Holland Quotes

“Life isn't made of choices, it's made of trades. Some are good, some are bad, but they all have a cost.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“No one suffers as beautifully as you do.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“His heart slowed, winding down like a music box, a season at its end.
The last air left Holland's lungs.
And then, at last, the world breathed in.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“And Athos had. He’d broken Holland one bone, one day, one order at a time. Until all Holland wanted, more than the ability to save his world, more than the strength to bring the magic back, more than anything, was for it to end.
It was cowardice, he knew, but cowardice came so much easier than hope.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“The best place for this kind of training is Holland where people, convinced of their utter innocence, do not use curtains. After dusk the windows turn into little stages on which actors act out their evenings. Sequences of images bathed in yellow, warm light are the individual acts of the same production entitled 'Life'. Dutch painting. Moving lives.”
― Olga Tokarczuk, Flights

“I pay more tax registered in Holland than I would in the USA, but better gieing to the Dutch to build dams than the Yanks to build bombs.”
― Irvine Welsh, Dead Men's Trousers

“Holland stared at his own hand, the knife’s edge crimson.
They left they body where it fell.
And brought another in.
“No,” snarled Holland at the sight of him. A boy from the kitchens, hardly fourteen, who looked at him with wide, uncertain eyes. “Help,” he begged.
Then they brought another.
And another.
One by one, Athos and Astrid paraded the remains of Vor’s life before Holland, instructing him again and again to cut their throats. Every time, he tried to fight the order. Every time, he failed. Every time, he had to look them in their eyes and see the hatred, the betrayal, the anguished confusion before he cut them down.
The bodies piled. Athos watched. Astrid grinned.
Holland’s hand moved on its puppet string.
And his mind screamed until it finally lost its voice.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“Opinions differ on the question of whether a golden age is something you can experience while it's happening or whether it only comes into focus on reflection...no matter how grand and prosperous and momentous the time in which you are living may be, its grandeur is inevitably stained by the incessant drabness of the present.”
― Russell Shorto, Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City

“It does nothing to dwell on what's been taken from you. Nothing.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“All of them screamed by the end.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic

“He suffered," added Athos softly. "But not like you." He brought his mouth closer. "No one suffers as beautifully as you." There it was, in the corner of Holland's mouth, the crease of his eye. Anger. Pain. Defiance. Athos smiled, victorious.”
― V.E. Schwab

“I wonder" he wrote, "if the day will ever come that the loveliest of hymns, Silent Night, will come into the minds of the people throughout the world to express the German heart. I belive it is the expression of the heart of many Germans...[and]of most people throughout the world. That is the appalling tragedy of all that we witness today" Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King in his diary during WWII during German occupation of the Netherlands.”
― Mackenzie King

“De hemel groots en grauw.
daaronder het geweldig laagland met de plassen;
bomen en molens, kerktorens en kassen,
verkaveld door de sloten, zilvergrauw.

dit is mijn land, mijn volk;
dit is de ruimte waarin ik wil klinken.
laat mij één avond in de plassen blinken,
daarna mag ik verdampen als een wolk.”
― Hendrik Marsman, Verzamelde gedichten

“Divest yourself of weapons, or I will do it for you”
― V.E. Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic

“We may share an ability, you and I, but that does not make us equals.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic

“It is unbelievable.”
― Mata Hari

“But remember that truth itself becomes a lie in the twisted minds of our conquerors.”
― Hilda van Stockum, The Winged Watchman

“I am still in control," said Kell through gritted teeth.
"No", said Holland. "You're not. Once you let the magic in, you've already lost."
Kell's chest tightened. "I don't want to fight you, Holland.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic

“That's what people do in Holland. They build dykes and ditches. They don't drown. They're brilliant engineers.'
'So I've heard,' says Faro thoughtfully. 'They're very obstinate, those people in Holland.”
― Helen Dunmore, The Tide Knot

“It's not the fault of the Dutch that we Jews are having such a bad time.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

“and pause to record the width
of sullen in this empty night
how autumn needs dark
to layer thick blankets of foliage”
― Sneha Subramanian Kanta

“As I left his office he continued his telephone conversation, and as Amanda had declared, she was in fact waiting for me.
“So, Amanda, what is it now? Who is it you want to fix me up with today?”
“Well actually, I don’t have any new candidates in my mind just yet. I actually need some decorating advice.
 
I want to tackle my living room den. It has been about three years since it has had a lift. It needs a new theme, and I would like your opinion of what direction

I should consider . . . modern contemporary or vintage?”
“Well, what does your husband think, or does he have a vote?”
“Well, on paper, yes, but between us women . . . absolutely not.”
― Hazel Cartwright, Apollo Arise (Holland-Saga, #2

“Vaak heb je toeschouwers van elders nodig om de schoonheid die ons dagelijks omringt te benadrukken: onszelf valt die 'tere, zilvergrijze toon' vaak niet eens (meer) op, omdat we hem als vanzelfsprekend beschouwen, citaat uit 'Hollands licht”
― Joost Zwagerman, Kennis is geluk

“It was hard for me to believe that I had graduated from High School the week before and was now a crewmember on a Dutch ship. This was my first job aboard ship and now I found myself heading down the Hudson River, past the Statue of Liberty. There wasn’t much time for sightseeing since the dinner chimes had been rung and the few passengers we had, were coming into the dining room. No one had explained my duties but I watched the other stewards and followed suit. I must have been a fast learner since amazingly enough all went well, and before I knew it the dining room was empty and it was cleanup time. I’m certain that having worked in my uncle’s restaurants helped but I’m glad I survived without any mishaps. I knew that tomorrow would go even smoother now that I understood the routine.
I really don’t know if getting a job aboard a foreign ship was easier in the “50’s” or was it that the ship needed another steward and I was willing to be a strike breaker? No one on the ship mentioned the strike and everyone treated me as just another member of the crew. Mostly everyone aboard spoke Dutch and amazingly enough I understood them. Dutch being a Germanic language was very similar to the German spoken in the lowlands, which included Hamburg. It didn’t take long before I was answering and then conversing with the crew…. Although I was on the bottom rung of the ladder I felt right at home. My bunk was at the top of a three bunk stack in the crew’s quarters, high up against the chain locker. The bathroom, called the “head” in English, didn’t have toilets or urinals. Instead I had to perfect my aim as I balanced myself over a hole in the deck. Fortunately there were places for my feet and handholds to help me stabilize myself in this balancing act. With no partitions for modesty I soon lost my inhibitions and became deft at this. At least they furnished the paper and considering it all, life was good!”
― Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One"

“We both enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant and talked until after midnight, leaving only when the staff made it clear that they wanted to close.The next day after breakfast and a reluctant goodbye, I caught the morning train to Hamburg, Germany. Amsterdam had been bombed by the Nazis at the very beginning of the war, destroying about a square kilometer in the central section of the city. The surrounding infrastructure had also been bombed and getting from place to place was not easy. Many bridges had been destroyed, and getting around took much longer than it should have, but people took it in their stride and were patient. The train to Germany was pulled by an old steam locomotive, which chugged through the Dutch lowlands and typical picturesque communities. Looking around I saw little or no signs of war damage in these rural areas. It was not until the train reached the border, that the horrors of World War II became apparent.”
― Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One"

“Thus I am in Holland, the kingdom of things, great principality of objects. In Dutch, schoen means beautiful and at the same time clean, as if neatness was raised to the dignity of a virtue.”
― Zbigniew Herbert, Still Life with a Bridle: Essays and Apocryphas

“Stel alleen vragen die je kunt beantwoorden en probeer je publiek objectief te informeren, te amuseren, te verbazen, te bedroeven. Want veel journalistiek hangt inderdaad aan elkaar van clichés, manipulatie en luiheid, dus zo onderscheid je jezelf al. En heb je geluk, dan verander je soms iets of breng je een stellige overtuiging aan het wankelen.”
― Coen van Zwol

“Suonerà come un cliché, lo so, ma mi sembra veramente che sia passato solo un giorno da quando il mondo si fissò con quella canzone. Devo confessare che non mi piaceva. Tuttavia, non arriverei a dire che la odiavo. Non la calcolavo, e riconosco che mi dava fastidio quando la sentivo per la millesima volta mentre ero in giro. Anche se, tecnicamente, è stata la mia prima canzone K-pop, al tempo non avevo un’idea precisa di cosa fosse. Per me, era semplicemente una delle solite mode da social media che era andata troppo in là. E, come ogni altra moda, con il tempo “Gangnam Style” sarebbe sparita e avrebbe lasciato il posto ad altri tormentoni. Ma, senza che potessi immaginarlo, aveva posto le basi per qualcosa di più grande e permanente.”
― Arushi Raj, Alla Ricerca Di Holland: Quando la Musica è Speranza

“and think of dual reverberations
in a forest: insects and bamboo
with wild lilies amid thick drops
of snow, then dream in white”
― Sneha Subramanian Kanta

“You are not bait. You are a trap.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, A Shadow in the Ember