Genevieve Cogman

"It was the sort of overly complex plan dreamed up by armchair manipulators who thought they could play chess with the universe and didn’t realize that the universe ignored rulebooks."

"“Everyone’s being hypocritical,” she muttered. “Is there anyone around here who doesn’t want something from us while acting innocent? We need to find out what’s really going on before everyone does the wrong thing for the right reasons.”"

"Irene realized she was on the point of shouting. Worse, of being ungrammatical. She took a deep breath."

"I think the time for blind trust is long over. Now I need answers."

"You must surely know by now, Winters, that a leader’s authority is limited to giving her followers orders that they will actually obey."

"“You mean me entering the Library may have destroyed the universe?” Catherine asked “You don’t need to sound quite so impressed by it,” Irene chided. “It’s not something you want on your yearly performance review.”"

"We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be focusing on what’s important."

"Don’t you realize you have a responsibility to other people to look after yourself?"

"“Are there other Librarian ghosts here?” she asked. “Ghosts? Yes, I suppose that’s the best word for it. Collections of memories, maybe. We are all the sum of our memories, after all.”"

"If my friends—my brothers and sisters—have sacrificed themselves, then it was their choice. You, on the other hand, have lied to us and kept us in the dark and used us. You’re probably going to tell me that you did it for a higher cause, that you were just protecting us. But true higher causes don’t have everyone deserting them when they find out the truth, grandmother. Genuine ethical purposes don’t have everyone walking out once they know what’s really going on. And causes that people care enough to die for…”"