Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Quotes

We Tell Lies Quote (To Green Angel Tower)

The Dragonbone Chair

“He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder.”

“Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it — memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.”

“Ah. A small aversion to menial labor?” The doctor cocked an eyebrow. “Understandable but misplaced. One should treasure those humdrum tasks that keep the body occupied but leave the mind and heart unfettered. Well, we shall strive to help you through your first day in service. I have thought of a wonderful arrangement.” He did a funny little jig step. “I talk, you work. Good, eh?”

Morgenes leaned forward, waggling the leather-bound volume under Simon’s nose. “A piece of writing is a trap,” he said cheerily, “and the best kind. A book, you see, is the only kind of trap that keeps its captive — which is knowledge — alive forever. The more books you have,” the doctor waved an all-encompassing hand around the room, “the more traps, then the better chance of capturing some particular, elusive, shining beast — one that might otherwise die unseen.” Morgenes finished with a grand flourish, dropping the book back up on the pile with a loud thump.

“There is no such thing as ‘fearless,’ Simon – not unless a man is mad. People who are called fearless are usually just good at hiding it, and that is quite a different thing.”

“The sea to the West, the Forest to the East; the North and its iron men, and the land of shattered empires in the South… staring out across the face of Osten Ard, Simon forgot his knee for a while. Indeed, for a time Simon himself was king of all the known world.”

“Beyond the castle chapel the sea of roofs spread out in all directions: the Great Hall, the throne room, the archives and servants’ quarters, all pitched and uneven, repaired or replaced many times as the seasons in their passing licked at gray stone and lead shingle, then nibbled them away. To Simon’s left loomed the slender white arrogance of Green Angel Tower; farther back, protruding above the arch of the chapel tome, the gray, squat bulk of Hjelden’s Tower sat up like a begging dog.”

Stone of Farewell

“Not everyone can stand up and be a hero, Princess. Some prefer to surrender to the inevitable and salve their consciences with the gift of survival.”

“I know it pains you to hear me speak so, Willow-switch,” Amerasu said. “But you are dearest of all my young ones and you are strong. You can hear truth.” She shifted slowly in her chair, long-fingered hand settling on the breast of her white robe. “You, too, manchild, have known loss. That is in your face. But though every loss is grave, the lives as well as the losses of mortals appear and fade as swiftly as the seasons turn the leaves. I do not mean to be cruel. Neither do I seek pity — but not you or any other mortal has seen the dry centuries roll past, the hungry millennia, seen the very light and color sucked out of your world until nothing remains but juiceless memories.”

“Better the Devil’s tongue to argue and question than a silent tongue and an empty head.”

“As he lay in his blankets one night, he realized he could no longer say for certain how long he had been among the Sithi. Aditu, when asked, claimed not to remember. Simon took the same question to Jiriki, who fixed him with a look of great pity and asked whether he truly wished to count the days. Chilled by the implication, Simon demanded the truth.”

To Green Angel Tower

“Even the king’s Erkynguard might have wished to be elsewhere, rather than here on this killing ground where duty brought them and loyalty prisoned them. Only the mercenaries were here by choice. To Simon, the minds of men who would come to this of their own will were suddenly as incomprehensible as the thoughts of spiders or lizards — less so, even, for the small creatures of the earth almost always fled from danger. These were madmen, Simon realized, and that was the direst problem of the world: that madmen should be strong and unafraid, so that they could force their will on the weak and peace-loving. If God allowed such madness to be, Simon could not help thinking, then He was an old god who had lost His grip.”

“Forget about it. Stories are like hares, only a fool tries to run after one and catch it. She didn’t know which she liked less, having people tell lies about her or having people know the truth.”

“Now come please. Come and join us. Up the corridor you have a room full of friends. Some of them you don’t even know yet!”


The Wisdom of Binabik

Treacherous Paths Quote by Tad Williams

“If the bears do not eat you, it is home.”

“Brave and foolish often live in the same cave.”

“When it falls on your head, then you know it is being a rock.”

“A well-aimed spear is worth three.”

“If you wish to carry a hungry weasel in your pocket, it is your choice.”

“Make philosophy your evening guest, but do not let her stay the night.”

“Send the man with the oily tongue to go and lick the snowshoes.
”

“He who is not bringing in his flock at night gives away free mutton.”

“Mourning is for home.”

“A mountain is bigger than we, and if it falls on us we will be very dead in a very big hole.”

“When your teeth are gone, learn to like mush.”

“When the snowslide takes your house, do not stay to hunt for potshards.”

Iq ta randayhet suk biqahuk. Winter is not being the time for naked swimming.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it until you get there.”

“You cannot catch three fish with two hands.”

Mindunob inik yat. My home will be your tomb.”


Related Pages

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn