Marie > Marie's Quotes

“Buttered toast in a sunlit kitchen, a stand of corn and squash out back, a coming reality where sorrow did not draw and quarter them every waking dawn. Is it so much to ask? A three-chord song, a common life? Could we all have that, someday? Could I?”
― Leif Enger, I Cheerfully Refuse

“Next morning at church the pastor said our beautiful visitor {the Great Comet of 1965} meant war was coming (...). At twelve I was unsure what to make of his sweltering interpretation but noticed a strain of quiet annoyance in my stepmom's demeanor driving home. When I asked about the promised war and how we ought to get ready, she pulled the car over and looked in my eyes. Her kindness has like water over smooth stones. She said Pastor Leake was a decent man who often mistook his worldview for the world, a common churchman's error. She said the church was a broken compass. That our job always and forever was to refuse Apocalypse in all its forms and work cheerfully against it.”
― Leif Enger, I Cheerfully Refuse

“There is more honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

“Seize the day, whatever's in it to seize, before something comes along and seizes you.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Arkadians

“Perhaps,' Taran said quietly, watching the moon-white riverbank slip past them, 'perhaps you have the truth of it. At first I felt as you did. Then I remember thinking of Eilonwy, only of her; and the bauble showed its light. Prince Rhun was ready to lay down his life; his thoughts were for our safety, not at all for his own. And because he offered the greatest sacrifice, the bauble glowed brightest for him. Can that be its secret? To think more for others than ourselves?'

That would seem to be one of its secrets, at least,' replied Fflewddur. 'Once you've discovered that, you've discovered a great secret indeed--with or without the bauble.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Castle of Llyr

“For the deeds of a man, not the words of a prophecy, are what shape his destiny.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The High King

“Llonio said life was a net for luck; to Hevydd the Smith life was a forge; and to Dwyvach the Weaver-Woman a loom. They spoke truly, for it is all of these. But you,' Taran said, his eyes meeting the potter's, 'you have shown me life is one thing more. It is clay to be shaped, as raw clay on a potter's wheel.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer

“...alas, raising a young lady is a mystery even beyond an enchanter's skill.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Castle of Llyr

“Evil conquered?' said Gwydion. 'You have learned much, but learn this last and hardest of lessons. You have conquered only the enchantments of evil. That was the easiest of your tasks, only a beginning, not an ending. Do you believe evil itself to be so quickly overcome? Not so long as men still hate and slay each other, when greed and anger goad them. Against these even a flaming sword cannot prevail, but only that portion of good in all men's hearts whose flame can never be quenched.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The High King

“Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?”
― Lloyd Alexander, The High King

“Life's a forge! Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But stand boldly to it! Metal's worthless till it's shaped and tempered! More labor than luck. Face the pounding, don't fear the proving; and you'll stand well against any hammer and anvil.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer

“Indeed, the more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

“Long ago I yearned to be a hero without knowing, in truth, what a hero was. Now, perhaps, I understand it a little better. A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king--every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone.
Once you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The High King

“Neither refuse to give help when it is needed,... nor refuse to accept it when it is offered.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“In some cases we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“Most of us are called on to perform tasks far beyond what we can do. Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“Keep reading. It's one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.”
― Lloyd Alexander

“Child, child, do you not see? For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.”
― Lloyd Alexander

“We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.”
― Lloyd Alexander

“Books can truly change our lives: the lives of those who read them, the lives of those who write them. Readers and writers alike discover things they never knew about the world and about themselves.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat

“A shade of sorrow passed over Taliesin's face. 'There are those,' he said gently, 'who must first learn loss, despair, and grief. Of all paths to wisdom, this is the cruelest and longest. Are you one who must follow such a way? This even I cannot know. If you are, take heart nonetheless. Those who reach the end do more than gain wisdom. As rough wool becomes cloth, and crude clay a vessel, so do they change and fashion wisdom for others, and what they give back is greater than what they won.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The High King

“By all means," cried the bard, his eyes lighting up. "A Fflam to the rescue! Storm the castle! Carry it by assault! Batter down the gates!"
"There's not much of it left to storm," said Eilonwy.
"Oh?" said Fflewddur, with disappointment. "Very well, we shall do the best we can.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“If I fret over tomorrow, I'll have little joy today.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer

“I'm trying to make myself invisible."

"That's an odd thing to attempt.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“Is there not glory enough in living the days given to us? You should know there is adventure in simply being among those we love and the things we love, and beauty, too.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

“Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. But don't forget to put out your nets!”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer

“I can't make sense out of that girl," he said to the bard, "Can you?"

"Never mind," Fflewddur said, "We aren't really expected to.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“You know how chickens are, imagining the world coming to an end one moment, then pecking corn the next.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer