“I guess each of us, at some time, finds one person with whom we are compelled toward absolute honesty, one person whose good opinion of us becomes a substitute for the broader opinion of the world. And that opinion becomes more important than all our sneaky, sleazy schemes of greed, lust, self-aggrandizement, whatever we are up to while lying the world into believing we are just plain nice folks. I was her truth object, and she was mine.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“I guess each of us, at some time, finds one person with whom we are compelled toward absolute honesty, one person whose good opinion of us becomes a substitute for the broader opinion of the world.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“About you and me, Croaker and his gang, the Lady, Silent, Darling. About all the things we had in common but still couldn’t get along.” “I didn’t see all that much you had in common. Not once you got past having the same enemies.” “Neither did I for a long time. And none of them saw it, either. Else we all might have tried a little harder.” I tried to look like I gave a shit at three in the morning. “Basically we’re all lonely, unhappy people looking for our place, Case. Loners who’d really rather not be but don’t know how. When we get to the door that would let us in—or out—we can’t figure out how to work the latch string.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“Something he had heard some wise man say. About the three stages of empire, the three generations. First came the conquerers, unstoppable in war. Then came the administrators, who bound it all together into one apparently unshakable, immortal edifice. Then came the wasters, who knew no responsibility and squandered the capital of their inheritance upon whims and vices. And fell to other conquerers.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“My name is Case. Philodendron Case. Thanks to my Ma. I’ve never even told Raven about that. That’s why I joined the army. To get away from the kind of potato diggers that would stick a name like that on a kid. I had seven sisters and four brothers last time I got a head count. Every one is named after some damned flower. A girl named Iris or Rose, what the hell, hey? But I got a brother named Violet and another brother named Petunia. What kind of people do that do their kids? Where the hell are the Butches and Spikes? Potato diggers.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“One-Eye scowled at Goblin. “Keep it up, Barf Bag. You’ll be grocery shopping with the turtles.” What the hell did that mean? Some kind of obscure shop talk? But Goblin was as croggled as the rest of us. Grinning, One-Eye resumed gabbling with his relatives.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“There is nothing so unreasonable and irrational and blind—and just plain silly-looking—as a man who works himself into an obsessive passion.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“I admitted, “This might not have been one of my brighter ideas.” “On the contrary. It confirms our suspicions that there’s a greater interest in us than should be for simple travellers. They mean to use us.” She was disturbed. “Welcome to life in the Black Company, sweetheart,” I said. “Now you know why I’m cynical about lords and such. Now you know one of the feelings I’ve been trying to get across.” “Maybe I get it. A little. I feel demeaned. Like I’m not human at all but an object that might be useful.” “Like I said, welcome to the Black Company.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
“He’d described himself as looking like a child molester waiting for a chance to strike. He wasn’t comfortable with his appearance.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Books of the South
Glen Cook
Born place: in The United States
Born date July 9, 1944
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“For a moment I felt the terror. The deep primeval terror of something one does not understand, something which is against nature or, at the least, against everything one has ever seen or known before.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“This is a noble’s dagger,” Milo said. “It’s not for me.” He turned his face to me. “But I’ll carry it if it will please you, Lady Helen.”
Milo’s declaration made Eunike cover her mouth and do a bad job of smothering a snicker. I didn’t mind so much. I was glad to see her cheerful again.
“Instead of wasting time making fun of me, why don’t we get started?” I said. “It’ll be dawn before you know it.”
“Not before I know it,” said Eunike. We all laughed at that.”
― Esther M. Friesner, quote from Nobody's Princess
“On occasion monasteries tried to secure their possession by freighting their precious manuscripts with curses. “For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner,” one of these curses runs, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him forever. Even a worldly skeptic, with a strong craving for what he had in his hands, might have hesitated before slipping such a book into his cloak.”
― Stephen Greenblatt, quote from The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
“But young as I was, I suspected that a God who allows such cruelty wouldn’t have cared about bringing it to an end.
― Michelle Paver, Dark Matter”
― Michelle Paver, quote from Dark Matter
“The only good thing I've ever noticed about money, the only positive aspect of an otherwise pretty vulgar commodity, is that you can use it to buy things.”
― Hugh Laurie, quote from The Gun Seller
Whip Smart: A Memoir
A Wolf at the Table
Wicked Gentlemen
Past Midnight
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