Fantasy Authors

"“Dame Fairy of the Silver Eyes: allow me to put you a question, which is this: where should I seek the Holy Grail?” “Determine its location and go to that spot; that is my wise advice.” Travante spoke tentatively: “If you could guide me to my lost youth, I would be most grateful.” Twisk jumped high in the air, pirouetted, settled slowly to the ground. “I am not an index of the world’s worries. I know nothing either of Christian crockery nor truant time! And now: silence!"

"Sir, your ideas are incorrect in every possible respect."

"King Aillas talks softly and with great politeness; he has the uncomfortable skill of calling one a false-hearted blackguard, a liar, a cheat and a villain, but making it seem a fulsome compliment."

"I have seen all I care to see and heard rather more."

"“I watch the sea and the sky; sometimes I wade in the surf and build roads in the sand. At night I study the stars.” “You have no friends?” “No.” “And what of the future?” “The future stops at ‘now’.” “As to that, I am not so sure,” said Shimrod. “It is at best a half-truth.” “What of that? Half a truth is better than none: do you not agree?” “Not altogether,” said Shimrod. “I am a practical man, I try to control the shape of the ‘nows’ which lie in the offing, instead of submitting to them as they occur.” Melancthe gave an uninterested shrug. “You are free to do as you like.” Leaning back in the divan, she looked out across the sea. Shimrod finally spoke. “Well then: are you ‘good’ or ‘bad’?” “I don’t know.” Shimrod became vexed. “Talking with you is like visiting an empty house.” Melancthe considered a moment before responding. “Perhaps,” she said, “you are visiting the wrong house. Or perhaps you are the wrong visitor.”"

"What is peace? Balance three iron skewers tip to tip, one upon the other; at the summit, emplace and egg, so that it too poises static in mid-air, and there you have the condition of peace in this world of men."

"Madouc, this is my advice: pick up yonder clod of dirt, and tender it to that pop-eyed little imp, speaking these words: “Zocco, with this token I both imburse and reimburse you, in full fee and total account, now and then, anon and for ever, in this world and all others, and in every other conceivable respect, for each and every service you have performed for me or in my behalf, real or imaginary, to the limits of time, in all directions.”"

"“Poor Pymfyd! Your world is built of fear and dread! As for me, I have no time for such emotions.” Pymfyd spoke in an even voice. “You are a royal princess and I may not call you a witless little fool, even should the thought cross my mind.” Madouc turned him a sad blue-eyed glance. “So that, after all, is your concept of me.” “I will say only this: persons who fear nothing are soon dead.”"

"“We are supposed to set you a good example,” said Devonet. “As a start, I will point out that a lady of refinement would not wish to be found so high in a tree.” “Then I am a lady of refinement well and truly,” said Madouc, “since I did not wish to be found.”"

"“Why not alter the habits of a lifetime and speak with candour?” asked Shimrod. “Truth, after all, need not be only the tactic of last resort.”"

"You are a particularly clever girl: almost as clever as you are appealing to the eye."

"Aillas replied that while King Audry cited several points of technical interest, and used the resources of abstract logic in an adroit manner, he had actually made no connection with reality."

"“It is no hardship whatever,” said Aillas. “You have never strained at the deed. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and suddenly you find the idea incredible. Do you not sense a taint of unreality?”"

"“I would define ‘avarice’ as a consequence of the human estate: a condition arising from turbulence and inequality. In none of the paradises, where conditions are no doubt optimum, does ‘avarice’ exert force. Here, we are men struggling toward perfection and ‘avarice’ is a station along the way.”"

"Dismount and kneel before me, that I may strike off your head with fullest ease. You shall die in this tragic golden light of sunset."

"“If ambush I must, then ambush I will,” Aillas muttered to himself. “A fig for chivalry, at least until the war is won.”"

"Dango, Pume, Thwither: down with Visbhume’s breeches; let him hold his backside at the ready."

"Count me not your friend but the enemy of your enemies."

"He said that humanity in the main was crass, stupid, boorish and vulgar, and that I could learn at least this much from you."

"Beauty compelled admiration and erotic yearning; such was its organic function. But never by itself could it command love."

"“You drink only sparingly. Is the beer too thin?” “No at all. I merely wish to keep my wits about me. It would not do if both of us became addled, and later woke up in doubt as to who was who.”"

"Shimrod said: “Once I thought of you as a child in a woman’s body.” Melancthe smiled a cool smile. “And now?” “The child seems to have wandered away.”"

"A single question remained, the age-old cry of anguish: “How could one so beautiful be so base?”"

"I have transcended that phase in my intellectual growth where I discover humour in simple freakishness. What exists is real; therefore it is tragic, since wherever lives must die. Only fantasy, the vapours rising from sheer nonsense, can now excite my laughter."

"I gathered that the old fellow suffers from some advanced form of senile dementia, and so perhaps his analysis is not totally accurate."

"Sir, my life, drab and insipid though it may seem to others, is the only life given me to live."

"They call me a renegade. The epithet is inaccurate and undeserved. I cannot be faithless to a cause which I never have endorsed. Indeed, I am absolutely faithful to the only cause I espouse, which is my own welfare. I take pride in this unswerving loyalty!"

"You have frightened and daunted me. I will stop stealing at once."

"“Sir Tristano spoke: “Stop! You are taking the great green pearl!” “Naturally!” said the voice from a point close behind. “That is the whole point of robbery: to acquire the victim’s valuables!”"

"A notable scheme has occurred to me."

"“As I listen to you I hear only ingenuousness and didactic theory.” Lorcas compressed his lips. “Perhaps because you are hearing views which contradict your emotions.”"

"By an axiom of cultural anthropology, the more isolated a community, the more idiosyncratic become its customs and conventions. This of course is not necessarily disadvantageous."

"Here was the milieu he loved: conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles, patient explanations of the obvious, fleeting allusions to the unthinkable. As a preliminary, the conversationalist must gauge the mood, the intelligence, and the verbal facility of the company."

"The Rhune is not a likable man. He is so sensitive as to be truculent; he is contemptuous of all other races than the Rhune. He is self-centered, arrogant, unsympathetic in his judgments."

"A troubled society is like a man with a stomach-ache. When he purges himself, he improves."

"“I perceive your ideological bias.” “It is not bias to favor the tried and true ways of the past; it is ordinary common sense.”"

"Perhaps you mistake assurance for insolence…Agreed, the qualities sometimes converge."

"There’s ample human achievement in the universe, but not nearly enough beauty."

"Which is better: cheap submission or expensive independence?"

"Drowsing in the warmth, Etzwane could find no occasion for haste; indeed, the prospect of docking the boat and stepping ashore aroused in him a curious mood of melancholy. The adventure would then be definitely finished; for all its misery and black despair, he had lived to his utmost capacity; he had augmented and enriched his life."

"I know now what I should have known every moment of my life; that unless you help yourself, you die a slave. The fact is basic."

"“Bah,” muttered Sul. “I am unable to chop logic with you; you have the superior sleight with words.”"

"I am not the man for this sort of business; I detest puzzlement."

"“I consider myself a fortunate men, more so than most. I have often wondered why it was given to me to live the life of Kyril Fabrache.” “These reflections, at one time or another, have occurred to all of us,” said Ifness, “but unless we are agreed upon a religion of gradated reincarnation, the question is ingenuous.”"

"“Where are the Red Devil bones?” “Not far distant: beyond the ridge. Can you not sense the presence of so much death?” Ifness responded in a measured voice: “An intellect in full control of itself unfortunately must sacrifice that receptivity which distinguishes the primitive mentality. This is an evolutionary step I have, on the whole, been happy to make.”"

"“I made no such assertion,” Ifness said. “You drew a faulty inference, for which I cannot accept responsibility. In any event the situation is more complicated than you suppose, and you must be prepared for subtlety.” “Subtlety or deception?” demanded Etzwane. “The effect is much the same.” Ifness held up his hand. “I will explain the situation, if only to reduce the flow of your reproaches.”"

"Ignorance induces suspicion."

"Finnerack warmed to his subject. “Further, why should some toil for a mouthful of bread while long-fingered sybarites partake of Forty-Five Dishes? The good things should be divided; we should start the new system on a basis of equality.” Mialambre responded: “Your sentiments or generous and do you credit. All I can say is that such drastic redistributions have previously been attempted, always to result in chaos and cruel tyranny of one sort or another. This is the lesson of history, which we must now heed.” Finnerack offered no further opinions."

"Your vision exceeds your practicality: often the case with a musician."

"If the study of human interactions could become a science, I suspect that an inviolate axiom might be discovered to this effect: Every social disposition creates a disparity of advantages. Further: Every innovation designed to correct the disparities, no matter how altruistic in concept, works only to create a new and different set of disparities."