Darren Shan is an Irish writer who writes Young Adult Horror and Fantasy books. I am a huge bookworm and Darren Shan is one of my all-time favorite authors. His books are criminally under-rated and some of the most life-changing books I have ever read. Here are some of my favorite quotes from his various book series!
"Cirque du Freak"
“Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.”
"Students never appreciate their teachers while they are learning. It is only later, when they know more of the world, that they understand how indebted they are to those who instructed them. Good teachers expect no praise from the young. They wait for it and in time it comes."
"In the heart is where a man should judge himself, not in bars or in a ring or on the battlefield. If you know in your heart that you're true and brave, that should be enough."
"Don't let the foolish pride of others cloud your judgment! Be your own person!"
"Death is the worst this world can throw at you. If you accept it, it has no power over you."
"There is no use fretting over a future that's still a mystery to us. We've been too focused on fate and prophecies. We need to concentrate in all we can actually do..."
"Demonata"
"Sometimes amateurs fare better than professionals. Nobody ever really knows how they'll fare until they put themselves on the spot."
"An unasked question is the most futile thing in the world."
"Ability and potential mean nothing if the will to compete isn't there."
“Never trust fairytales. Any story that ends with "They all lived happily ever after” is a crock. There are no happy endings. No endings, full stop. Life goes on. There's always something new around the corner. You can overcome major obstacles, face great danger, look evil in the eye and live to tell the tale-but that's not the end. Life sweeps you forward, swings you round, bruises and batters you, drops some new drama or tragedy on your lap, never lets go until you get to the one true end-death. As long as you're breathing, your story's still going."
"The Saga of Larten Crepsley"
"You should never call a man a liar unless you are sure."
"Virtually all people do wrong at some point. The truly evil are those who willingly follow the path of violence when they find themselves on it. You have a choice now. You can embrace the darkness within you and become a monster. Or you can reject it and try to lead a good life from this night on."
"The world never inflicts loneliness upon us. That is something we choose or reject by ourselves."
"I can only judge him by what he sees. He judges himself by what he feels. We should all be so honest and true to ourselves. It takes a person of the highest integrity to acknowledge self-doubt."
"Humans don't appreciate anything unless they pay for it."
"It takes time, practice, and many losses before a new-blood can get the better of his peers."
"It is good to be taught humility when we are young. If we do not experience pain and children, we will cause pain as adults. You have to learn from your beatings. Accept your shortcomings and work on correcting them, but welcome them too. You might one day be asked to lead others. If so, you must be able to see people as they are, not as you yourself might be. A true champion must know not only his own mind and heart--he must know the mind and hearts of those weaker than himself. You can only do that if you have stood where they once stand."
"We always travel the way we must. You might think that you have strayed, but no one ever steps from the path of destiny. Your doubts have been waiting for you. Accept them, deal with them, and you will find your way to that which destiny requires of you."
"Almost all of those who take their own lives wish at the last moment that they hadn't. They see at the end how much they've given up, how precious life is, even when it's treated them like dirt and crushed their dreams. Many think they've passed beyond hope, but they never really have, not until they pass beyond life itself."
"Zom-B"
"Life's complicated. Answers rarely come wrapped up nice and simple. There are plenty of people out there ready to tell us what we should and shouldn't believe. We always need to be skeptical, to look for the sting in the tale. Trust no one. Always question what you're told. Don't believe the lies that people feed you, even if they're your teacher or parents. At the end of the day, you have to work out for yourself what is right or wrong. But bear in mind, there are a lot of black-hearted, mean-spirited bastards in the world. It's important that we hold them account. But always remember that YOU might be the most black-hearted and mean-spirited of the lot, so hold yourself the most accountable."
