How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Granddad did nothing but fuel them […] Granddad was drunk on his own power and my mother wanted me to make a play for the money." (59.25)
All the aunts ask their eldest children to curry Harris's favor. They don't seem to be putting the littles up to it, though, just the Liars.
Quote #2
"Clairmont seemed like the seat of the patriarchy […] We figured if the house was gone, and the paperwork and data inside it gone, and all the objects they fought about gone, the power would be gone." (70.18)
It's naïve of the Liars to think that Harris wouldn't have backed up his paperwork. After all, the aunts walk around with electronic inventories of his possessions—it's not like the Sinclairs don't know what they have. Arguably, this is all the know.
Quote #3
We should not accept an evil we can change.
We would stand up against it, would we not?
Yes. We should.
We would be heroes, even. (71.45-48)
Destruction of physical property doesn't change evil. The only way it can change is if the evil people examine themselves.
Quote #4
My full name is Cadence Sinclair Eastman, and contrary to the expectations of the beautiful family in which I was raised, I am an arsonist.
A visionary, a heroine, a rebel.
The kind of person who changes history. (72.14-16)
Cadence doesn't change world history, only Beechwood history. And Beechwood will always rebuild itself.
Quote #5
"Granddad held so much power," I say. "And now he doesn't. We changed an evil we saw in the world." (72.27)
In changing an evil, Cadence literally, physically changes her brain. So she doesn't change the evil nearly as much as she just moves the evil from the outside world into her own head.
Quote #6
It was a horrible thing to do. Maybe. But it was something. It wasn't sitting by, complaining. I am a more powerful person than my mother will ever know. I have trespassed against her and helped her, too. (73.56)
Cadence actually has less power after the accident—she becomes dependent on her mother to dole out meds, take her to the doctor, and otherwise run her life. If anything, her mother becomes more powerful since Cadence can't even spend the night at Cuddledown without her permission.
Quote #7
All my bravado from this morning,
the power,
the perfect crime,
taking down the patriarchy,
the way we Liars saved the summer idyll and made it better,
the way we kept our family together by destroying some part of it—
all that is delusional.
The dogs are dead… (76.3-10)
Remembering the dogs' death is the prelude to remembering the Liars'. Knowing she killed the dogs is horrific enough; knowing she killed the people she loved most is unbearable.
Quote #8
She confused being sick with being brave, and suffered agonies while imagining she merited praise for it. (79.21)
The Liars become martyrs for a cause, but Gat, Johnny, and Mirren get to go out in a (literal) blaze of glory, while Cadence is left to deal with a lifetime of suffering. It's a long, crippling, pathetic martyrdom.
Quote #9
Go on, she said, the flames will cleanse your souls.
Go on, she said, for you are independent thinkers.
Go on, she said. What is this life we lead, if you do not take action? (79.34-36)
Taking action can enhance your life, or it can bring about your demise. Not knowing which will happen stops a lot of people from acting.