My favorite ECHO quotes

In honor of today's release of the mass-market (small size) paperback of AN ECHO IN THE BONE, here are some of my favorite quotes from ECHO.  Hope you enjoy these!  And feel free to contribute your own favorites, if you want to.



All of the quotes below are taken from AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.  (Page numbers refer to the hardcover edition.)

“Would you care to explain to me exactly which aspects of plant inspection require a penis?” (Chapter 16, "Unarmed Conflict", p. 148)

I love this line. Go Bree!

"I am the son of a great man."
The hook touched Jamie’s hand, hard and capable.
“I wish for nothing more.”
(Chapter 18, "Pulling Teeth", p. 182)

One of the best Fergus moments in the entire series. Just wonderful!

"Ah.  Now, where was I?  Oh, aye--ye wanted to hear what I was thinking of."
"I've changed my mind."  I was panting shallowly, as much from the weight on my chest as from desire.  Both were considerable.
He made a Scottish noise indicating deep amusement and tightened his grip on my wrists.
"You started it, Sassenach--but I'll finish it."  Whereupon he put his lips to my wet ear and told me in a slow whisper exactly what he'd been thinking.  Not moving an inch while he did so, save to put his hand back over my mouth when I began to call him names.
(Chapter 50, "Exodus", p. 478)

I love this whole scene in the Commandant's garden.  One of the best in the whole book, in my opinion.

“Be careful, Sassenach,” he said, still grinning. “Ye dinna want to knock off any more pieces; ye’ll only have to stick them back on, aye?”
“Don’t bloody tempt me."
(Chapter 62, "One Just Man", p. 549)

I love it when Jamie teases Claire. But it's her reply that makes me laugh out loud.

“Ever heard of coup de foudre, Sassenach? It didna take me more than one good look at you.” (Chapter 68, "Despoiler", p. 602)

This is a terrific line. I hadn't heard the term before I read ECHO, but having looked up the definition, now I'm sure I won't ever forget it. Boy, is that ever appropriate!

“If you find out who she’s sleeping with and don’t tell me, I will kill you.”
(Chapter 78, "Old Debts", p. 671)

A reminder (as if we needed one!) that Claire is not a woman to be messed with, ever.

“Where d’ye think he is now?” Jenny said suddenly. “Ian, I mean.”
He glanced at the house, then at the new grave waiting, but of course that wasn’t Ian anymore. He was panicked for a moment, his earlier emptiness returning—-but then it came to him, and, without surprise, he knew what it was Ian had said to him.
“On your right, man.” On his right. Guarding his weak side.
“He’s just here,” he said to Jenny, nodding to the spot between them. “Where he belongs.”
(Chapter 84, "The Right of It", p. 712)

I just LOVE this bit, with the deliberate "echo" of Ian's line in DRAGONFLY, which has long been my favorite Ian quote of the whole series.

"Like forgiveness, it was not a thing once learned and then comfortably put aside but a matter of constant practice—-to accept the notion of one’s own mortality, and yet live fully, was a paradox worthy of Socrates."
(Chapter 94, "The Paths of Death", p. 774)

Diana has said, on Compuserve, that the one-word theme of this book is "mortality". I don't think that theme is stated as succinctly, or as eloquently, anywhere else in the book.

“Fuirich agus chi thu.”
“What?” He stared at me.
“Gaelic,” I said, with a small, deep twinge. “It means ‘Wait and see.’”
(Chapter 98, "Mischianza", p. 794)

This is an inside joke that few people outside of Diana's section of the Compuserve Books and Writers Community will understand. The explanation goes like this: One of Diana's favorite phrases, in response to questions, is "Wait and see."  Back in 2008, Cathy MacGregor posted the Gaelic translation of this phrase, and a number of us, including Diana, have been using "fuirich agus chi thu" in the discussions there ever since. I was delighted to see it in print!

"Something like a geyser rose up inside me and burst in my head, the spray of it sparkling with sunlight and diamonds."
(Chapter 102, "Bred in the Bone", p. 809)

I love this description.

“Thee is a wolf, too, and I know it. But thee is my wolf, and best thee know that.”
(Chapter 103, "The Hour of the Wolf", p. 814)

How wonderful for Ian that he's found a woman who loves and appreciates him for who he is! I thought this was just the right note on which to end the book.