“Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tyson pounding the Earthborn into the ground like a game of whack-a-mole. Ella was fluttering above him, dodging missiles and calling out advice: "The groin. The Earthborn's groin is sensitive."SMASH!"Good. Yes. Tyson found its groin.”
―
Rick Riordan,
The Son of Neptune
“LondonThe InstituteYear of Our Lord 1878 “Mother, Father, my chwaer fach,It’s my seventeenth birthday today. I know that to write to you is to break the law, I know that I will likely tear this letter into pieces when it is finished. As I have done on all my birthdays past since I was twelve. But I write anyway, to commemorate the occasion - the way some make yearly pilgrimages to a grave, to remember the death of a loved one. For are we not dead to each other?I wonder if when you woke this morning you remembered that today, seventeen years ago, you had a son? I wonder if you think of me and imagine my life here in the Institute in London? I doubt you could imagine it. It is so very different from our house surrounded by mountains, and the great clear blue sky and the endless green. Here, everything is black and gray and brown, and the sunsets are painted in smoke and blood. I wonder if you worry that I am lonely or, as Mother always used to, that I am cold, that I have gone out into the rain again without a hat? No one here worries about those details. There are so many things that could kill us at any moment; catching a chill hardly seems important.I wonder if you knew that I could hear you that day you came for me, when I was twelve. I crawled under the bed to block out the sound of you crying my name, but I heard you. I heard mother call for her fach, her little one. I bit my hands until they bled but I did not come down. And, eventually, Charlotte convinced you to go away. I thought you might come again but you never did. Herondales are stubborn like that.I remember the great sighs of relief you would both give each time the Council came to ask me if I wished to join the Nephilim and leave my family, and each time I said no and I send them away. I wonder if you knew I was tempted by the idea of a life of glory, of fighting, of killing to protect as a man should. It is in our blood - the call to the seraph and the stele, to marks and to monsters. I wonder why you left the Nephilim, Father? I wonder why Mother chose not to Ascend and to become a Shadowhunter? Is it because you found them cruel or cold? I have no fathom side. Charlotte, especially, is kind to me, little knowing how much I do not deserve it. Henry is mad as a brush, but a good man. He would have made Ella laugh. There is little good to be said about Jessamine, but she is harmless. As little as there is good to say about her, there is as much good to say about Jem: He is the brother Father always thought I should have. Blood of my blood - though we are no relation. Though I might have lost everything else, at least I have gained one thing in his friendship.And we have a new addition to our household too. Her name is Tessa. A pretty name, is it not? When the clouds used to roll over the mountains from the ocean? That gray is the color of her eyes.And now I will tell you a terrible truth, since I never intend to send this letter. I came here to the Institute because I had nowhere else to go. I did not expect it to ever be home, but in the time I have been here I have discovered that I am a true Shadowhunter. In some way my blood tells me that this is what I was born to do.If only I had known before and gone with the Clave the first time they asked me, perhaps I could have saved Ella’s life. Perhaps I could have saved my own. Your Son,Will” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince
“[Tyson] looked him over with that massive baby-brown eye. “You are not dead. I like it when you are not dead.” Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. “Ella found a dog,” she announced. “A large dog. And a Cyclops.” Was she blushing?Before Percy could decide, his black mastiff pounced on him, knocking Percy to the ground and barking so loudly that even Arion backed up. “Hey, Mrs. O'Leary,” Percy said. “Yeah, I love you, too, girl. Good dog.” Hazel squeaked. “You have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?”“Long story.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“You both passed out,” Percy said. “I don’t know why, but Ella told me not to worry about it. She said you were…sharing?”“Sharing,” Ella agreed. She crouched in the stern, preening her wing feathers with her teeth, which didn’t look like a very effective form of personal hygiene. She spit out some red fluff. “Sharing is good. No more blackouts. Biggest American blackout, August 14, 2003. Hazel shared. No more blackouts.”Percy scratched his head. “Yeah…we’ve been having conversations like that all night. I still don’t know what she’s talking about.” ― Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena
“I trust you to find the good in me, but the bad I must be sure you don't overlook.” ― Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted
“Two Kinds of PeopleThere are two kinds of people on earth today,Two kinds of people no more I say.Not the good or the bad, for it's well understood,The good are half bad, the bad are half good.Not the happy or sad, for in the swift-flying years,Bring each man his laughter, each man his tears.Not the rich or the poor, for to count a man's wealth,You must know the state of his conscience and health.Not the humble and proud, for in life's busy span,Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.No! the two kinds of people on earth I mean,Are the people who lift, the people who lean.Wherever you go you'll find the world's massesAre ever divided into these two classes.And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I mean,There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.In which class are you? Are you easing the loadOf the overtaxed lifters who toiled down the road?Or are you a leaner who lets others bear,Your portion of worry and labor and care?” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“A poor original is better than a good imitation.” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“You've always had a good grasp on what's right and wrong. You just have a hard time admitting that sometimes you choose the wrong.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Secret of Ella and Micha
“How would you feel about sharing your bed?" she asked. Tristan blinked. "Excuse me?" "He'd love to!" Gary said. Tristan shot him a look, "Good," said Ivy, failing to notice Gary's wink. "Ella can be a pillow hog, but all you have to do is roll over her.” ― Elizabeth Chandler, Kissed by an Angel/The Power of Love/Soulmates
“No more Lastrygonians.” Ella fluttered down and landed next to them. “Six minus six is zero. Spears are good for subtraction, yep.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“Ella was fluttering above him, dodging missiles and calling out advice: "The groin. The Earthborn's groin is sensitive."SMASH!"Good. Yes. Tyson found its groin.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“A great character needs trials to overcome—experiences to give them depth, to make them vulnerable, relatable, and likable. Good characters need hardships to make them strong. The idea makes sense, but it still sucks if you’re the heroine.” ― Kelly Oram, Cinder & Ella
“I snorted "oh, beauty. What's that good for?"Mary stared, her eyes round."It won you the prince, did it not?"I snorted again, I prefer to think that he was captivated by my charming personality." I giggled to let Mary know I was trying to make fun of myself.” ― Margaret Peterson Haddix, Just Ella
“You left me, ripped out my heart, and then came back acting like a robot, and you know what? We made it through. You and I, good or bad, belong together. We make each other whole.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Forever of Ella and Micha
“I did not care if Ella went to Princeton, if she was exceptionally pretty, if she grew up to marry a rich man, or really if she married at all - there were many incarnations of her I felt confident I could embrace, a hippie or a housewife or a career woman. But what I did care about, what I wanted most fervently, was for her to understand that hard work paid off, that decency begat decency, that humility was not a raincoat you occasionally pulled on when you thought conditions called for it, but rather a constant way of existing in the world, knowing that good luck and bad luck touched everyone and none of us was fully responsible for our fortunes or tragedies. Above all, I wanted my daughter to understand that many people were guided by bitterness and that it was best to avoid these individuals - their moods and behavior were a hornet's nest you had no possible reason to do anything other than bypass and ignore.” ― Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife
“Our first kiss. I wanted it to be good for her, change her world in some way. I wanted it to be her best first kiss of all the first kisses she had experienced. It was my first time touching her heart after all; she needed to remember every second of it.” ― Ella Maise, To Love Jason Thorn
“We talked through Gillie's life from start to finish, including all her accomplishments and major life events. The woman fell asleep with a dreamy half smile still on her lips.I remained by her bedside. Cog would be amused by my efforts to comfort an upper. No. Not amused. Proud. I liked Ella. She was a good sort, much nicer than Trella, and I hoped she managed to survive the next thirty hours.” ― Maria V. Snyder, Inside Out
“I search my brain for the truth. “I want it more than anything, just as long as you promise me one thing.”“And what’s that?”“That if at any time it gets to be too much for you, you’ll leave me—walk away and get out.”“That will never happen,” he guarantees me. “You need to give me some credit. You left me, ripped out my heart, and then came back acting like a robot, and you know what? We made it through. You and I, good or bad, belong together. We make each other whole.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Forever of Ella and Micha
“Didn’t every woman feel like a little girl when their dad gave them a good hug? Didn’t everyone just want to stay there until the monsters went away?” ― Ella Maise, To Love Jason Thorn
“LondonThe InstituteYear of Our Lord 1878 “Mother, Father, my chwaer fach,It’s my seventeenth birthday today. I know that to write to you is to break the law, I know that I will likely tear this letter into pieces when it is finished. As I have done on all my birthdays past since I was twelve. But I write anyway, to commemorate the occasion - the way some make yearly pilgrimages to a grave, to remember the death of a loved one. For are we not dead to each other?I wonder if when you woke this morning you remembered that today, seventeen years ago, you had a son? I wonder if you think of me and imagine my life here in the Institute in London? I doubt you could imagine it. It is so very different from our house surrounded by mountains, and the great clear blue sky and the endless green. Here, everything is black and gray and brown, and the sunsets are painted in smoke and blood. I wonder if you worry that I am lonely or, as Mother always used to, that I am cold, that I have gone out into the rain again without a hat? No one here worries about those details. There are so many things that could kill us at any moment; catching a chill hardly seems important.I wonder if you knew that I could hear you that day you came for me, when I was twelve. I crawled under the bed to block out the sound of you crying my name, but I heard you. I heard mother call for her fach, her little one. I bit my hands until they bled but I did not come down. And, eventually, Charlotte convinced you to go away. I thought you might come again but you never did. Herondales are stubborn like that.I remember the great sighs of relief you would both give each time the Council came to ask me if I wished to join the Nephilim and leave my family, and each time I said no and I send them away. I wonder if you knew I was tempted by the idea of a life of glory, of fighting, of killing to protect as a man should. It is in our blood - the call to the seraph and the stele, to marks and to monsters. I wonder why you left the Nephilim, Father? I wonder why Mother chose not to Ascend and to become a Shadowhunter? Is it because you found them cruel or cold? I have no fathom side. Charlotte, especially, is kind to me, little knowing how much I do not deserve it. Henry is mad as a brush, but a good man. He would have made Ella laugh. There is little good to be said about Jessamine, but she is harmless. As little as there is good to say about her, there is as much good to say about Jem: He is the brother Father always thought I should have. Blood of my blood - though we are no relation. Though I might have lost everything else, at least I have gained one thing in his friendship.And we have a new addition to our household too. Her name is Tessa. A pretty name, is it not? When the clouds used to roll over the mountains from the ocean? That gray is the color of her eyes.And now I will tell you a terrible truth, since I never intend to send this letter. I came here to the Institute because I had nowhere else to go. I did not expect it to ever be home, but in the time I have been here I have discovered that I am a true Shadowhunter. In some way my blood tells me that this is what I was born to do.If only I had known before and gone with the Clave the first time they asked me, perhaps I could have saved Ella’s life. Perhaps I could have saved my own. Your Son,Will” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince
“[Tyson] looked him over with that massive baby-brown eye. “You are not dead. I like it when you are not dead.” Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. “Ella found a dog,” she announced. “A large dog. And a Cyclops.” Was she blushing?Before Percy could decide, his black mastiff pounced on him, knocking Percy to the ground and barking so loudly that even Arion backed up. “Hey, Mrs. O'Leary,” Percy said. “Yeah, I love you, too, girl. Good dog.” Hazel squeaked. “You have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?”“Long story.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“You both passed out,” Percy said. “I don’t know why, but Ella told me not to worry about it. She said you were…sharing?”“Sharing,” Ella agreed. She crouched in the stern, preening her wing feathers with her teeth, which didn’t look like a very effective form of personal hygiene. She spit out some red fluff. “Sharing is good. No more blackouts. Biggest American blackout, August 14, 2003. Hazel shared. No more blackouts.”Percy scratched his head. “Yeah…we’ve been having conversations like that all night. I still don’t know what she’s talking about.” ― Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena
“I trust you to find the good in me, but the bad I must be sure you don't overlook.” ― Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted
“Two Kinds of PeopleThere are two kinds of people on earth today,Two kinds of people no more I say.Not the good or the bad, for it's well understood,The good are half bad, the bad are half good.Not the happy or sad, for in the swift-flying years,Bring each man his laughter, each man his tears.Not the rich or the poor, for to count a man's wealth,You must know the state of his conscience and health.Not the humble and proud, for in life's busy span,Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.No! the two kinds of people on earth I mean,Are the people who lift, the people who lean.Wherever you go you'll find the world's massesAre ever divided into these two classes.And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I mean,There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.In which class are you? Are you easing the loadOf the overtaxed lifters who toiled down the road?Or are you a leaner who lets others bear,Your portion of worry and labor and care?” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“A poor original is better than a good imitation.” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“You've always had a good grasp on what's right and wrong. You just have a hard time admitting that sometimes you choose the wrong.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Secret of Ella and Micha
“How would you feel about sharing your bed?" she asked. Tristan blinked. "Excuse me?" "He'd love to!" Gary said. Tristan shot him a look, "Good," said Ivy, failing to notice Gary's wink. "Ella can be a pillow hog, but all you have to do is roll over her.” ― Elizabeth Chandler, Kissed by an Angel/The Power of Love/Soulmates
“No more Lastrygonians.” Ella fluttered down and landed next to them. “Six minus six is zero. Spears are good for subtraction, yep.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“Ella was fluttering above him, dodging missiles and calling out advice: "The groin. The Earthborn's groin is sensitive."SMASH!"Good. Yes. Tyson found its groin.” ― Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune
“A great character needs trials to overcome—experiences to give them depth, to make them vulnerable, relatable, and likable. Good characters need hardships to make them strong. The idea makes sense, but it still sucks if you’re the heroine.” ― Kelly Oram, Cinder & Ella
“I snorted "oh, beauty. What's that good for?"Mary stared, her eyes round."It won you the prince, did it not?"I snorted again, I prefer to think that he was captivated by my charming personality." I giggled to let Mary know I was trying to make fun of myself.” ― Margaret Peterson Haddix, Just Ella
“You left me, ripped out my heart, and then came back acting like a robot, and you know what? We made it through. You and I, good or bad, belong together. We make each other whole.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Forever of Ella and Micha
“I did not care if Ella went to Princeton, if she was exceptionally pretty, if she grew up to marry a rich man, or really if she married at all - there were many incarnations of her I felt confident I could embrace, a hippie or a housewife or a career woman. But what I did care about, what I wanted most fervently, was for her to understand that hard work paid off, that decency begat decency, that humility was not a raincoat you occasionally pulled on when you thought conditions called for it, but rather a constant way of existing in the world, knowing that good luck and bad luck touched everyone and none of us was fully responsible for our fortunes or tragedies. Above all, I wanted my daughter to understand that many people were guided by bitterness and that it was best to avoid these individuals - their moods and behavior were a hornet's nest you had no possible reason to do anything other than bypass and ignore.” ― Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife
“Our first kiss. I wanted it to be good for her, change her world in some way. I wanted it to be her best first kiss of all the first kisses she had experienced. It was my first time touching her heart after all; she needed to remember every second of it.” ― Ella Maise, To Love Jason Thorn
“We talked through Gillie's life from start to finish, including all her accomplishments and major life events. The woman fell asleep with a dreamy half smile still on her lips.I remained by her bedside. Cog would be amused by my efforts to comfort an upper. No. Not amused. Proud. I liked Ella. She was a good sort, much nicer than Trella, and I hoped she managed to survive the next thirty hours.” ― Maria V. Snyder, Inside Out
“I search my brain for the truth. “I want it more than anything, just as long as you promise me one thing.”“And what’s that?”“That if at any time it gets to be too much for you, you’ll leave me—walk away and get out.”“That will never happen,” he guarantees me. “You need to give me some credit. You left me, ripped out my heart, and then came back acting like a robot, and you know what? We made it through. You and I, good or bad, belong together. We make each other whole.” ― Jessica Sorensen, The Forever of Ella and Micha
“Didn’t every woman feel like a little girl when their dad gave them a good hug? Didn’t everyone just want to stay there until the monsters went away?” ― Ella Maise, To Love Jason Thorn
