Quotes by Melina Marchetta

So Im cruising down the road and the object of my thoughts is racing down the street, screaming that her father is a cop. A public servant, very flattering I like a man in uniform He laughed. Do you like pizza? What a ridiculous question. I suppose youre going to ask me if I like pasta next?

Its all rather political, mourning is.

When a woman has not received much flattery in her life, she will be seduced.

Play me something that makes me feel;This soul inside me is made of steel.Brain is breathing, but heart’s not beatingAnd, babe, I need you to make things real.Walk inside me without silence,Kill the past and change the tense.Empty gnawing and the ache is soaring;Take me places that make more sense.

Today this courtyard was filled with great warriors. What is more? But it was not filled with great men who have the heart to rule a kingdom. Any man can kill, Finnikin. It is a stroke, an action with ones hand. But not every man knows how to lead.

Its against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do.

Lucians father had warned him to fear idle men. Without the pride gained from a good days work, they were left to their vices and the doubts that crowded their head. Their hatred. Their envy.

Theres a song that I hear at the back of my heart that I feared for so long, when I sensed you were there. And I think of those times when you crept into my dreams and I thought you a threat to curse my sweet king. But it was the boy in your belly that whispered to mine, and even before that, you lived in my spirit. Because I think of those times when I was a child. I prayed to the gods and I begged for a sign. I know that they sent you, despite the blood of all those you loved shed at the hands of my kin. For you were the one who found him in exile and though it took time, you led Froi to his home. And youve sent me this trinket that hardened my heart, because I wanted your words and a sign of true peace. But I’ve opened it now after all these long weeks, and Froi stares at it, speechless, when I hold out my hand. And we see it before us, our spirits shaking. The brilliance of color: the same ruby ring.Oh, you’ve outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring’s a promise of peace, and I’m greedy with hope. It’s a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though you say it’s a gift from a king to a king, I say it’s a sign from a queen to a queen.

If I had to wish for something, just one thing, it would be that Hannah would never see Tate the way I did. Never see Tates beautiful, lush hair turn brittle, her skin sallow, her teeth ruined by anything she could get her hands on that would make her forget. That Hannah would never count how many men there were, or how vile humans can be to one another. That she would never see the moments in my life that were full of neglect, and fear, and revulsion, moments I can never go back to because I know they will slow me down for the rest of my life if I let myself remember them for one moment. Tate, who had kept Hannah alive that night, reading her the story of Jem Finch and Mrs. Dubose. And suddenly I know I have to go. But this time without being chased by the Brigadier, without experiencing the kindness of a postman from Yass, and without taking along a Cadet who will change the way I breath for the rest of my life.

The string slices into the skin of his fingers and no matter how tough the calluses, it tears. But this beat is fast and even though his joints are aching, his arms out of control like it has a mind of its own and the sweat tat drenches his hair and face seems to smother him, but nothings going to stop Tom. He;s aiming for oblivion.

The depression belongs to all of us. I think of the family down the road whose mother was having a baby and they went around the neighborhood saying, Were pregnant. I want to go around the neighborhood saying, Were depressed. If my mum cant get out of bed in the morning, all of us feel the same. Her silence has become ours, and its eating us alive.

And suddenly I know I have to go. But this time without being chased by the Brigadier, without experiencing the kindness of a postman from Yass, and without taking along a Cadet who will change the way I breath for the rest of my life.

I think my family has come a long way. The sad thing is that so many havent. So many have stayed in their own little world. Some because they dont want to leave it, others because the world around them wont let them in.

He could hardly breathe at the though of his son and Quintana in Sorel with no one to protect them.

Men dont rape women because their women are ugly, cousin Jostien said, but there was a protest at his words. Thats what my fa said! He says that inside their hearts and spirits they are nothing but little men who need to feel powerful.

Theres not much you need to know about the world. Except how to use a sword and trust very few.

I remember passion.

...I dont believe you should be a virgin when you get married, Sera said. You should experiment. Men doYes, but only if youre in love with them, I said.

What about the contacts your mum had?” his dad asked.“I rang and spoke to four very polite computers who gave me all these options and then cut out on me. Then I tried the post office, because they were advertising, and I spoke to another computer. Very rude, that one. Don’t think it recognized ‘Are you shitting me?’ as an option.”“You know why that is?”“Why is that, Dominic?” Tom had asked drolly, because he knew he was going to be told why.“Because we don’t live in a society anymore, Tom. We live in an economy. We’re not citizens. We’re customers. That’s what this government’s done to us.

A different Australia emerged in the 1950s. A multicultural one, and 30 years on were still trying to fit in as ethnics and were still trying to fit the ethnics in as Australians.