Rangers Apprentice Quotes

“Gundar seemed to come to a decision.
"Well, as my old mam used to say, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck."
"Very wise," Halt said. "And what exactly do your mother's words of wisdom have to do with this situation?"
Gundar shrugged. "It looks like a channel. It's the right place for a channel. If I were digging one, this is where I'd dig a channel. So. . ."
"So it's probably the channel?" Selethen said.
Gundar grinned at him. "Either that or it's a duck.”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“Keep practicing," he told her.
"Until I get it right?" she said. But he corrected her.

"No. Until you don't get it wrong.”
― John Flanagan, The Royal Ranger

“Halt glared at his friend as the whistling continued.
'I had hoped that your new sense of responsibly would put an end to that painful shrieking noise you make between your lips' he said.
Crowley smiled. It was a beautiful day and he was feeling at peace with the world. And that meant he was more than ready to tease Halt 'It's a jaunty song'
'What's jaunty about it?' Halt asked, grim faced. Crowley made an uncertain gesture as he sought for an answer to that question.
'I suppose it's the subject matter' he said eventually. 'It's a very cheerful song. Would you like me to sing it for you?'
'N-' Halt began but he was too late, as Crowley began to sing. He had a pleasant tenor voice, in fact, and his rendering of the song was quite good. But to Halt it was as attractive as a rusty barn door squeaking.
'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met a lovely lady-o'
'Whoa! Whoa!' Halt said 'He met a lovely lady-o?' Halt repeated sarcastically 'What in the name of all that's holy is a lady-o?'
'It's a lady' Crowley told him patiently.
'Then why not sing 'he met a lovely lady'?' Halt wanted to know.
Crowley frowned as if the answer was blatantly obvious.
"Because he's from Palladio, as the song says. It's a city on the continent, in the southern part of Toscana.'
'And people there have lady-o's, instead of ladies?' Asked Halt
'No. They have ladies, like everyone else. But 'lady' doesn't rhyme with Palladio, does it? I could hardly sing, 'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met his lovely lady', could I?'
'It would make more sense if you did' Halt insisted
'But it wouldn't rhyme' Crowley told him.
'Would that be so bad?'
'Yes! A song has to rhyme or it isn't a proper song. It has to be lady-o. It's called poetic license.'
'It's poetic license to make up a word that doesn't exist and which, by the way, sound extremely silly?' Halt asked.
Crowley shook his head 'No. It's poetic license to make sure that the two lines rhyme with each other'
Halt thought for a few seconds, his eyes knitted close together. Then inspiration struck him.
'Well then couldn't you sing 'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met a lovely lady, so...'?'
'So what?' Crowley challenged
Halt made and uncertain gesture with his hands as he sought more inspiration. Then he replied. 'He met a lovely lady, so...he asked her for her hand and gave her a leg of lamb.'
'A leg of lamb? Why would she want a leg of lamb?' Crowley demanded
Halt shrugged 'Maybe she was hungry”
― John Flanagan, The Tournament at Gorlan

“As the old Ranger adage went "If a person doesn't expect to see someone, odds are he won't.”
― John Flanagan, The Kings of Clonmel

“Greybeard Halt is a friend of mine
He lives on Redmont hill
Greybeard Halt never took a bath
And they say he never will!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way


Greybeard Halt, he lost a bet
He lost his winter cloak
When winter comes, Halt stays warm
By sleeping 'mongst the goats.


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I'll see you on your way.


Greybeard Halt, he lives with goats
That's what I’ve heard tell
He hasn’t changed his socks for years
But the goats don't mind the smell!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way


Greybeard Halt is a fighting man
I’ve heard common talk
That Greybeard Halt, he cuts his hair
With his saxe knife and fork!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way”
― John Flanagan, The Sorcerer of the North

“In the desert you always need water,' [Selethen] told [Horace]. 'A wise traveller never goes past a chance to refill his water skins.'
'Is there nowhere else they could do this?' Halt asked. Selethen tapped another mark into the sand with his dagger.
'There are the Orr-San Wells, he said. 'They're smaller and not as reliable.”
― John Flanagan, Erak's Ransom

“And there she was, framed against the bright sunlight reflecting from the snow outside and as breathtakingly beautiful as he knew he would always remember her to be, no matter how long he lived or how old they might become.”
― John Flanagan, The Icebound Land

“Halt nodded his thanks.
"Good work," he said, and Gilan grinned at the praise. Must remember to do that more often, Halt thought. He recalled his own younger days, when words of praise were few and far between...”
― John Flanagan

“I picked this up again because every time I enter a really old building with a spiral staircase I remember this quote from this exact book about why spiral staircases spiral clockwise, and I don't know if it's true or apocryphal or just plain fiction -- I suppose I could look it up -- but I just love that it's permanently engrained in my memory at this point:

"That stairway would be a narrow spiral, set to the left-hand side and twisting the right as it ascended. In that way, a right-handed swordsman climbing the stairs would be at a disadvantage to a right-handed defender. An attacker would have to expose all of his body in order to use his sword, while the defender could strike with only his right side exposed. It was standard design for the castle tower.”
― John Flanagan, The Siege of Macindaw

“That stairway would be a narrow spiral, set to the left-hand side and twisting the right as it ascended. In that way, a right-handed swordsman climbing the stairs would be at a disadvantage to a right-handed defender. An attacker would have to expose all of his body in order to use his sword, while the defender could strike with only his right side exposed. It was standard design for the castle tower.”
― John Flanagan, The Siege of Macindaw

“An ordinary archer practices until he gets it right, a Ranger practices until he never gets it wrong.”
― John Flannagan -The Kings of Clonmel

“For a second or two, Alda's sight was blurred by the reflex tears and he felt a slight pricking sensation under his chin. As his eyes cleared, he found the Ranger's eyes were only a few centimeters from his own. There was no anger there. Instead, there was a look of utter contempt and disregard that was somehow far more frightening.”
― John Flanagan, The Ruins of Gorlan