Tod Quotes

“Hey, do you wanna go out for..." His words melted with a sigh when he noticed Tod, but then he rallied with a smile. "Hi, Tod, I didn't realise you were here. In my daughter's bedroom. With the door closed."

"Happy to be here," Tod said, and I groaned out loud.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“So could we please not mob the three-thousand-plus-year-old reaper like tweens at a boy-band concert?”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Save

“So, 'reaper' is really just a nice word for 'covert pervert?' Is that what you're saying?”
― Rachel Vincent, Reaper

“So what does Tod look like? Whitewashed skeleton skulking around in a black cape and hood? Carrying a scythe? 'Cause I'm thinking that would cause mass panic in the hospital." ..... "Do you chase after a funeral processions in a long, dirty dress, hair trailing behind you in the wind? I shot him a mock frown. "Have you been following me again?”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Take

“Like I'm going to pass up an opportunity to smack your cousin.”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Keep

“But I'll be fine. I'll be with Tod. He's a good guy, you know." He just hides it under all the sarcasm and curls.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“How long until you have to go...reap?" I whispered as my arms slid around his neck. Like we were dancing. Only we weren't moving, and there was no music.
"Don't know. Don't care."
"Won't you get in trouble if you miss something?"
"See my previous answer.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“You two are cracked," Tod snapped.
My smile widened. "Says the undead man in love with the soulless pop star.”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Save

“Near-death experiences release a lot of endorphins, resulting in a natural high," Tod whispered. "And it's totally true that one passion feeds another."
"You know we're way past 'near-death', right?"
"My endorphins aren't listening to you.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“You're Nash's brother. And a grim reaper?" She blinked again, and I readied myself for hysterics, or fear, or laughter. But knowing emma, I should have known better. "So you, what? Kill people? Did you kill me that day in the gym?" She clenched the headrest, her expression an odd mix of anger, awe, and confusion. But there was no disbelief. She'd seen and heard enough of the bizarre following her own temporary death that Tod's admission obviously didn't come as that much of a surprise.
Or maybe Nash's Influence was still affecting her a little.
"No," Tod shook his head firmly, but the corners of his mouth turned up in amusement. "I had nothing to do with that. I do kill people, then I reap their souls and take them to be recycled. But only people who are on my list."
"So, you're not...dangerous?"
His pouty grin deepened into something almost predatory, like the Tod I'd first met two months earlier. "Oh, I'm dangerous...."
"Tod..." I warned, as Nash punched his brother in the arm, hard enough to actually hurt.
"Just not to you," the reaper finished, shrugging at Emma. "I see you all the time, but you've never seen me, because Kaylee said if I got too close to you, I'd suffer eternity without my balls."
"Jeez, Tod!" I shouted, my anger threatening to boil over and scald us all.
The reaper leaned closer to Emma and spoke in a stage whisper. "She's not as scary as she thinks she is, but I respect her intent.”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Save

“You shouldn't talk about things you don't understand. Which should leave you pretty damn quiet.”
― Rachel Vincent, If I Die

“Sabine gestured to him with the half-eaten crust. "I like him. Not sure why he's wasting his time with the pole dancer, though."

Tod laughed out loud and I groaned. "Sophie takes ballet and jazz. She's not a pole dancer."
"There's more money in pole dancing," Sabine insisted.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“Tod's eyes widened and his irises swirled in tight twists of blue. "Well, I don't see that I have much of a choice, considering that's part of Reaper Law."
"There's a Reaper Law?"
"Of course. 'A reaper is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous...'" He shrugged. "It gets boring after that. But this situation is clearly covered under the 'helpful' category."
I rolled my eyes. "I think that's the Boy Scout law."
"They took it from us. But they left out all the good stuff.”
― Rachel Vincent, Before I Wake

“She's fifteen!"
Nash shrugged. "That's just a number. It doesn't say anything about her."
"It says something pretty damn funny about your IQ!" I said, and he opened his mouth to retort, but I spoke over him. "Fifteen is too young to drive, too young to get a legal job, too young to sign a lease, and obviously too young to pick a boyfriend with half a brain.”
― Rachel Vincent, Reaper

“Because you don't belong with him! I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn't listen, and I thought if you understood that he'd be better off without you, you'd break up with him for his own good. So I...exaggerated how easy it'd be for him to get over you, with Sabine there to step in. But I underestimated how incredibly stubborn you are"
"I prefer to think of it as dedication..." I mumbled.”
― Rachel Vincent, If I Die

“How did you do it?" I brought the teacup to my mouth for another sip. "How did you guide Sophie's soul? I thought you were a reaper."
"He's both," Nash said from behind me, and I turned just as he followed my father through the front door, pulling his long sleeves down one at a time. He and my dad had just loaded Aunt Val's white silk couch into the back of my uncle's truck, so he wouldn't have to deal with the bloodstains when he and Sohie got back from the hospital. "Tod is very talented."
Tod brushed the curl back from his face and scowled.
Harmony spoke up from the kitchen as the oven door squealed open. "Both my boys are talented."
"Both?" I repeated, sure I'd heard her wrong.
Nash sighed and slid onto the chair his mother had vacated, then gestured toward the reaper with one hand. "Kaylee, meet my brother, Tod.”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Take

“Can’t clean up after you anymore, baby brother, so don’t punk out. Make it count.”
― Rachel Vincent, Reaper

“I nodded, chewing my own syrup-soaked bite. "But surely that's not all there is to it. I mean, really? A big picnic? That's Avari's master plan? That makes him sound about as dangerous as Yogi Bear."

Tod shrugged. "Yeah. If Yogi were a soul-sucking, body-stealing, boyfriend-snatching, damned-soul-torturing evil demon from another world. Besides, what else could he be planning?”
― Rachel Vincent, My Soul to Keep

“I want you, Kaylee, like I’ve never wanted anything. Ever. I want the fire. I want the heat, and the light, and I want the burn.”
― Rachel Vincent, If I Die

“I could have kissed you months ago, but it wouldn't have meant anything. I wished for you to see me. And want me. So...did you mean it?" Fragile hope peeked out at me from behind the smug self-assurance I now recognized as his mask. As armor, against a world that no longer claimed or understood him, and suddenly I realised he wasn't breathing. He was just waiting. For me.
"Yes," I said, and in some unnamed tension inside me eased. "I see you, Tod.”
― Rachel Vincent

“Obwohl uns die Physikalität des Todes zerstört, rettet uns die Idee des Todes.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, In die Sonne schauen. Wie man die Angst vor dem Tod überwindet

“Die Welt ist nirgends außer diesen Mauern;
Nur Fegefeuer, Qual, die Hölle selbst.
Von hier verbannt, ist aus der Welt verbannt,
Und solcher Bann ist Tod: Drum gibst du ihm
Den falschen Namen. - Nennst du Tod Verbannung,
Enthauptest du mit goldnem Beile mich
Und lächelst zu dem Streich, der mich ermordet.


There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence banishèd is banished from the world,
And world's exile is death. Then "banishèd"
Is death mistermed. Calling death "banishèd",
Thou cuttest my head off with a golden axe
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

“Zu früh, befürcht ich; denn mein Herz erbangt
Und ahnet ein Verhängnis, welches, noch
Verborgen in den Sternen, heute Nacht
Bei dieser Lustbarkeit den furchtbarn Zeitlauf
Beginnen und das Ziel des läst'gen Lebens,
Das meine Brust verschließt, mir kürzen wird
Durch irgendeinen Frevel frühen Todes.
Doch er, der mir zur Fahrt das Steuer lenkt,
Richt' auch mein Segel!


I fear, too early. For my mind misgives
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels, and expire the term
Of a despisèd life, closed in my breast,
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail!

Romeo: Act I, Scene 4”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

“Wie rau der Morgen war. So weiß, so kühl gegen das sanfte Violett der Nacht; so harsch und bloß nach den reich gekleideten Träumen. So unnachsichtig klar, wie Glassplitter auf der nackten Haut, wenn sie noch weich und verwundbar war unter den Laken. So herzzerreißend licht, wenn man sterben musste.”
― Lilach Mer, Der siebte Schwan

“Unsere Hölle ist hier auf Erden, von Menschen gemacht. Was sollte ich da den Teufel noch fürchten?
[Siegfried]”
― Richard Rötzer, El Laboratorio de los Alquimistas

“Findest du es nicht schrecklich, dass wir eines Tages sterben werden?"
"Nein. Es ist absolut fantastisch! Es öffnet uns die Möglichkeit, das Leben in vollen Zügen zu geniessen. Da jeder Moment unser letzter sein könnte, können wir alles geniessen, was dieses Leben uns bietet.”
― Ryan Gelpke, Die Howl Gang Legende

“Der Tod stellt ein sehr reales Trauma für uns dar, das über das Bewusstsein hinausgeht, dass auch unser eigenes Leben früher oder später ein Ende nehmen wird. Er geht mit einem Einbruch des Schweigens einher, einer ganz eigenen Form der Sprachlosigkeit. Ein Mensch zu sein heißt zwar immer, sterblich zu sein und die Sterblichkeit geliebter Menschen zu bezeugen, doch es heißt nicht, diese Sterblichkeit auch zu begreifen. Unsere Psyche beschützt uns davor, den Tod geliebter Menschen zu verstehen. Sie erlaubt uns nur, im Laufe der Zeit unserem Nichtverstehen etwas näher zu kommen und es so in unser Leben zu integrieren.”
― Daniel Schreiber, Die Zeit der Verluste

“Es gibt ein Sterben, das schlimmer ist als der Tod und das
darin besteht, daß ein geliebter Mensch das Bild, mit dem wir in ihm lebten, in sich abtötet. Wir löschen in ihm aus. Das kann durch dunkle Strahlung kommen, die wir senden; die Blüten schließen sich leise vor uns zu.”
― Ernst Jünger, Jurnale pariziene și însemnări din Caucaz

“Mit Hermann war nicht alles leicht gewesen, aber das meiste. Und darauf kommt es im gemeinsamen Leben an, dass man es miteinander meistens leicht hat.
Mit Hermann war immer jemand da: Hermann.
Mit Hermann brauchte sie nicht zaudern. Oder Hermann zauderte mit, das war auch schön.”
― Saša Stanišić, Möchte die Witwe angesprochen werden, platziert sie auf dem Grab die Gießkanne mit dem Ausguss nach vorne

“Man vergaß die Toten. Man vergaß ihre Stimmen, und man vergaß ihre Gesichter. Auch wenn man das Gefühl für sie nie ganz verlor, war es schrecklich, irgendwann aufzuwachen und nicht mehr ganz sicher zu sein, wie die verstorbene Person einmal ausgesehen hatte. Sie wusste das nur zu gut.”
― Miriam Georg, Im Nordwind