Darren Shan Quotations

Your spikes have gone floppy,

One of the things is that in times of severe disorder, you can't worry about the dead, only the living.

I'm starting to understand that fear is like cancer - you can beat it back, but if it returns, it can be worse than ever.

I'd like to do something to help the worst afflicted, but I can't. It's not possible to save everybody. Even heroes have their all-too-human limits.

Man wasn't made to share the universe with gods. Their ways are not meant for the humble likes of us. But we've decoded some of their secrets regardless. Like worms, we've grabbed on to the talons of eagles and learned some small truths and means of flight. But we can never really fly. We try, and succeed to a certain extent, but the fall is always - will always be - there.

So easy to take it for granted, but this is something no normal human was made to see. The world of magic has blessed me with wonders and it's only right to stop every now and then to appreciate it.

Better to die for my people in my own land than rule in another and suffer a lifetime of cowardly guilt.

But in life we don't usually get to choose the time of our defining moments. We just have to stand and face them when they come, no matter what sort of a state we're in.

But I also slaughtered you real mother and father. In a moment of mad rage, I took their lives and left you an orphan. If you choose to take my life as a payment for theirs, you will be within your rights and no vampire will hold it against you. Pass judgment on me, Gavner Purl, and let your hand rise or fall as destiny decides it must." -Larten Crepsley

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 or love from the young. They wait for it, and in time, it comes.

But the universe isn't fair. Things don't work out neatly, pain, hardship and challenges divided equally among those best equipped to deal with them. Sometimes individuals have to be Atlases and carry the weight of the world alone. It shouldn't happen that way, but it does.

Wars raged everywhere as men found new, inventive ways to kill even more of their race. It was like a contest, the many tribes of mankind competing to see who could commit the worst atrocities.

That’s what you taught me - we don’t have to accept destiny or Des Tiny. We can create our own future, all of us. We have the power to rule our lives - we just have to make the choice to use it.

Confidence has brought them out into the light, but they seem to have forgotten - light's no good for creatures of the night.

You stole from a member of the undead

but you were a fool to bring that pider into this house

I know who the demon thief is - it's me!

What are you doing?" "Looking for my fangs." "We don't grow fangs you idiot!

... please Lady... Do not speak of it. I was young and foolish." "You most certainly were." "You are cruel, Evanna.

Meddling, smug, stupid little..." "She likes me! They always play hard to get when they like me!" "No. You do not understand. I could not have done it because I can not read or write.

Quick! Head for the ground floor! We have to get out! We will die if we stay! The vampires are here!" "Haven't you got a hug for me, Larten, old buddy?

It's a bit like the feeling I get when I'm standing on a cliff or high building, looking down at a suicidal drop. I start thinking about what would happen if I stepped off, the rush of the fall, the shattering collision, the quiet emptiness of death. Part of me wants to experience the thrill of complete surrender...

When he faced me again, he looked ashamed of himself. "I have gravely underestimated you, Darren," he said. "I will not do so again. I made a wiser choice than I realized when I chose you to serve as my assistant. I feel honoured to have you by my side.

Yes?" she asked, eyeing me guardedly. I struck out a hand and said "Shake." Arra stared at the hand, then into my unfocused eyes. "One good fight doesn't make you a warrior," she said. "Shake!" I repeated angrily. "And if I don't?" she asked. "I'll get back up on the bars and fight you till you do," I growled. Arra studied me at length, then nodded and took my hand. "Power to you, Darren Shan," she said gruffly. "Power," I repeated weakly, then fainted into her arms and knew no more till I came to in my hammock the next night.

You can't hang around waiting for somebody else to pull your strings. Destiny's what you make of it. You have to face whatever life throws at you. And if it throws more than you'd like, more than you think you can handle? Well then you just have to find the heroism within yourself and play out the hand you've been dealt. The universe never sets a challenge that can't be met. You just need to believe in yourself in order to find the strength to face it.

But I don't think Art's an Einstein - he likes tugging ears, biting people and burping too much to be a genius.

It is good to be taught humility when we are young. If we do not exeperience pain as children, we will cause pain as adults.

For an hour or more he was neither human nor vampire, just a howling, hungry creature of dark delights.

sometimes, in pursuit of a greater peace, a man must stand by and lets those he loves suffer the injustices of men ho cares only about their own beliefs and nothing about the faith or feelings of others-- even when it pains him to the very core of his spirit

If mankind's destined to bite the bullet, let's bite it and be damned.

I know that no matter how lonely I get, I'll never be truly alone again. Our loved ones don't leave us. They just move out of sight for a while, and wait...in the shades.

But stories don't end. They continue as long as you're alive. You just have to get on with things. Turn the page, start a new chapter, find out what's in store for you next, and keep your fingers crossed that it's not too awful. Even if you know in your heart and soul that it most probably will be.

What use was money if you didn't have the time to enjoy it?

Lovely Arra Sails, nectar to all males, how I'd like to spear you like a whaler spears a whale!

Life is a challenge" he once told me, "and only those who rise to the challenge truly know what it means to live.

When it comes to impending, unavoidable extinction, ignorance is bliss.

I won't die. I won't give those ghouls the pleasure. I'll live and grow strong. I'll escape, then hunt them down and make them suffer.

The pair smiled desperately at one another. And for the first time ever, despite the fact that everyone he knew - even the gods themselves - would condemn him for it, Jebel didn't think of Tel Hesani as a slave, but as an equal.

Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.

We all make basic assumptions about things in life, but sometimes those assumptions are WRONG. We must never trust in what we assume, only in what we KNOW.

A world without pain, loss, betrayal, hate, death, loneliness? Impossible!

Destiny is a tower of cards - nudge one just an inch and everything stacked on top comes crashing down. P116

The world won't end with a bang or a whimper. It'll end with the death screams of a thousand demons and a defiant, carefree, savage, wolfen howl.

He says every story has at least some truth in it, even if most are made up.

The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you.

There are a lot of black-hearted, mean-spirited bastards in the world. It's important that we hold them to acount. But always remember that you might be the most black-hearted and mean-spirited in the lot, so hold yourself the most accountable of all.

Even in death may you triumphant

You should take more pride in your appearance,” I tell him. “You'll never attract girls with an ugly mug like that.

I might have to drink the blood of animals to stay alive, but I would never feast on one of my own kind, no matter what Mr.Crepsley said, or hows much my belly growled.

Maybe we should wait....wait for him to kill another five or six, huh?

I sucked blood from one of my best friends

Now sod off back to your own world, you motherless scum, and save your threats for those who care.

It is too easy to say 'what if' and paint a picture of a perfect world.

If he comes in the dark, then it's KYAG Time!" - Harkat Mulds (The Lake of Souls)

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.

Throw up whatever's making you sick, Darren," he said, "then get your behind back in here.

Cirque du Freak' is the best vampire series ever.

...The pain didn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it: It meant I was alive.

Even a minute of dying is better than an eternity of nothingness.

If I'd known how wrong I was - if I'd had any idea of the awful night that lay ahead - I'd have run after him and never returned to that disgusting circus of blood, that revolting circus of death.

For a long time that's all I could do, howl and scream and cry like the wild animal of the night that I'd become.

A world of "if"s, but it would make no difference. If I could go back in time... but I couldn't. The past was behind me. The best thing now would be to stop looking over my shoulder. It was time to forget the past and look to the present and future.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." - Harkat Mulds (Hunters of the Dusk)

The hands of Fate keep time on a heart-shaped watch." - Harkat Mulds(The Trials of Death)

Indecision is the source of chaos." - Paris Skyle(Allies of the Night)

Ever hear of the phrase, Banging you're head on a brick wall?" Ah, but you forget, Darren, vampires can break brick walls with their heads.

Underneath me, Sam Grest - who'd been my friend and saved my life - lay perfectly still and slipped further and further into the final sleep of an unfair and horrible death.

Maybe you're going insane." "Maybe," agreed Kernel. "I was joking." "I wasn't.

Stick it up your crack, you warped son of a mutant b*tch!

I gulped, then stepped over the threshold into the house where I'd lived as a boy. After eighteen long years of wandering, I had finally come home.

If this were a made-up story, it would begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed.

Better not to start down a wrong path at all than head down it in the hope of making a detour when something better came along.

I mean, seriously, what lady of taste could resist a shiny green head of hair like mine?

The moon's a powerful mistress. She can reach through any wall or covering and work her wicked charms.

Childhood is the purest state. The pure of heart never leave it behind. Their life merely takes them on a cirtuitous route away from, and then back to it.

Leave him alone!" Debbie shouted. "Shut up, please, or I'll kill you," Mr Tiny replied.

The demons were scary, but girls - Well, girls are really terrifying

Of course I have nightmares-Who doesn't?

No. You know this is wrong and you want to feel better about it. You don't want to admit your as ruthless and monstrous as the demons you claim to hate.

To be a druid is to embrace death, dance with it a while, and finally fall prey to it. That is why we'll never rule this world. We have the power to bend all men to our whim, but are forever pushing ourselves further,trying to fly higher...and falling

She was a beautiful woman." Gavner sighed, tracing the outline of one of the elephants. "She just had very bad taste in underwear …" "And in boyfriends," I added impishly. Mr. Crepsley burst into laughter at that

They forget that the vampaneze were once our brothers, that by destroying them, we destroy a part of ourselves. Most vampire never realize how pointless and savage war truly is. You were smart enough to see through the truth. Don't ever forget it.

I don't think anyone ever remembers what they were really like as kids. Adults think they do, but they don't. Photos and videos don't capture the real you, or bring back to life the person you used to be. You have to return to the past to do that.

But you're like me,” he says. “An outsider. Different. A freak. We're both weird, which is why we get along.

I don't like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me.

Power always impresses the young and foolish.

Look at me!" I roar. "Do you think you'll be the first I've killed today? I wasn't a murderer, but you changed me. I'm a monster now. And I'm hungry." "Meera!" Anotoine whines. "Prae! Please, I beg you. You're civilised people. Help me!" "We can't," Prae says coldly. "Even if we wanted to - and personally I have no problem with him gutting you - we couldn't. He's not ours to control. He's one of your specimens. You helped create him - now you have to deal with him

I always knew there was power in the earth, but it must be much stronger than I imagined to resist such a relentless foe, day after day, night after night, year after year.

You didn't want to die. Most mortals don't, even if they find themselves in as desolate and soul-destroying a spot as 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. Alas, that knowledge comes too late for most would-be-suicides and they die with regret. Very few are offered the chance that you have been handed.

If he turned his back on humanity now, it would be forever.

No, thats not how it happened... Mr crepsley dropped. He was impaled on the stakes. He died. And it was awful... His cries as he writhed there, bleeding and dying, burning and screaming, will stay with me till I die. Maybe I'll even carry them with me after I go.

Destiny's what you make of it. You have to face whatever life throws at you.

You do not have to be alone. The world never inflicts loneliness upon us. That is something we choose or reject by ourselves.

The only way to learn and hone your craft is by working hard and writing regularly.

Many people think that it is important to have a title before you begin writing the book, but I think you should never sit around waiting for the right title to strike before you start writing. Crack on with the story, put in the hard work, and the title will come eventually.

One of the things I wanted to do with my own books was bridge the gap between 'Goosebumps' and adult horror.

I grew up on all sorts of horror - Hammer Horror and Vincent Price's 'Theatre Of Blood.' I loved the hidden, scary layers, but there wasn't that much around for youngsters in terms of horror books. I can remember reading Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot' and 'Cujo,' but I thought there should be more for teenaged horror fans.

I have music on when I write. I don't like the isolation otherwise and find the silence deadening.

I always loved horror, but I read all sorts of books. My favourite as a child was 'The Secret Garden' which has a big influence on Lord Loss, believe it or not!

I was lucky because my mum was a teacher and showed me how to read and write. But most importantly, she encouraged me to use my imagination.