Quotes from The Novice

Taran Matharu ·  398 pages

Rating: (14.9K votes)


“Fight dirty, and go for the face. Gentlemen's rules are for gentlemen.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“A warrior's greatest enemy can also be his greatest teacher.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“If even the false war we pretend to fight has created so much hate between our peoples, what would a real one do?”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“But the men and women who rise to greatness are the risk takers, the gamblers. Those who take all or nothing.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“She seemed to be reading at a terrific pace, but then she was a librarian after all.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice



“How are we supposed to win?” Fletcher took a deep breath and looked him right in the eye. “We train.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“Fight dirty, and go for the face. Gentlemen’s rules are for gentlemen,”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“As the grip began to tighten, Fletcher closed his eyes, praying it would be quick.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“After all, it had been a generous gift, and, if anything, it had been Fletcher who was in his debt and not the other way around.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“Then the door slammed shut and he was alone in the world, but for the sleeping creature around his neck. A fugitive.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice



“EVEN AS THE WORDS LEFT Didric’s”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“They snuffed out their own lights and ducked into one of the upper corridors.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“Felid might be. Some sort of cat, perhaps? They walked on past dimly lit corridors”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“The men and women who rise to greatness are the risk takers, the gamblers. Those who take all or nothing.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


“We’re going to enter the ether.”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice



“now or never. If Fletcher didn’t make this kill, he would go hungry tonight. Dusk was fast approaching and he was already running late. He needed to make his way back to the village soon, or the gates would close. If that happened, he would either have to bribe the guards with money he didn’t have or take his chances in the woods overnight. The young elk had just finished rubbing its antlers against a tall pine, scraping the soft velvet that coated them to leave the sharp tines beneath. From its small size and stature, Fletcher could tell it was a juvenile, sporting its first set of antlers. It was a fine specimen, with glossy fur and bright, intelligent eyes. Fletcher felt almost ashamed to hunt such a majestic creature, yet he was already adding up its value in his head. The thick coat would do well when the fur traders came by, especially as it was now winter. It would probably”
― Taran Matharu, quote from The Novice


About the author

Taran Matharu
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
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Popular quotes

“She had had insomnia badly when she was fresh from Home.... She had had only occasional bad nights since then. Bad? she thought. Why bad? I rarely feel much the worse the next day, except for a sort of moral irritability that seems to go with the feeling that I ought to have spent all those silent hours asleep.”
― Robin McKinley, quote from The Blue Sword


“Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman--a rope over an abyss.

A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.

What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an OVER-GOING and a DOWN-GOING.

I love those that know not how to live except as down-goers, for they are the over-goers.

I love the great despisers, because they are the great adorers, and arrows of longing for the other shore.

I love those who do not first seek a reason beyond the stars for going down and being sacrifices, but sacrifice themselves to the earth, that the earth of the Superman may hereafter arrive.

I love him who lives in order to know, and seeks to know in order that the Superman may hereafter live. Thus seeks he his own down-going.

I love him who labors and invents, that he may build the house for the Superman, and prepare for him earth, animal, and plant: for thus seeks he his own down-going.

I love him who loves his virtue: for virtue is the will to down-going, and an arrow of longing.

I love him who reserves no share of spirit for himself, but wants to be wholly the spirit of his virtue: thus walks he as spirit over the bridge.

I love him who makes his virtue his inclination and destiny: thus, for the sake of his virtue, he is willing to live on, or live no more.

I love him who desires not too many virtues. One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one's destiny to cling to.

I love him whose soul is lavish, who wants no thanks and does not give back: for he always bestows, and desires not to keep for himself.

I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favor, and who then asks: "Am I a dishonest player?"--for he is willing to succumb.

I love him who scatters golden words in advance of his deeds, and always does more than he promises: for he seeks his own down-going.

I love him who justifies the future ones, and redeems the past ones: for he is willing to succumb through the present ones.

I love him who chastens his God, because he loves his God: for he must succumb through the wrath of his God.

I love him whose soul is deep even in the wounding, and may succumb through a small matter: thus goes he willingly over the bridge.

I love him whose soul is so overfull that he forgets himself, and all things that are in him: thus all things become his down-going.

I love him who is of a free spirit and a free heart: thus is his head only the bowels of his heart; his heart, however, causes his down-going.

I love all who are like heavy drops falling one by one out of the dark cloud that lowers over man: they herald the coming of the lightning, and succumb as heralds.

Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the SUPERMAN.--”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, quote from Thus Spoke Zarathustra


“It was possible to leave things behind—places, people, memories—at least for a time. But places held tight to the things that had happened in them, and to come again to a place you had once lived was to be brought face-to-face with what you had done there and who you had been.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from An Echo in the Bone


“It is not fashionable to quote Stalin but he said once, "half a million liquidated is a statistic, and one man killed in a traffic accident is a national tragedy.”
― John le Carré, quote from The Spy Who Came In from the Cold


“Who's that little brunette?" Suzanne asked. "I hate little petite types. Gregory doesn't look right with someone petite. Little face, little hands, little dainty feet."
"Big boobs," Beth said, glancing up.”
― Elizabeth Chandler, quote from Kissed by an Angel/The Power of Love/Soulmates


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