Quotes from The Lantern Bearers

Rosemary Sutcliff ·  307 pages

Rating: (1.8K votes)


“It may be that the night will close over us in the end, but I believe that morning will come again. Morning always grows out of the darkness, though maybe not for the people who saw the sun go down. We are the Lantern Bearers, my friend; for us to keep something burning, to carry what light we can forward into the darkness and the wind.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“Why should a deserter take the trouble to light Rutupiae Beacon?” Aquila demanded, and his voice sounded rough in is own ears.

“Maybe in farewell, maybe in defiance. Maybe to hold back the dark for one more night.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“The wind blustered in from the sea, setting the horses’ manes streaming sideways, and the gulls wheeled mewing against the blue-and-grey tumble of the sky; and Aquila, riding a little aside from the rest as usual, caught for a moment from the wind and the gulls and the wet sand and the living, leaping power of the young red mare under him, something of the joy of simply being alive that he had taken for granted in the old days.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“But tonight, because Rome had fallen and Felix was dead, because of Valerius’s shame, the empty hut seemed horribly lonely, and there was a small aching need in him for somebody to notice, even if they were not glad, that he had come home.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“For a moment they stood looking at each other in the firelight, while the old harper still fingered the shining strings and the other man looked on with a gleam of amusement lurking in his watery blue eyes. But Aquila was not looking at him. He was looking only at the dark young man, seeing that he was darker even than he had thought at first, and slightly built in a way that went with the darkness, as though maybe the old blood, the blood of the People of the Hills, ran strong in him. But his eyes, under brows as straight as a raven's flight-pinions, were not the eyes of the little Dark People, which were black and unstable and full of dreams, but a pale clear grey, lit with gold, that gave the effect of flame behind them.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers



“So Aquila took his father’s service upon him. It wasn’t as good as love; it wasn’t as good as hate; but it was something to put into the emptiness within him; better than nothing at all.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“Quietness rose within Aquila, easing his wild unrest as the salve was cooling the smart of his gashed side. But that was always the way with Brother Ninnias-- the quietness, the sense of sanctuary, were things that he carried with him.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


“I sometimes think that we stand at sunset,' Eugenus said after a pause. 'It may be that the night will come close over us in the end, but I believe that morning will come again. Morning always grows again out of the darkness, though maybe not for the people who saw the sun go down. We are the Lantern Bearers, my friend; for us to keep something burning, to carry what light we can forward into the darkness and the wind.”
― Rosemary Sutcliff, quote from The Lantern Bearers


About the author

Rosemary Sutcliff
Born place: in West Clandon, Surrey, The United Kingdom
Born date December 14, 1920
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“I need to devour you."
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“When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.”
― Marie Coulson, quote from Bound Together


“Jesus said: If the flesh has come into existence because of the spirit, it is a marvel; but if the spirit has come into existence because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. I think Karl Marx missed this! I wonder what he would have thought if he had come to these saying of Jesus. Jesus says:…flesh has come into existence because of the spirit…as all religions say—God created the world. That means flesh has come out of the spirit, matter has come out of the mind; consciousness is the source, the world is just a byproduct. Then, Jesus says:…it is a marvel—it is a mystery. …but if the spirit has come into existence because of the body…as atheists say, materialists say, Karl Marx, Charvak and others say…. Marx says that consciousness is a byproduct of matter. This is what all atheists say, that the world is not created out of the spirit, but the spirit is just a ‘by-phenomenon’, an epiphenomenon of matter; it comes out of matter, it is just a byproduct. Then Jesus says:…if the spirit has come into existence because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. The first is just a marvel: that God created the world. But the second is a marvel of marvels—if the world created God. To believe the first is difficult; to believe the second is almost impossible.”
― Osho, quote from The Mustard Seed: The Gnostic Teachings of Jesus The Mystic


“the men placed willow wands every 50 feet or so to mark their route—as I did in 1992, but as no one bothered to in 1986 or 2008, an oversight that contributed to both tragedies.”
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“a try. Let’s make it to the kitchen first, huh? Four-year-olds could still be distracted by cookies. Jennie looked up as they entered the kitchen. “Hello, my boys! You’re just in time.” She held out two cookies, still steaming. “Fresh out of the oven.” Aervyn bit into his and danced around like an Irish step dancer on speed. “Hot, hot, hot!” Jennie laughed. “Hasn’t anyone taught you a cookie-cooling spell yet?” “Oh.” Aervyn giggled. “I didn’t think of that.” He waved a hand”
― Debora Geary, quote from Witches on Parole


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