Quotes from The Sword in the Stone

“The best thing for being sad ... is to learn something.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“Perhaps he does not want to be friends with you until he knows what you are like. With owls, it is never easy-come-easy-go.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“The best thing for disturbances of the spirit is to learn. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love and lose your moneys to a monster, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the poor mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him, but the ones who went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“I can see that you spoke in ignorance, and I bitterly regret that I should have been so petty as to take offence where none was intended.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“The boy slept well in the woodland nest where he had laid himself down, in that kind of thin but refreshing sleep which people have when they begin to lie out of doors. At first he only dipped below the surface of sleep, and skimmed along like a salmon in shallow water, so close to the surface that he fancied himself in air. He thought himself awake when he was already asleep. He saw the stars
above his face, whirling on their silent and sleepless axis, and the leaves of the trees rustling against them, and he heard small changes in the grass. These little noises of footsteps and soft-fringed wing-beats and stealthy bellies drawn over the grass blades or rattling against the bracken at first frightened or interested him, so that he moved to see what they were (but never saw), then soothed him, so that he no longer cared to see what they were but trusted them to be themselves, and finally left him altogether as he swam down deeper and deeper, nuzzling into the scented turf, into the warm ground, into the unending waters under the earth.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“These marvels were great and comfortable ones, but in the old England there was a greater still. The weather behaved itself.
In the spring all the little flowers came out obediently in the meads, and the dew sparkled, and the birds sang; in the summer it was beautifully hot for no less than four months, and, if it did rain just enough for agricultural purposes, they managed to arrange it so that it rained while you were in bed; in the autumn the leaves flamed and rattled before the west winds, tempering their sad adieu with glory; and in the winter, which was confined by statute to two months, the snow lay evenly, three feet thick, but never turned into slush.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“On the raptors kept for falconry:
"They talk every night, deep into the darkness. They say about how they were taken, about what they can remember about their homes, about their lineage and the great deeds of their ancestors, about their training and what they've learned and will learn. It is military conversation, really, like what you might have in the mess of a crack cavalry regiment: tactics, small arms, maintenance, betting, famous hunts, wine, women, and song. Another subject they have is food. It is a depressing thought," he continued, "but of course they are mainly trained by hunger. They are a hungry lot, poor chaps, thinking of the best restaurants where they used to go, and how they had champagne and caviar and gypsy music. Of course, they all come from noble blood."
"What a shame that they should be kept prisoners and hungry."
"Well, they do not really understand that they are prisoners any more than the cavalry officers do. They look on themselves as being 'dedicated to their profession,' like an order of knighthood or something of that sort. You see, the member of the Muse [where Raptors are kept for falconry] is restricted to the Raptors, and that does help a lot. They know that none of the lower classes can get in. Their screened perches do not carry Blackbirds or such trash as that. And then, as for the hungry part, they're far from starving or that kind of hunger: they're in training, you know! And like everybody in strict training, they think about food.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“Snylrem stnemilpmoc ot enutpen dna lliw eh yldnik tpecca siht yob sa a hsif?”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“And in the winter, which was confined by statute to two months, the snow lay evenly, three feet thick, but never turned into slush.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“He could do what all men wanted to, that is, fly”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“There are no boundaries among the geese. How can you have boundaries if you fly?”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“The best thing for being sad . . . is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“Hemos pasado muy buenos momentos, mientras erais jovenes, pero está en la propia naturaleza del Tiempo, el tener que marcharse un día.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

“He said, 'Good dog, Beaumont the valiant, sleep now, old friend Beaumont, good old dog.' Then Robin's falchion let Beaumont out of this world, to run free with Orion and roll among the stars.”
― T.H. White, quote from The Sword in the Stone

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Popular quotes

“Listen...You could spend a lifetime trying to understand the works of evil men. Their joys are not ours. They love to inflict pain, create suffering, cause harm and death. It empowers them, for beneath the skin they are empty and worthless.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow

“Mooch? What does that word mean?”

Ellie smiled. “It’s a term when you live with someone and take something freely from the person who has to work for it. It’s not a good thing. It’s hard to explain that one. I guess I could describe it as I’m a burden to him.”

“How? He already had a room you could have.”

Ellie struggled with her thoughts. Some words were hard to explain. “Yes. He did but usually you don’t live with someone unless you are a couple. Then it is acceptable if you share food and a home. If you aren’t, then both parties are supposed to work, similar to a partnership, be equal. I am not his girlfriend or his partner. He provides a home and food for me while I give him nothing in return. I’m a mooch.”

“I think I understand.” Breeze smiled. “And you are not a mooch. He doesn’t know what one is so therefore you can’t be what he doesn’t know exists.”
― Laurann Dohner, quote from Fury

“..седнах на земята и видях сам себе си, наобиколен от гълъби, които се галят в мен, за тях аз бях живителен бог, вглеждах се назад в живота си и виждах себе си сега, заобиколен от божи пратеници, гълъби и гълъбици, сякаш бях някакъв светец, сякаш бяха избраник на небесата, и докато другите ми се смееха, чувах смях, викове и подмятания, аз бях обдарен с гълъбово послание и вярвах, че невероятното отново е станало реалност, и че дори да имах десет милиона и три хотела, това галене и тези целуващи човчици на гълъби и гълъбици, те са ми изпратени от самите небеса, които навярно са харесали нещо в мен, всичко изглеждаше така, както го бях виждал на картините по олтарите и върху изобразяващите пътя на Христос към Голгота стенописи, покрай които се прибирахме в килиите си.Аз обаче нищо не виждах и нищо не чувах, исках само да бъда това, което никога не можах да стана, милионер, и въпреки че притежавах два милиона, многократен милионер станах едва сега, когато за първи път видях, че тези гълъбици са мои приятели, че са, като в някоя притча, послание, което тепърва ме очаква...”
― Bohumil Hrabal, quote from I Served the King of England

“It is my belief that, given the necessary physical likeness, it was far easier to pretend to be king of Ruritania than it would have been to personate my next-door neighbor.”
― Anthony Hope, quote from The Prisoner of Zenda

“Sissy tilted her chair back so far I was sure she’d fall on her head any second. Not that I cared. Maybe she’d leave if she hurt herself.”
― Mary Downing Hahn, quote from Deep and Dark and Dangerous (A Ghost Story)

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