Quotes from King Hereafter

Dorothy Dunnett ·  721 pages

Rating: (1.8K votes)


“He said, 'You have everything there is of me, save a little I gave to my people. Now you hold that as well.'
And last of all, when he had released her and moved to the door, to stand outside where the sky was enclosed with thick hills and dark, heavy forests, he said, because he could not prevent himself, 'When next you stand by the sea, say goodbye for me.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter


“You have only to lift your hand,' Thorkel Fostri said. And after a moment, 'What else were you born for?'

'Why not happiness, like other men?" Thorfinn said.

'You have that,' said his foster-father. 'But if you try to trap it, it will change. Why do you resist? It is your right.'

'I resist because it is no use resisting,' Thorfinn said. 'Do you not think that is unfair? I shall be King because I was King; and I shall die because I did die; and did I remember them, I could even tell what are the three ways it might befall me.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter


“A man of over thirty might be held to be at the height of his powers, but not necessarily of his wisdom.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter


“Don't you know, even yet, why I came back to Orkney?" Rognvald said.
Than Thorfinn looked up. Rognvald's gaze, waiting for his, took and sustained it. Thorfinn did not look away, but his face held no expression.
Rognvald said "I am the dog at your heel. Everything I have ever done has been an attempt to be like Thorfinn.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter


“Then she said, "Thorfinn!" quickly, and moved to him; but had hardly got to his side before he loosed his fingers and thumbs and plunged them down to the mattress like spear-points.
"No!Macbeth. Macbeth. Macbeth!" the name reached her like sling-shot.
Groa said, "They are the same man. I should know. I married both.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter



“His chest heaved, and he coughed.
"You have coughed before," his mother said. "It is a sign of weakness. Control it.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from King Hereafter


About the author

Dorothy Dunnett
Born place: in Dunfermline, Scotland, The United Kingdom
Born date August 25, 1923
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