“And if we know how to light a fire, why do we carry tinder around with us?"
Because you're humans," the little one explained serenly. "You're stupid.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“You don't just choose a name at random. A name is a name. A major responsibility.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Quando uno ha troppa tristezza, la magia ci annega dentro, come le persone dentro l'acqua. Però nonna sapeva come si fa. Se pensi forte le cose, loro diventano vere. Ma, se dentro hai la tristezza, tutto quello che ti esce dalla testa è la tristezza.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Quando tutto ti fa paura, hai bisogno di un sogno ancora più che di qualcosa da mangiare.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“The Human was extremely tall. On its head it had yellowish hair coiled like a rope. It had no hair on its face. And yet his grandmother had been very categorical about that. Humans have hair on their faces. Its called a beard. Its one of the many things that distinguish them from elves. The little elf concentrated, trying to remember, then it came to him.
"You must be a female man," he concluded triumphantly.
"The word is woman, fool," said the human.
"Oh, sorry, sorry, woman-fool, I be more careful, I call right name, woman-fool"....”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“In human language, selling a smoking pot for three gold pieces is called a 'swindle,'" the man said, narrowly escaping a kick in the shins.
"In Elfish language it's called 'genius,'" the little elf replied cheerfully...”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Il piccolo elfo ebbe l'impressione di essere diventato meno orfano. Era una sensazione curiosa. Come se la solitudine fosse un muro di vetro che per la prima volta mostrava incrinature e crepe.
Era l'ultimo di una stirpe distrutta, ma dal passato gli arrivava un po' dell'affetto che il presente gli negava.
Le sue dita passavano e ripassavano sugli oggetti: erano stati fatti per lui; gli erano stati lasciati. Qualcuno gli aveva voluto bene mentre li faceva, mentre glieli lasciava.
Sperò che Morte fosse un posto da dove il suo papà potesse vederlo.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Lei era Rosalba, la luce con cui rinasce tutti i giorni la speranza di un giorno buono.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“L'importante non sono le cose, ma il senso che noi diamo alle cose. Prima o poi la morte attende tutti. Più importante del rimandare la morte è darle un senso.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Era lui l'ultimo elfo. [...] Il più grande, il più potente e l'ultimo, quello dopo cui non ci sarà nessun altro.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“Per qualche motivo, tutto sommato, lo avrebbe di nuovo voluto neonato. Squittente e catastrofico, e che lo guardasse con occhi adoranti.
Adesso non squittiva e non bruciava, ma come adorazione era senz'altro sullo scarso.”
― Silvana de Mari, quote from The Last Dragon
“The language I have learn'd these forty years, My native English, now I must forego: And now my tongue's use is to me no more Than an unstringed viol or a harp, Or like a cunning instrument cased up, Or, being open, put into his hands That knows no touch to tune the harmony: Within my mouth you have engaol'd my tongue, Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips; And dull unfeeling barren ignorance Is made my gaoler to attend on me. I am too old to fawn upon a nurse, Too far in years to be a pupil now: What is thy sentence then but speechless death, Which robs my tongue from breathing native breath?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Annotated Shakespeare: The Comedies, Histories, Sonnets and Other Poems, Tragedies and Romances Complete (Three Volume Set in Slipcase)
“You told me there wouldn’t be any Rod Serling voice-overs, yet here I am in the middle of a Twilight Zone episode. Oh, and let me guess the title of it, Night of the Terminally Stupid! (Channon)”
― Sherrilyn Kenyon, quote from Dragonswan
“Both our dishes looked more like art when they arrived. “I hate to eat it; it’s so beautiful.” “I have the opposite problem. It’s so beautiful; I can’t wait to eat it.” His smirk told me his comment had nothing to do with his fancy looking dinner. I”
― Vi Keeland, quote from Stuck-Up Suit
“Sweet little thing says she still wants to marry him. Breaks your heart: She sighed and sounded sincere, so Tracy nodded in a way she hoped denoted that she, too, was a little bit heartbroken — even though she thought that if her (hypothetical) boyfriend were in a coma for more than a few weeks, she’d probably just cut her losses and move on, not stick around to watch him shit in his pants for the next fifty years.”
― Belinda Bauer, quote from Rubbernecker
“Then all of a sudden, one lovely night, Stalin reconsidered. Why? Maybe we will never know. Did he perhaps wish to save his soul? Too soon for that, it would seem. Did his sense of humor come to the fore—was it all so deadly, monotonous, so bitter-tasting? But no one would ever dare accuse Stalin of having a sense of humor! Likeliest of all, Stalin simply figured out that the whole countryside, not just 200,000 people, would soon die of famine anyway, so why go to the trouble? And instantly the whole TKP trial was called off. All those who had "confessed" were told they could repudiate their confessions (one can picture their happiness!). And instead of the whole big catch, only the small group of Kondratyev and Chayanov was hauled in and tried. 24 (In 1941, the charge against the tortured Vavilov was that the TKP had existed and he had been its head.)”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, quote from The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books I-II
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