Quotes for Friday from Fiona Leonard's The Chicken Thief

Solidarity amongst chickens had been the death knell of many a careless thief. [4]

If someone were to clip his wings he would bleed to death at their feet before the knife had even finished slicing through the air. [109]

Humans claimed to be incredibly smart, and yet they spent their lives constantly dismissing the obvious. Hear a noise once, catch a glimpse of something they can't quite see, and they will tell themselves it's nothing, and blunder vacantly on, only to act surprised when the avalanche hits. Animals are not so stupid. Animals know that there is only a whisper between a second hearing and death. [201]

With women it really was impossible to do the right thing. No matter how hard you tried you were always in trouble. All that changed was how much. [217]

He missed talking to her, missed being able to sit long enough that words and meanings had time to work themselves out, instead of staying twisted up like rubber bands in a drawer. [240]

Did you really need to reach out and shake its hand? Maybe it would change you, change the way saw the world. Once you you have held death in your hands would you still fear it? [242]

'He said this was what Independence truly meant' the son said. He pointed out across the valley towards the sun as it crept towards the horizon. 'He said that only when you can see tomorrow with nothing in your way, are you truly free.' [250]

'Ahh, Alois, people think the world stops when there's crisis, that a war is all about fighting and conflict. They forget that all the while there are children going to school and people washing their clothes. There are people who fall in love and get divorced, who brush their teeth and cook meals for their families. ...' [301]

To the untrained ear, fear is in the sound of a footstep, the breaking of a branch, the heaving of a chest. But only a bad thief makes those sounds. To hear a practised thief you must listen for the sound of the blood in his veins as it carries to his extremities; the only sound that cannot be hidden. [333]