important to stand up for yourself in this world.”
Rocky shook his head. “It’s more important to stand up for someone who can’t stand up for herself,” he had answered.
Rocky Ryan speaking with his father.”
― Karen Mueller Coombs, Bully at Ambush Corner

“HELP!”
I race to the square, crossing it, looking all around, listening out-
No.
No.
It’s empty.
Viola’s breathing heavy in my arms .
And Haven is empty.
I reach the middle of the square.
I don’t see nor hear a soul.
I spin around again.
“HELP!” I cry.
But there’s no one.
Haven’s completely empty.
There ain’t hope here after all.”
― Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go

“I think we’re always looking for new pieces,” Viola says quietly.

What?

She continues, “I was looking for Lawrence, then for something to replace Lawrence, then for Aaron… maybe that’s the real truth about being broken. We’re always whole, we’re just looking to add on to ourselves, to be more whole. And then when a piece leaves, it’s broken away. But we aren’t left any less whole than we were to begin with…”

“But feeling broken—” I begin, the words tight in my throat. I’m grateful that Viola cuts me off.

“Is horrible. Painful,” she finishes. “But then, when you aren’t expecting it, new pieces appear and suddenly…they’re attached.” Her eyes rise to meet mine. “And you end up more whole than you were before.”
― Jackson Pearce, As You Wish

“Who told you that?" I say. "Davy Prentiss?"
He blinks. "What?"
"What do you mean what?" My voice is harder now. "Your new best friend. The man who shot me, Todd, and who you ride to work with laughing every morning."
He clenches his hands into fists.
"You've been spying on me?" he says. "Three months I don't see you, three months I don't hear nothing from you and you been spying? Is that what yer doing in your spare time when yer not blowing people up?"
"Yeah," I yell, my voice getting louder to match his. "Three months of defending you to people who'd only be too happy to call you enemy, Todd. Three months of wondering why the hell you're working so hard for the Mayor and how he knew to go right for the ocean the day after we spoke." He winces, but I keep going, thrusting out my arm and pulling up on the sleeve. "Three months wondering why you put these on women!"
His face changes in an instant. He actually calls out as if he felt the pain himself. He puts a hand to his mouth to stifle it but his Noise is suddenly washed with blackness. He moves his fingertips of his other hand within reach of the band, hovering over my skin, over the band that'll never be removed unless I lose my arm. The skin is still red, and band 1391 still trobs, despite the healing of three mistresses.
"Oh, no," he says. "Oh, no."
The side door opens and the man who let me in leans out. "Everything all right out there, Lieutenant?"
"Lieutenant?" I say.
"We're fine," Todd chokes a little. "We're fine."
The man waits for a second, then goes back inside.
"Lieutenant?" I say again, lowering my voice.
Todd's leant down, his hands on his knees, staring at the floor. "It wasn't me, was it?" he says, his voice quiet, too. "I didn't-" He gestures again at the band without looking up. "I didn't do it without knowing it was you, did I?”
― Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

“My mother says we’re supposed to make mistakes. That’s the way we learn.” Rocky Ryan in Bully At Ambush Corner.”
― Karen Mueller Coombs

“Life is a chain of choices. Making the correct one is never easy.”
“That’s for sure,” agreed Rocky.
“But if we didn’t make difficult choices, right or wrong,” said Mr. Veraldi, “we wouldn’t learn anything worth knowing." Rocky Ryan and his viola teacher, Mr. Veraldi, in Bully at Ambush Corner.”
― Karen Mueller Coombs, Bully at Ambush Corner

“And I look right into his eyes, right into him as far as I can see, because I want him to hear me, I want him to hear me with everything I mean and feel and say.”
― Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

“You said war should never be personal, but that’s all it’s ever been for me.”
― Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men

“…when you talk about Mike, you look like a woman who’s talkin’ about a guy she likes. You talk about Cal, you look like a woman who’s talkin’ about the man she needs to breathe.”
― Kristen Ashley

“Quinn lifted Lady Meade's hand and pressed a very correct kiss on her bony knuckles. Then he bent and brushed his lips over Viola's cheek.

Smart man. If he'd put her hand anywhere near his mouth, she'd have curled her fingers into a fist and clouted him a good one.

"I'll see you at home later, dearest."

"You know how we women are when we're shopping," She smiled venomously at him. "Don't wait up."

Quinn lifted a brow at that, but kept a smile firmly in place for her mother's sake. "Yes, well, try not to spend all my money in one place."

"Of course not," she said sweetly. "I know lots of places to spend all your money.”
― Mia Marlowe, Touch of a Thief

“Red wine is different from white. Removing the grape skin does all the difference.”
― Viola Soul Calibur

“I didn't tell her that death lies dormant in each of us and will bloom in time.”
― Dean Koontz

“Violists hate it when we violinists crack viola jokes.”
― Paula Yoo

“Essere diversi. Essere originale. Nessuno si ricorderà di una specifica fiore in giardino caricati con migliaia di lo stesso fiore giallo, ma si ricorderanno quello che è riuscito a cambiare il suo colore viola.

Essere diversi e di pensare in modo diverso rende una persona indimenticabile. La storia non ricorda il dimenticabile. Si onora la unica minoranza la maggioranza non può dimenticare.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Wir sind ahlt so aufgewachsen. Mobiltelefone und das Internet kamen vor meiner Geburt in die Welt. Eure Generation hat diese Welt für uns gebastelt. Wir waren das nicht. Also regt euch nicht darüber auf.”
― Marc Elsberg, ZERO

“The viola and the clarinet made for an interesting pairing: we had to imagine the accompaniment of other instruments, ideally a violin and a cello.”
― Nicholas Christopher, The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen

“My father's viola.
It is a forest. It is a living tree. It is the heartwood of our family. My father's viola is over to hundred years old, even older than Germany. It is the color of well-done pastry, shining like apricot glaze.”
― Vesper Stamper, What the Night Sings

“I held you gently and closely like a violin.”
― Sagar Ramdeo