“Why does everything have to be so hard? [Eragon] wondered.
Because, said Saphira, everyone wants to eat, but no one wants to be eaten.”
“When you teach them-teach them not to fear. Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are and makes it hard to do what you know is right.”
“It's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should you want to. By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our follies and our accomplishments.”
“I am not who I was,' he whispered, gripping the edges of the column, 'but I know who I am.'...
'And I won't give up.”
“As he was about to leave, she said, "Murtagh."
He paused and turned to regard her.
She hesitated for a moment, then mustered her courage and said, "Why?" She though he understood her meaning: Why her? Why save her, and now why try to rescue her? She had guessed at the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.
He stared at her for the longest while, and then, in a low, hard voice, he said, "You know why.”
“Who is it who decides that one man should live and another should die? My life wasn't worth any more than his, but he's the one who's buried, while I get to enjoy at least a few more hours above the ground. Is it chance, random and cruel, or is there some purpose or pattern to all this, even if it lies beyond our ken?”
“If you don't make a few ememies now and then, you're a coward-or worse. Besides, it as worth it to see his reaction. Oh, he was angry!
- Angela to Eragon”
“You cannot learn what you are made of if you rely on anyone or anything else to help you.”
“She lowered her head until it was at his level. He stroked the line of her jaw, and then pressed his forehead against her hard snout and held her as tightly as he could, her scales sharp against his fingers. Hot tears began to slide down his cheeks.
'Why do you cry?' she asked.
'Because... I'm lucky enough to be bonded with you.'
'Little one.”
“HERE LIES BROM
Who was
A Rider bonded to the dragon Saphira
Son of Holcomb and Nelda
Beloved of Selena
Father of Eragon Shadeslayer
Founder of the Varden
And Bane of the Forsworn.
May his name live on in glory.
Stydja unin mo'ranr”
“It was as if his point of view had, within seconds, gone from that of an ant to that of an eagle.
For the sky was hollow, and the world was round.”
“He's acting as foolish as a kitten... but then, everyone's entitled to a little foolishness once in a while.”
“What have you done?' he said, his voice hollow and strained. He stepped back and put his fists to his temples. 'What have you done!'
With an effort, Eragon said, 'Made you understand.”
“Eragon cried out, and in his desperation he reached for Saphira and the Eldunarí... and without meaning to, he drew from their stories of energy.
And with that energy he cast a spell.
It was a spell without words... His was a spell of instinct and emotion; language could not contain it.”
“Then, as they stood there, struggling back and forth without avail, Eragon said in a low fierce voice, "I...see...you."
A bright spark appeared in Arya's eyes, then vanished just as quickly.”
“The future will be what it will, and fretting about it will only make your fears more likely to come true.”
“I'm not the person I once was. I have Thorn now, and... I'm not fighting for myself anymore....It makes a difference....I used to think you were a fool to keep risking your life as you have...I know better now. I understand...why. I understand...' His [Murtagh] eyes widened and his grimace relaxed, as if his pain was forgotten, and an inner light seemed to illuminate his features. 'I understand-we understand.”
“Arya.' He looked down the silvery river and then back at Arya, and he gripped the hilt of Brisingr. He was so full of emotion, he trembled. He did not want to leave, but he knew he must. 'Stay with me-'
Her gaze darted up. 'I cannot.'
'...stay with me until the first curve in the river.'
She hesitated, then nodded.”
“The name, his true name, was weaker and more flawed than he would have liked, and he hated himself for that, but there was also much to admire within it, and the more he thought about it, the more he was able to accept the true nature of his self. He was not the best person in the world, but neither was he the worst.”
“On the beach, Roran stood alone, watching them go. Then he threw back his head and uttered a long, aching cry, and the night echoed with the sound of his loss.”
“In El-harím, there lived a man, a man with yellow eyes.
To me, he said, "Beware the whispers, for they whisper lies.
Do not wrestle with the demons of the dark,
Else upon your mind they'll place a mark;
Do not listen to the shadows of the deep,
Else they haunt you even when you sleep.”
“Haven't had your fill of interesting events?"
"Never. They are the spice of life." She held up her half-finished hat. "How do you like it?"
"It's nice. The blue is pretty. But what do the runes say?"
"Raxacori-Oh, never mind. It wouldn't mean a thing to you anyway. Safe travels to you and Saphira, Eragon. And remember to watch out for earwigs and wild hamsters. Ferocious things, wild hamsters." ”
“Go slowly, so that you do not bite your tail by accident.”
“Why?' - Nasuada
'You know why' - Murtagh”
“Even the smallest of the starlings' concerns grew in importance until it seemed equal to the worries of kings.”
“Learn to see what you are looking at.”
“Anger has its place, but it will not serve you here, the way of the warrior is the way of knowing. Of that knowledge requires you to use anger, then you use anger, but you cannot wrest forth knowledge by losing your temper.”
“Let go of your worries and focus
only on the task at hand. The future will be what it will, and fretting about it will only make your fears more likely to come true .
I know,"--Glaedr”
“Do not feel bad because of it. It's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should you want to. By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our follies and our accomplishment.”
“But anyone with the time and the inclination can acquire technical proficiency. To achieve greatness, though, that requires artistry. That requires imagination and thoughtfulness...”
“The weapons an author has at her disposal are flawed. There are words that feel shapeless and overused. Love, for example. I could write the word love a thousand times and it would mean a thousand different things to different readers.”
“His mind worked fast, flying in emergency supplies of common sense, as human minds do, to construct a huge anchor in sanity and prove that what happened hadn't really happened and, if it had happened, hadn't happened much.”
“Held at bay by the hate of others, preoccupied with his own feelings, he was continuously at war with reality.”
“I pushed him away. So he left.”
“If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.”
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