The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

Stone and sea are deep in life Two unalterable symbols of the world Permanence at rest And permanence in motion Participants in the power that remains

It is wrong to ask for more than you give freely. In this way, we come to resemble what we hate.

And he who wields white, wild magic gold is a paradox For he is everything and nothing Hero and fool Potent, helpless And with one word of truth or treachery He will save or damn the earth Because he is mad and sane Cold and passionate Lost and found

Part of him wanted to weep... but his purpose was rigid within him. He felt he could not bend to gentleness without breaking.

And you require no answers", Foamfollower was laughing in his gladness, "You are sufficient to every question".

But he could not call the doctors at the leprosarium. They would return him to Louisiana. They would treat him and train him and counsel him. They would put him back into life as if his illness were all that mattered, as if wisdom were only skin deep, as if grief and remorse and horror were nothing but illusions, tricks done with mirrors, irrelevant to chrome and porcelain and clean, white, stiff hospital sheets and fluorescent lights.