“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, quote from Taran Wanderer
“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, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. But don't forget to put out your nets!”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“If I fret over tomorrow, I'll have little joy today.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“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, quote from Taran Wanderer
“I saw myself.... In the time I watched, I saw strength—and frailty. Pride and vanity, courage and fear. Of wisdom, a little. Of folly, much. Of intentions, many good ones; but many more left undone. In this, alas, I saw myself a man like any other.
But this, too, I saw.... Alike as men may seem, each is different as flakes of snow, no two the same. You told me you had no need to seek the Mirror, knowing you were Annlaw Clay-Shaper. Now I know who I am: myself and none other. I am Taran.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“True allegiance is only given willingly.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“If you want truth, you should begin by giving it.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“For Wayfarers still journeying, for Wanderers at rest.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“If life is a loom, the pattern you weave is not so easily unraveled.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Stale water is a poor drink,' said Annlaw. 'Stale skill is worse. And the man who walks in his own footsteps only ends where he began.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Count the deed, not the thought.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“My luck's no greater than yours or any man's. You need only sharpen your eyes to see your luck when it comes, and sharpen your wits to use what falls into your hands.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Is a man truly what he see himself to be?'
'Only if what he sees is true.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“I ask no comfort," Taran replied, "but the truth, be it harsh or happy."
"Ah, my sweet robin," said Orddu, "for the finding of that, nothing is harder. There are those who have spent lifetimes at it, and many in worse plight than yours.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Two things never mix: one is enchantments and the other is meddling with them.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“There are heroes and heroes. I don't deny he's acted bravely on occasion. He's fought beside Lord Gwydion and been proud of himself as a chick wearing eagle's feathers. But that's only one kind of bravery. Has the darling robin ever scratched for his own worms? That's bravery of another sort. And between the two, dear Orwen, he might find the latter shows the greater courage.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“I believe you know my quest from its beginning to its end, and that I seed to learn my parentage.
"Parentage?" said Orddu. "Nothing easier. Choose any parents you please. Since none of you has ever known each other, what difference can it possibly make - to them or to you? Believe what you like. You'll be surprised how comforting it is.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
“Had I done it sooner, perhaps he might have lived. He was a man of courage and good heart, a proud man. Now he is dead. I saved the signal to use in a worthy cause, and when I found one it was wasted.”
“Wasted?” answered Fflewddur. “I think not. Since you did your best and didn’t begrudge using it, I shouldn’t call it wasted at all.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from Taran Wanderer
Lloyd Alexander
Born place: in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The United States
Born date January 30, 1924
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“I wanted a do over. A time machine. That magic wand. But real life didn't have any easy outs, and very few happily-ever-afters. The real world was more like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, with most of the choices ripped out before you even opened the cover.”
― Rachel Vincent, quote from Pride
“It wasn’t simply his choosing to be alone that kept him that way; it was almost a condition of his existence. The feeling that he was an outsider had always been there.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold
“Is It possible to live in such a world where everyone does what he pleases? No one is punished by God or man and no one has to earn a living? Are there such women who follow every whim? Men such foolish weaklings, who succumb to every little desire, every little dream of happiness? Where are the honest husbands who work to earn their bread, who think of the best ways to protect their children from fate and the cruel world? Where are the people who understand a piece of cheese, a glass of wine, a warm house at the end of the day is reward enough? Who are these people who yearn for some mysterious happiness? What an uproar they make of life, what tragedies they brew up out of nothing.”
― Mario Puzo, quote from The Last Don
“If you had hope, maybe you could find a way to make things change,. Because if you thought about it, there were so many reasons to try.”
― Suzanne Collins, quote from Gregor and the Code of Claw
“Exactly. Since it is morally justifiable, I have only to consider the question of personal risk. Surely a gentleman should not lay much stress upon this, when a lady is in most desperate need of his help?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Saving Faith
The Secret River
Lean on Me
Knight & Stay
A Time of Gifts
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