Joseph R. Lallo > Quotes

“Many people believe they know true darkness, but until it has been experienced it cannot be imagined. Without even a flicker of light, the mind begins to play tricks. There is a constant feeling that there is a wall before you, that you must stop. The eyes open as wide as they can, hungry for light. The only thing that helps is to shut them tight.”
― Joseph Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“the hand has programmable fingerprints, a vibration motor, data interface capabilities-” “Wait. A vibration motor in your hand? Why?” “I’m a man, and I’m alone on the planet. Figure it out.”
― Joseph Lallo, Bypass Gemini

“A nightmare is the best kind of dream. The only one that brings happiness when it ends.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Well, it just goes to show you,” the inventor said as he flipped through the pages of notes and ideas, “It is easy to think outside the box when you aren’t smart enough to know where the box is.”
― Joseph Lallo, Bypass Gemini

“Sorry to burst your bubble, lass, but the truth is important. Unfortunately, wisdom and happiness are old enemies, and where one can be found, the other seldom lingers.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Art is supposed to tell a story. It is supposed to be a piece of the soul that created it. Art is supposed to be alive, vibrant. It is supposed to speak directly to the spirit. To say things words alone could never say. Art is the essence of being.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Battle of Verril

“If one does not believe entirely in one's choices, then one has already failed.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Great Convergence

“It was one lesson that she could not bring herself to learn. If someone was going to tell a lie, they would tell it with a smile.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“The problem with engineers today is that they don’t think on paper.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, Bypass Gemini

“That's the wonderful thing about the future. All you ever have to do is wait for it. It will come to you,”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“blood from the gash had seeped through her shirt and the blanket, pooling on the floor. Looking at it intensified the dizziness that its loss had caused. With the most pressing of her concerns attended to, Myranda set her mind to the task of escaping. She assessed the situation. Of course, her pack was gone. A pull on the door revealed it to be solidly secured from the outside. The windows were all small and near to the high ceiling. There would be no escape through any of those. The sole window large enough to allow her to escape was the shattered stained glass window behind the pulpit, but it was even further out of her reach. She had to try the door”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“capture and return of the swordbearer is the responsibility of the Alliance Army. Regardless of what orders you may have received, your interference is considered a treasonous action. Owing to the fact that your interference was entirely beneficial, you will not be charged," the soldier said. Her captor said something too quiet to hear, but the fiend's body language betrayed more than a bit of anger. "I have received no word of such an agreement, and even if I had, it would have been deemed illegal. You shall receive no payment. I suggest you accept this fact and be grateful we do not kill you where you stand," he said. Her mind raced. How could anyone want her or the sword? She had only just found it in the field a day or two ago. It had obviously been there for some time. And how could”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“People like Lain have lived in the dark so long, when they see light, they tend to close their eyes.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Great Convergence

“Nondisclosure agreements and exclusivity agreements. Think like a corporation, lady. They've proven much better at enslaving the masses and pushing home their agenda than all of the terrorists in the history the human race put together.”
― Joseph Lallo, Unstable Prototypes

“You reap what you sow in this world.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Honestly, people always talk about ‘normal’ as though it is something to aspire to, but that’s a load of crap. Normal isn’t an achievement, it’s a baseline. Normal is something you end up as if you never get around to doing something interesting.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, Bypass Gemini

“Well what are you looking at me for? If this is a democratic process, I've been outvoted," he said in exasperation. "This is why democracy doesn't work. The crazy people always outnumber the sane people.”
― Joseph Lallo, Unstable Prototypes

“The value of the sword did not concern her--at least, not at this moment. Regardless of the price it might fetch in the future, at the moment it represented a far greater find. It was the means to extract the only thing that mattered to her right now, the food that would give her the strength to leave this frozen wasteland. It represented life itself.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Victory!? There is no victory in war! War takes everything and gives nothing!”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Honestly. The spirits could be a bit more straightforward in their messages. If they truly wanted us to know what they were saying, they would say it more clearly.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“without raising his face guard, he looked to the kidnapper. "It seems to be the piece we require. We shall take the girl and be on our way," he said, moving toward the door. The captor stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. "What?" the soldier said, irritated. The kidnapper held the hand out palm up. All hope was dashed away as she struggled to comprehend the pieces as they came together. He was waiting to be paid! The Northern Army was in league with the stranger who had captured her! Why? And why did they want her? A thousand thoughts of fear burned across the back of Myranda's mind and her heart fluttered in her chest. The exchange between the conspirators continued.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“her fists. A sharp pain in the shoulder quickly put the hammering to an end, but she continued to call out. When she was certain that she had been heard, she put her eye back to the crack in the door. The four soldiers stood silently before the door, each in full combat armor, complete with face masks. The first was speaking calmly with her captor while the others looked on. They made no motion toward the door. She strained her ears to hear what the two were saying. Only the soldier spoke loudly enough to hear. "The one who touched the sword? We are charged with her return, as well as that of the sword," he said, in response to the kidnapper's unheard comment. The sinister figure pulled a bundle from inside the cloak and”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“all of my bases covered. You assume responsibility for violations of local, regional, global, intrasystem, interstellar, intergalactic and interdimensional law, civil, religious, or military. I’m also not responsible for loss of life and limb, property damage, domestic disputes, engineered biological human dieback, nuclear fallout, violations of causality, cascading sub-quantum misalignment, hastening of cosmic heat death, rampant AI, accelerated climate change, geomagnetic reversal, vacuum metastability events, total existence failure, gray goo scenario, red goo scenario--that’s a nasty one--tectonic inversion--”
― Joseph R. Lallo, Bypass Gemini

“You can keep trying. Try and fail, try and fail. Maybe many times, but if you continue to try while the others do not, then you will win. So never stop trying.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Rise of the Red Shadow

“Deckhand’s just a fancy word for a person who does everything.” “Where I work, they call people like that a free-wrench. That was my job.” “So”
― Joseph R. Lallo, Free-Wrench

“I've still four senses left. A hand without a thumb is still a hand,”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“that the young dragon beside her had hatched”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“To say I was jealous would be to suggest that you did not deserve all that you have.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“I can either live a life of hate and solitude, or I can do what I feel is right and hope for the same in return.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Book of Deacon

“Grief is like any other kind of pain. No matter how intense or how constant it is, time takes the edge from it. It may not fade, but it loses its sharpness. It becomes the new normal, and eventually steps aside and makes room in the mind for other things.”
― Joseph R. Lallo, The Rise of the Red Shadow