Masquerade Quotes

“Like a Columbus of the heart, mind and soul I have hurled myself off the shores of my own fears and limiting beliefs to venture far out into the uncharted territories of my inner truth, in search of what it means to be genuine and at peace with who I really am. I have abandoned the masquerade of living up to the expectations of others and explored the new horizons of what it means to be truly and completely me, in all my amazing imperfection and most splendid insecurity.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

“All is as if the world did cease to exist. The city's monuments go unseen, its past unheard, and its culture slowly fading in the dismal sea.”
― Nathan Reese Maher

“In a world where happiness has become a social duty and sadness a public offense, life opens unrepentantly into a kaleidoscopic masquerade and a muddling carousel of faking. (" Even if the world goes down, my mobile will save me ")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Nebulous words covering a broad spectrum of intriguing
maneuverings allow lobbyists to impersonate innocuous "strategic analysts" and masquerade as benefactors of the people. Therefore, foresight and clarity must always be our brothers-at-arms. ( "Finally things had lost their weightiness" )”
― Erik Pevernagie

“A mask you ask? Optional I find!
Masks lend appeal of a mysterious kind.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Phantom Phantasia: Poetry for the Phantom of the Opera Phan

“That morning, she had found an envelope stuffed into her locker. It was from the Mercer Hotel, and held a plastic door key for their suite." See you there tonight, "Oliver had written." Chomp! Chomp!”
― Melissa de la Cruz, Masquerade

“Apa yang mungkin engkau yakini sebagai sebuah hukuman, Kay? Bukankah langkah, semestinya tidak meninggalkan jejak yang di kemudian hari ingin engkau ingkari.

Kenangan adalah getah yang menitik dari luka sebatang pohon. Sedang ingatan yang terkubur di halaman, adalah tulang tulang yang digali oleh anjing anjing pencuri di malam hari. Siapa yang akan datang untuk mencintaimu dengan wajah yang carut marut serupa itu?

Karena tangkapan layar itu tak akan pernah menyatakan kebohongan yang lain selain dari apa yang sengaja engkau niatkan sejak semula, Kay.

Apapun yang coba kau sembunyikan dibalik topeng _masquerade_ berenda renda itu selamanya tak akan pernah pergi. Kau tak mungkin jadi bunglon yang cukup pintar menyamarkan ketelanjanganmu sendiri.

Sebagaimana waktu telanjur menyerap seluruh kehadiranmu di detik ini, di hari hari yang lampau atau di tahun tahun yang akan datang. Engkau tak akan pernah bisa berpaling darinya.

Bagaimana kau bisa merasa yakin pada dirimu sendiri, Kay? Bahwa semua jejak yang engkau tinggalkan itu bukanlah sebuah petilasan kebodohan dan artefak kebohongan?

Seperti buah terlarang yang dipetik Eva dari tengah taman Eden yang hilang itu. Ia telah menjelma menjadi labirin di dalam diri setiap anak keturunannya. Ia telah menjelma jadi Pandora, dan kotak laknat yang kemudian mengutuknya menjadi seorang wanita yang kesepian seumur hidup.”
― Titon Rahmawan

“I'm hideous"
"You could never be hideous"
"Forget it" I wanted this conversation over.
"I can't forget it," Gran said, not giving up so easily. "I don't like to hear you talk about yourself that way. Your scars do not define you, young lady. Your action do.”
― Cambria Hebert, Masquerade

“They tried not to stare, but they couldn't keep their eyes away. I was a freak now. I made people uncomfortable and not necessarily because of my scars-but because what my scars represented. Danger, fear, and the unknown. Something had had happened to me, something not even I could remember. They all probably thought that I was crazy, that I somehow did this to myself. I couldn't blame them. ow could I? They might be right.”
― Cambria Hebert, Masquerade

“Swoon, Dora. Every young woman deserves to swoon over the love of her life.”
― Nancy Moser, Masquerade

“And the touch of her own mask, at first cool and clammy leather, but quickly like a second skin, and the play it gives her, herself a stage, her every breath a performance, and yet (herein lies the magic) also and entirely true. Every game, every lie flirting and cruel - and the house is full of them, games and lies - is real as knives, for the masquerade has come to define the night. The false face of everyday, that hides reality beneath flesh and skin, is itself hidden beneath the fantasy that, because it is a product and reflection of the mind, is an honest facade. Sadie has lived a wary, defensive life, always urged by that self-preserving instinct to stay small, hidden, safe. She did not know she had an imp inside her until she wore it on her face.

( "One Of The Hungry Ones" )”
― Holly Phillips, Best New Horror 17

“The road ahead holds many tests challenging everything she ever believed. I whispered a prayer for her inner strength to guide her on her path. She was going to need it.”
― Cambria Hebert, Masquerade

“Yet she knew too that she was deeply discontented and she sometimes suffered fierce feral moods of confused yearning during which it seemed to her that her whole life was a masquerade and that she was piously acting the part of a kindly affectionate serviceable woman who was just not herself.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Nice and the Good

“Everton" (Francis)
Alex turned his head to view a rainbow peacock mask bobbing toward him. "Good Lord, Francis, you are replendent," he said admiringly.
The peacock stopped beside him. "Dash it, Everton, how'd you know it was me?"
You're still wearing your faux ruby ring.”
― Suzanne Enoch, Lady Rogue

“I didn't mean to hurt anyone, he tries to tell them. I just wanted to be seen, and loved for who I am. The problem was, it was all a misunderstanding. I pretended to be a good person, and then I couldn't stop.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This

“Modern society is a biological disaster masquerading as progress.”
― Steven Magee

“I hate the night, the awful night!
It muzzles the scream of pain, it rolls the spin of woes,
and the waves of the night are sweeping the town serving none
but the ill-fated ones.

The masquerade of time,
what does it conceal in its twists?
Agony and more in that night of bore.

The night, what a night!
A night of endless sighs and cries!

I hate the night, that awful night,
and I see no light, no hope for dawn, no peace in sight,
nothing but to suffer from the turmoil.

The night of pain!
The night of shame!
The untamed night of the wickedest symphonies!”
― Noha Alaa El-Din, Norina Luciano

“Does it really take a full 9–5 to get our tasks done? Or… do we just “push paper,” masquerading as being productive while we are merely just running down the clock?”
― Richie Norton

“Legends told that in the Dark Days, when the Graces walked the earth and inspired humanity to rise up and fight back against the Demons who ruled over them, the Grace of Luck would sometimes appear at people’s doors in disguise—be their homes ever so humble or ever so proud—and beg for food or shelter. Those who offered hospitality were rewarded with Her blessing, and received great fortune; and as such, on the Night of Masks, every household must offer hospitality to any masked reveler who showed up at their door.
This custom had, naturally, evolved in Raverra to the throwing of lavish masquerades, made all the more exciting by the possibility that anyone could turn up at one’s party, from the doge himself to a notorious jewel thief. So long as they wore an acceptable mask, they could join the festivities. Most Raverrans flitted from ball to ball throughout the night, and the revelry poured out into the streets and canals. It was a day of mysteries and surprises, of charity and cunning, of terrible mistakes to be regretted the next morning and wondrous coincidences to transform one’s life. A night of intrigue and enchantment, of romance and adventure.”
― Melissa Caruso, The Unbound Empire

“Dance like nobody's watching.”
― Alireza Abedizadeh, Masquerade

“I leaned forward, hiding behind my glass and took a sip, almost choking when he stroked the skin visible along my spine. Surely flames had ignited and the entire room could see I was now on fire.”
― Jennifer Peer, Not On Your Latte: A HOT Southern Romance

“A masquerade could have been a beautiful dance. However, it takes more than, two, doesn't it...”
― Petra Hermans

“Humans were not to be toyed with, they were to be respected.”
― Melissa de la Cruz, Masquerade

“In the close atmosphere of the mask shop, the prickling energy of his proximity was inescapable. He bent over the assortment of masks with great interest. “This is lovely,” he said, handing me a delicate confection of glass beads strung on complex swirls of golden wire, “but is it truly wise to put an artifice device on your face?”
“That depends on what it does. This one is harmless.” I held it up to show him, the cold wire pressing into my nose and cheekbones. My vision immediately went hazy and green, then began fading slowly into blue. “See, it just cycles the color of your eyes.”
Kathe blinked, then lifted his long fingers to the mask, running them delicately along one edge. “How strange. It does make you look like an entirely different person.”
“That’s the point. It’s a game.”
As the room warmed through dusky purple toward rose, Kathe’s fingertips trailed down my cheek. “You know how I love games.”
My skin shivered pleasantly in the wake of his touch. I swallowed.”
― Melissa Caruso, The Unbound Empire

“We took turns trying on a grand peacock feather masterpiece, which Kathe posed with rather dramatically, and a gold filigree sun mask that spread rays far enough that I feared I’d spear innocent bystanders every time I turned my head. A silk-lined mask of cunningly detailed papier-mâché caught my eye, with deep, rich shades of lagoon green and ocean blue around the eyes. It swept to one side in a shape like a wave, with delicately curled spray tipped in gold. The jewel-hued paint had depth and complexity to it, like the sea itself, and as I held it in my hands I picked out shapes of clouds and ships and faces, holding each briefly in my mind like a dream before it merged back into abstract washes of swirling color. From a distance, the mask would not impress as the others might, but up close, it was gorgeous.
“Try it on,” Kathe suggested, and I held it up to my face. It fit comfortably enough, flexing to accommodate my features rather than forcing them into its own shape.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It’s beautiful.” Kathe laid a gentle hand along my chin, tilting my face toward the light; the warmth of his touch spread through my whole body.

“But does it pass the most important test?”
“Only one way to tell,” I whispered, sliding my hand around the back of his neck and up into that down-soft hair as I pulled him toward me.
Our lips met, slow and soft and teasing, the barest brush like falling snow.
A sliver of air slipped between us, enough to take a sharp breath as lightning seemed to slide down my throat and into my belly. I’d closed my eyes, but I felt his mouth shape a smile.
“Better try another angle to be sure,” I murmured.
I tipped my head slightly and tried for another quick, light kiss. But somehow it turned warm and melting, and lingered longer than I’d intended. And then there was a rustle of feathers, and his arms went around me, and my own hands slid up beneath his cloak to feel the wiry muscles of his back through the soft leather of his tunic.
“I think this one is good,” Kathe said when we came up for air, a husky catch in his voice.”
― Melissa Caruso, The Unbound Empire

“I never enjoyed birthdays. I don’t even get them. What is so special about a date. We are born in a day and a year later, the day is completely different. The new day has no intrinsic connection to the old one, yet we prescribe value to it in a similar manner. Congratulation! You managed to stay the fuck alive for another year.”
― Alireza Abedizadeh, Masquerade

“Sitting out in that oak under a full moon, watching the fireflies, I wished for so many things. Anything seemed possible in the moonlight. Yet nothing prepared me for this.”
― Jennifer Peer, Not On Your Latte: A HOT Southern Romance

“I love to watch her move over me.
Face as lovely as any heavenly constellation.
As I breathe her in, intoxicating.
Her body entwined with mine,
the thing I crave
for a lifetime of I love yous
before we crash back into the wide, wide, sea.”
― Jennifer Peer, Not On Your Latte: A HOT Southern Romance

“Tonight is about being our true selves with no apologies. It's the ultimate middle finger to the reality that'll come tomorrow.”
― Jennifer Peer, Not On Your Latte: A HOT Southern Romance

“Nothing else can satiate the hunger, my craving, that need for contact, except you. At moments, I'm starving in a room full of food. None of it what I need or want.”
― Jennifer Peer, Not On Your Latte: A HOT Southern Romance