Quotes from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Hurt leads to bitterness, bitterness to anger. Travel too far that road and the way is lost.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Evil contained is not evil destroyed.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Do not be so quick to accept as truth what is only conjecture.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“The Elven people believe that preservation of the land and all that lives and grows upon it, plant and animal alike, is a moral responsibility. They have always held this belief foremost in their conduct as creatures of the earth. In the old world, they devoted the whole of their lives to caring for the woodlands and forests in which they lived, cultivating its various forms of vegetation, sheltering the animals that it harbored. Of course, they had little else to concern them in those days, for they were an isolated and reclusive people. All that has changed now, but they still maintain a belief in their moral responsibility for their world. Every Elf is expected to spend a portion of his life giving back to the land something of what he has taken out of it. By that I mean every Elf is expected to devote a part of his life to working with the land–to repairing damage it may have suffered through misuse or neglect, to caring for its animals and other wildlife, to caring for its trees and smaller plants where the need to do so is found.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Some decisions cannot be made in advance of the time that will demand them. We cannot always anticipate the way in which things will happen and therefore cannot anticipate what we will do. We must accept that.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“We are not always properly equipped to face the difficulties life places in our path.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“But your responsibilities are sometimes given you without choice, without consent.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“For evil left to itself, Valeman, does not simply perish; it thrives. Evil contained is not evil destroyed.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Early this morning I went to her, alone, seeking to find a weapon with which we might stand against our enemy. She gave me audience, speaking with the images that are her words, asking why I had come. I told her that the Elves had no magic save my own with which to counter the power of the Demons; I told her that I feared that this alone might not be enough, that I might fail. I told her that I sought something of what she is with which to do battle against the Demons, for she is an anathema to them. “Then she reached down within herself and stripped away this staff which I hold, this limb of her body. Weakened, knowing that she dies, she yet managed to give to me a part of herself with which to aid the Elven people. I did not touch her, did nothing but stand in awe of her strength of will. Feel this wood, King of the Elves—touch it!” He thrust the staff into Eventine’s hands, and they closed about it. The King’s eyes widened in shock. The Druid took the staff from him then and passed it wordlessly to Ander. The Elven Prince started. The wood of the staff was warm, as if the blood of life flowed within. “It lives!” the Druid breathed reverently. “Apart and separate from her, yet still filled with her life! It is the weapon that I sought. It is the talisman that will protect the Elves against the black sorcery of the Demon hordes.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“It was not so much a sense of failure that he had experienced as a sense of his own limitations. You cannot do everything you might wish that you could do.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Hurt gives way to bitterness, bitterness to anger. Travel too far that road and the way is lost.’ He”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

“Hindsight should have lent clarity to his actions; it did not. Rather, he felt a lingering sense of confusion. Everything seemed to jumble together in his mind--all the disparate incomplete reasoning, all the emotions that intertwined and colored. They would not sort themselves out for him; they would not arrange themselves in a neat orderly fashion. They merely shuffled about like stray sheep and he chased after them hopelessly.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The Elfstones of Shannara

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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