"Franklin Fletcher dreamed of luxury in the form of tiger-skins and beautiful women. He was prepared, at a pinch, to forgo the tiger-skins. Unfortunately the beautiful women seemed equally rare and inaccessible."

"“To listen,” said little Guis, “is to be drunk without spending a penny. You think you understand; you seem to fly through the air; you have to burst out laughing.”"

"In sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled."

"Smith filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures."

"All human thought, all science, all religion, is the holding of a candle to the night of the universe."

"Lunatics with a speculative bent can sometimes stumble overly close to certain guarded cosmic secrets."

"To destroy wonder and mystery, is to destroy the only elements that make existence tolerable."

"Nobody since Poe has so loved a well-rotted corpse."

"For thin is the veil betwixt man and the godless deep. The skies are haunted by that which it were madness to know; and strange abominations pass evermore between earth and moon and athwart the galaxies. Unnameable things have come to us in alien horror and will come again. And the evil of the stars is not as the evil of earth."

"Not as the plants and flowers of Earth, growing peacefully beneath a simple sun, were the blossoms of the planet Lophai. Coiling and uncoiling in double dawns; tossing tumultuously under vast suns of jade green and balas-ruby orange; swaying and weltering in rich twilights, in aurora-curtained nights, they resembled fields of rooted serpents that dance eternally to an other-worldly music."

"But here, in this place of eternal bareness and solitude, it seemed that life could never have been. The stark, eroded stones were things that might have been reared by the toil of the dead, to house the monstrous ghouls and demons of primal desolation."

"Stern and white as a tomb, older than the memory of the dead, and built by men or devils beyond the recording of myth, is the mansion in which we dwell."

"Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams; I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar, Throned on the mounting zenith, and illume The spaceward-flown horizons infinite."

"How do you like that? The future of the universe may be in the hands of a crazy woman."

"Either his desire was too intense to shut out or else I was feeling my own as well as his. What was going on? It was wrong, all wrong. No, it wasn’t wrong, it was right, and that was what was wrong."

"That was the trouble with being an empath; he couldn’t convince himself a woman wanted him unless she really did."

"That stopped me. I had been so caught up in events, I hadn’t had a chance to think through the ramifications of them all."

"“Even if I knew ancient warfare, which I don’t, they probably have their own strategies here.” “The strategy is the same everywhere,” she muttered. “Kill.”"

"“I do not understand this ‘mountain climbing.’” Shannar glared at Brad as if he had invented the activity rather than just given them the terminology. “What sane person would hammer spikes in a wall and swing from them on a rope?”"

"“If this is not sorcery, what is it?” “Technology.”"

"The progress of the human race could be described as the history of how we didn't know what we didn't know."

"However beautiful, images are only instruments meant to teach truth and inspire contemplation. The realities they struggle to represent are beyond the power of mortals to imagine."

"“You mean me entering the Library may have destroyed the universe?” Catherine asked “You don’t need to sound quite so impressed by it,” Irene chided. “It’s not something you want on your yearly performance review.”"

"We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be focusing on what’s important."

"You must surely know by now, Winters, that a leader’s authority is limited to giving her followers orders that they will actually obey."

"Irene realized she was on the point of shouting. Worse, of being ungrammatical. She took a deep breath."

"I think the time for blind trust is long over. Now I need answers."

"Don’t you realize you have a responsibility to other people to look after yourself?"

"“I honestly thought you’d be happier if you knew nothing about it for the rest of your life. Was I wrong?” Irene slumped in her chair. “No, you weren’t. Everyone’s going to say that, aren’t they? ’It was for your own good.’” “Something you’ll learn as you get older is that truth and reconciliation may be necessary for nations, but it isn’t necessarily best for individuals.”"

"It was the sort of overly complex plan dreamed up by armchair manipulators who thought they could play chess with the universe and didn’t realize that the universe ignored rulebooks."

"“Very well. Then our conversation is over.” “Aren’t you going to threaten me?” Irene asked. “Miss Winters, if you don’t already feel threatened, I’m not doing my job properly.”"

"“Everyone’s being hypocritical,” she muttered. “Is there anyone around here who doesn’t want something from us while acting innocent? We need to find out what’s really going on before everyone does the wrong thing for the right reasons.”"

"“Nothing lasts,” he said, his voice guttural with age and remembered pain. “Neither knowledge, nor skill, nor family, nor the bond between master and student. In another thousand years I will be gone. And in time you both will pass as well, and this place will be dust. For all that we pride ourselves on our power and our length of years, Prince Kai, ultimately dragons too are as fleeting as fireflies. There was a time when we never existed; there will also come a time when nobody will remember us. War changes to peace. But, ultimately, peace collapses into war and the cycle continues.” “I’ve told you before, sir, you will be remembered as long as my fathers kingdom lasts.” Shan Yuan spoke with affection, clearly repeating an old reassurance. “That’s not as reassuring as you might think.”"

"“Are there other Librarian ghosts here?” she asked. “Ghosts? Yes, I suppose that’s the best word for it. Collections of memories, maybe. We are all the sum of our memories, after all.”"

"I don’t care about politics or the greater good or universal peace or whatever. I just want to be left in peace with books."

"“May I be frank?” Sherrington asked. Irene sighed. This was always the sign of a fast-approaching insult."

"My dear Miss Winters, You will have realized by now that I intend to bring down irretrievable ruin on you, your loved ones, your friends and associates, your workplace, and anything else that comes to mind. Please don’t feel obliged to thank me. It is my pleasure entirely."

"If my friends—my brothers and sisters—have sacrificed themselves, then it was their choice. You, on the other hand, have lied to us and kept us in the dark and used us. You’re probably going to tell me that you did it for a higher cause, that you were just protecting us. But true higher causes don’t have everyone deserting them when they find out the truth, grandmother. Genuine ethical purposes don’t have everyone walking out once they know what’s really going on. And causes that people care enough to die for…”"

"Catherine looked as if she was about to boil over. “We have been poisoned,” she said again. “We’re about to die! I’ll never get at those books!” “Now, that’s the right attitude,” Kai agreed, glad to see her demonstrating a proper sense of priorities."

"You can’t trust people in power, dearie. They’ll say whatever they want, all the witnesses will be paid to agree, and then you’re behind bars till the end of your days. Or worse."

"“I have a complicated relationship with my parents. It’s a good relationship, but…” “You hardly ever see them!” “Yes, that’s why it’s a good relationship.”"

"My dear Irene, there are two sorts of collectors. One is satisfied by simply owning the treasured item and doesn’t care whether or not the rest of the world knows. But the other sort—they absolutely have to brag about their possessions. For them, half the pleasure comes from the thought of acquaintances gnawing their guts out with envy. Even if it increases the risk of theft, they can’t help themselves."

"Irene didn’t need Vale’s deductive skills to tell her she was in trouble. But there was something liberating about this. She was surrounded by known enemies, not politics. And she didn’t have anyone to worry about—apart from herself."

"They did attempt to leave the European Union last year, but apparently that was prompted by demonic interference."

"“There is no truth to peace,” she said. “Peace is at best a brief interlude between hostilities. The treaties which might be signed here are no more than lies. The field of battle is more honest.”"