Quotes from The Gunslinger

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire.-Roland Deschain, of Gilead”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“I don't like people. They fuck me up.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Do any men grow up or do they only come of age?”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“You see? Size defeats us. For the fish, the lake in which he lives is the universe. What does the fish think when he is jerked up by the mouth through the silver limits of existence and into a new universe where the air drowns him and the light is blue madness? Where huge bipeds with no gills stuff it into a suffocating box abd cover it with wet weeds to die?

Or one might take the tip of the pencil and magnify it. One reaches the point where a stunning realization strikes home: The pencil tip is not solid; it is composed of atoms which whirl and revolve like a trillion demon planets. What seems solid to us is actually only a loose net held together by gravity. Viewed at their actual size, the distances between these atoms might become league, gulfs, aeons. The atoms themselves are composed of nuclei and revolving protons and electrons. One may step down further to subatomic particles. And then to what? Tachyons? Nothing? Of course not. Everything in the universe denies nothing; to suggest an ending is the one absurdity.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Was there ever a trap to match the trap of love?”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“the man in black travels with your soul in his pocket.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“The mystery of the universe is not time but size.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“The man in black smiled. "Shall we tell the truth then, you and I? No more lies?"

I thought we had been."

But the man in black persisted as if Roland hadn't spoken. "Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as equals? There is an offer you will get rarely, Roland. Only equals speak the truth, that's my thought on't. Friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of regard. How tiresome!”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“where the world ends is where you must begin”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Few if any seemed to have grasped the Principle of Reality; new knowledge leads always to yet more awesome mysteries. Greater physiological knowledge of the brain makes the existence of the soul less possible yet more probable by the nature of the search.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“They had discovered one could grow as hungry for light as for food.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Why' is a crooked letter and can't be made straight.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Yet suppose further. Suppose that all worlds, all universes, met at a single nexus, a single pylon, a Tower. And within it, a stairway, perhaps rising to the Godhead itself. Would you dare climb to the top, gunslinger? Could it be that somewhere above all of endless reality, there exists a room?...'

You dare not.'

And in the gunslinger's mind, those words echoed: You dare not.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“They were close to the end of the beginning . . .”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of regard.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Once again there was the desert, and that only.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but size. Size encompasses life, and the Tower encompasses size. The child, who is most at home with wonder, says: Daddy, what is above the sky? And the father says: The darkness of space. The child: What is beyond space? The father: The galaxy. The child: Beyond the galaxy? The father: Another galaxy. The child: Beyond the other galaxies? The father: No one knows.

You see? Size defeats us. For the fish, the lake in which he lives is the universe. What does the fish think when he is jerked up by the mouth through the silver limits of existence and into a new universe where the air drowns him and the light is blue madness? Where huge bipeds with no gills stuff it into a suffocating box and cover it with wet weeds to die?

Or one might take the tip of the pencil and magnify it. One reaches the point where a stunning realization strikes home: The pencil tip is not solid; it is composed of atoms which whirl and revolve like a trillion demon planets. What seems solid to us is actually only a loose net held together by gravity. Viewed at their actual size, the distances between these atoms might become league, gulfs, aeons. The atoms themselves are composed of nuclei and revolving protons and electrons. One may step down further to subatomic particles. And then to what? Tachyons? Nothing? Of course not. Everything in the universe denies nothing; to suggest an ending is the one absurdity.

If you fell outward to the limit of the universe, would you find a board fence and signs reading DEAD END? No. You might find something hard and rounded, as the chick must see the egg from the inside. And if you should peck through the shell (or find a door), what great and torrential light might shine through your opening at the end of space? Might you look through and discover our entire universe is but part of one atom on a blade of grass? Might you be forced to think that by burning a twig you incinerate an eternity of eternities? That existence rises not to one infinite but to an infinity of them?”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Beyond the reach of human rage
A drop of hell, a touch of strange ...”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“You cannot friend a hawk, they said, unless you are a hawk yourself, alone and only a sojourner in the land, without friends or the need of them.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“Take the dead from the dead, the old proverb said; only a corpse may speak true prophecy.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“He was one of those quite rare adults who communicate with small children fairly well and who love them all impartially--not in a sugary way but in a businesslike fashion that may sometimes entail a hug, in the same way that closing a big business deal may call for a handshake.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“There was murder, there was rape, there were unspeakable practices, and all of them were for the good, the bloody good, the bloody myth, for the grail, for the Tower.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

“See the TURTLE of enormous girth,
On his shell he holds the earth.
If you want to run and play,
Come along the BEAM today.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Gunslinger

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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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