"The philosophy of the impossible has been the dominant motive in human affairs for the past two centuries. We have pursued the mastery of nature as if we ourselves were not a portion of that nature. We have boasted of our command over our physical environment while we ourselves have done our urgent best to destroy it."

"Art is an adventure. When it ceases to be an adventure, it ceases to be art. Not all of us pursue the inaccessible landscapes of the twelve-tone scale, just as not all of us strive for inaccessible mountain-tops, or glory in storms at sea. But the human incidence is there. Could it be that these two impractical pursuits - of beauty and of adventure’s embrace - are simply two differing profiles of the same uniquely human reality?"

"Man is neither unique nor central nor necessarily here to stay. But he is a product of circumstances special to the point of disbelief. And if man in his current predicament seeks a fair mystique to see him through, then I can only suggest that he consider his genes. For they are marked. They are graven by luck beyond explanation. They are stamped by forces that we shall never know. But even so, in the hieroglyph of the human emergence certain symbols must stand for all to read: Change is the elixir of the human circumstance, and acceptance of challenge the way of our kind. We are bad-weather animals, disaster’s fairest children. For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst."

"There is nothing so moving - not even acts of love or hate - as the discovery that one is not alone."

"Human war ... has been the most successful of all our cultural traditions."

"Intelligence is no human sideshow but an evolutionary main event. The power to foresee, to call upon the past in terms of the future, to evaluate, to imagine solutions, is a power flowing from old time springs. The human mind may be denied the policeman's privilege of arresting this instinct or that. It may sit as no more than a moderator in the eternal instinctual debate. But it is a moderator with unlimited investigative powers."

"A skepticism concerning what one beholds - whether in the arts, in the sciences, or in the deeply etched channels of fashionable response - contains a force essential to the survival of civilized man."

"We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted to battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses."

"He smiled because he was alive."

"Verily, wisdom is like hunger. Perhaps it is a very fine thing—but who would willingly partake of it?"

"“We will soon know.” “Yes, indeed,” Covenant muttered. “Only I hate surprises. You never know when one of them is going to ruin your life.”"

"The answer to death was to make use of it rather than fall victim to it—master it by making it serve his goals, beliefs. This was not a good answer. But it was the only answer he had."

"“Are you wise, Unbeliever?” “Who knows? If I am—wisdom is overrated.”"

"“Are you so ashamed of what you were?” Bannon cocked a white eyebrow at the question, as if it came close to the truth. “I am not shamed,” he said distinctly. “But I am saddened that so many centuries were required to teach us the limits of our worth. We went too far, in pride and folly. Mortal men should not give up wives and sleep and death for any service—less the face of failure become too abhorrent to be endured.”"

"Retribution—ah, my friend, retribution is the sweetest of all sweet dark dreams."

"Do not be too quick to judge the makers of worlds. Will you ever write a story for which no character will have caused to reproach you?"

"Then he grinned. “But it is said that hunger teaches many things. My friend, a wealth of wisdom awaits us on this journey.”"

"The task was impossible, and mortal human beings accomplished nothing but their own destruction when they attempted the impossible."

"You did not cause his despair. Had you treated him with distrust, you would have achieved nothing but the confirmation of his distress. Distrust—vindicates itself."

"“Then why do you delay? Why do you fear?” Because I am mortal, weak. The way is only clear—not sure. In my time, I have been a seer and oracle. Now I—I desire a sign. I require to see.”"

"I rest and rest, but I do not become young."

"“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s a goddam miracle, that’s what it is.” “Come, now,” the older man murmured. “I don’t believe in miracles—neither do you.”"

"The bluff stone of the tower, with Revelstone rising behind it like the prow of a great ship, answered his gaze in granite permanence as if it were a prophecy by the old Giants—a cryptic perception that victory and defeat were human terms which had no meaning in the language of mountains."

"I loved you before that. I love you now. I’m just an unconscionable bastard, and I used you, that’s all. Now I regret it."

"Power was dreadful and treacherous. When it was not great enough to accomplish its wielder’s desires, it turned against the hands which held it."

"Yet this withholding of knowledge ran against every grain of his character. He believed intensely that the refusal to share knowledge demeaned both the denier and the denied."

"You know, where I come from, the people who did this to a forest would be called pioneers—a very special breed of heroes, since instead of killing other human beings they concentrate on slaughtering nature itself."

"If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather hear something that makes sense."

"Dreaming is like—it’s like being a slave. Your dreams come out of all the parts of you that you don’t have any control over."

"She said that it is the responsibility of the living to justify the sacrifices of the dead. Otherwise their deaths have no meaning."

"The prevailing breeze from the Forest blew into his face, and for the first time in many days he was able to distinguish the tang of the season. He found that the autumn of the Land had turned its corner, traveled its annual round from joy to sorrow. The air no longer gleamed with abundance and fruition, with ripeness either glad or grim. Now the breeze tasted like the leading edge of winter—a sere augury, promising long nights and barrenness and cold."

"I have no special virtue to make me resent him. One must have strength in order to judge the weakness of others. I am not so mighty."

"No one person has the right to withhold knowledge from another. No one is wise enough."

"I was trying to give her something, make it up to her somehow. But that doesn’t work. When you’ve hurt someone that badly, you can’t go around giving them gifts. That’s arrogant and cruel."

"Power is power. Its uses are in the hands of the user."

"Abruptly Loerya joined the probing. “And if there is no Creator? Or if the creation is untended?” “Then who is there to reproach us? We provide the meaning of our own lives. If we serve the Land purely to the furthest limit of our abilities, what more can we ask of ourselves?”"

"Do not hurt where holding is enough; do not wound where hurting is enough; do not maim where wounding is enough; and kill not where maiming is enough; the greatest warrior is he who does not need to kill."

"War puts burdens on people without caring whether they are ready for them or not."

"“That’s madness!” Covenant gasped thickly. Elena’s gaze wavered on the edge of focus, and he could not bear to look at her. “Do you think that some existence after death is going to vindicate you after you’ve simply extirpated life from the earth? That was exactly Kevin’s mistake. I tell you, he is roasting in hell!”"

"“That was a joke. Or a metaphor.” Covenant made another effort to turn his sarcasm into humor. “I can never tell the difference.”"

"All you need to avoid despair is irremediable stupidity or unlimited stubbornness."

"Don’t talk like a damned mystic. Say something I can understand."

"Dreams—never forgive."

"“We have searched the seas, and have waited for the omens to come to pass.” Foamfollower paused to look thoughtfully at Covenant, then went on: “Ah, my Lords, omening is curious. So much is said—and so little made clear.”"

"“Go to hell,” Covenant mumbled. “Don’t you ever sleep?” “The Bloodguard do not sleep.” “What?” “No Bloodguard has slept since the Haruchai swore their Vow.” With an effort, Covenant pulled himself into a sitting position. He peered blearily at Bannor for a moment, then muttered, “You’re already in hell.”"

"It may be that hope misleads. But hate—hate corrupts. I have been too quick to hate. I become like what I abhor."

"Ah, it is hard to take pride in human history."

"“Why? Why do you trust me?” The Hirebrand’s eyes gleamed as if he were on the verge of tears, but he was smiling as he said, “You are a man who knows the value of beauty.”"

"Foamfollower’s question caught him wandering. “Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?” Absently, he replied, “I was, once.” “And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?”… “I live.” “Another?” Foamfollower returned. “In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more—with one word you will make me weep.”"

"A good laugh, Covenant sighed morosely. Did I do a whole life’s laughing in that little time?"