Michael P. > Michael's Quotes

“Danny had always wanted to know why things were the way they were, and how they worked. When he was five years old, he’d gotten into serious trouble by taking apart some household appliances to see how they functioned, making a complete mess of the gear train inside the can opener and shorting out the cake mixer. At the library, he borrowed books on engineering and science. He could claim, with some justification, to have a decent understanding of how the physical and mathematical worlds worked.
People were another thing entirely; he often had difficulty understanding why they did what they did. Two people in particular had him completely perplexed: Daniel Flanigan and Carlotta Pirelli.”
― Daniel Willard, The Mobster's Daughter

“Show these beings what a Christian is. Welcome them into your hearths, for they are cold. Give them bread for they are hungry. Comfort them for they are far from home. Thus inspired by our example, they will repent and be saved. Remember the Great Plea: Lord, when did we see You hungry? When did we see You naked? When? In our neighbor! And who is our neighbor? Any who may cross our path!”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“When princes flee battle, and knights turn free-lance, and barons rob pilgrims, what value has honor?"

“Why, all the more, seeing how rare it has become.”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“For what purpose have you prayed?"
"For thanks. If I must die, at least I have lived. If my companions have perished, at least I have known them. If the world is cruel, at least I have tasted kindness. I had to cross to the far side of the sky to taste it but, as you say, the world is full of miracles.”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“As they say in the movies, if you want in, fine; if not, you may leave at this point, and nothing will ever be said. It is asking a lot to expect men to walk into a potentially dangerous assignment blindfolded.” Of course nobody left; the men who had been called here were not quitters. Besides, something would be said, and Davenport had a good memory. These were professional officers. One of the compensations for wearing a uniform and earning less money than an equally talented man can make in the real world is the off chance of being killed.”
― Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October

“Submariners lived by a simple motto: There are two kinds of ships, submarines . . . and targets.”
― Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October

“I didn’t tell you this before, but Mama got pregnant with me when she was a sophomore.” Danny already knew that, of course, but he didn’t say anything. “The only reason I’m even alive is because big man Carlo Pirelli got bored with his wife and wanted to screw a pretty teenage girl. Do you know what it feels like to know that?”

Danny stepped over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “It makes you think less of yourself, doesn’t it?”
― Daniel Willard, The Mobster's Daughter

“I had such a beautiful evening planned. Candlelight, dancing, maybe a few flirtatious threats. And what do I get? Grand Theft Equine.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“Caroline Lindley,’ said Robin, not bothering to open his eyes, ‘you are talking to a character you made up in your own head. If there are terrible euphemisms going on, you only have yourself to blame.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“I had such a beautiful evening planned. Candlelight, dancing, maybe a few flirtatious threats. And what do I get? Grand Theft Equine.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“This was the problem with using previously conceived characters in a new book. You sometimes forgot important details about them. Like their wives, with whom they had a superbly adventurous courtship and an action-packed marriage, most likely in more ways than one. Caroline watched in despair as the last chance of a love triangle disappeared over the horizon—probably sailing off in the trading ship she’d just remembered Elinor owned—and tried not to sigh.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“this wasn’t how the masquerade was supposed to go.’ Rosamund shortened Scout’s reins and scowled down at her. ‘What, was I supposed to be stupider?’ ‘Frankly, yes.’ ‘I’m not sorry.’ ‘Wouldn’t have expected you to be.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“Indeed, Rosamund’s author seemed to have a talent for ignoring things that didn’t fit in with her bizarre and often clichéd plans.”
― Jill Bearup, Just Stab Me Now

“When your words come out of your mouth and back into your ear, your brain gives them a second rinse, and cleans them up a little better. All Tom knew was that when he tried to explain things to Sharon, his own thinking clarified.”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“Never underestimate a determined woman. Universes are flimsy things in their hands.”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“One finds both good men and bad in the Church. By our fruits we will be known, not by what name we have called ourselves. I have come to believe that there is more grace in becoming wheat then there is in pulling up weeds.”
― Michael Flynn, Eifelheim

“Night falls; the traveler must pass down village streets, between the houses with yellow- lit windows, and on out into the darkness of the fields. Each alone, they go west or north, towards the mountains. They go on. They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

“They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

“Where do you get your ideas from, Ms Le Guin?” From forgetting Dostoyevsky and reading road signs backwards, naturally. Where else?”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

“One shared bowl of popcorn and a three-minute drive later, Danny pulled into an empty driveway and dropped Carly off at home, finishing the evening with a big good-night kiss on her front step. He was pretty sure he’d gotten a passing grade on this evening’s boyfriend exam.”
― Daniel Willard, The Mobster's Daughter