Quotes from Towers of Midnight

“If you wish, you may call me Rand Sedai.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“I wonder if,” Nynaeve said, “we sometimes put the White Tower —as an institution— before the people we serve. I wonder if we let it become a goal in itself, instead of a means to help us achieve greater goals.”
“Devotion is important, Nynaeve. The White Tower protects and guides the world.”
“And yet, so many of us do it without families,” Nynaeve said. “Without love, without passion beyond our own particular interests. So even while we try to guide the world, we separate ourselves from it. We risk arrogance, Egwene. We always assume we know best, but risk making ourselves unable to fathom the people we claim to serve.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“He felt something on his neck. Warmth.
He hesitated, then turned weary eyes toward the sky. Sunlight bathed his face. He gaped; it seemed so long since he’d seen pure sunlight. It shone down through a large break in the clouds, comforting, like the warmth of an oven baking a loaf of Adrinne’s thick sourdough bread.
Almen stood, raising a hand to shade his eyes. He took a deep, long breath, and smelled… apple blossoms? He spun with a start.
The apple trees were flowering.
That was plain ridiculous. He rubbed his eyes, but that didn’t dispel the image. They were blooming, all of them, white flowers breaking out between the leaves.
[...] What was happening? Apple trees didn’t blossom twice. Was he going mad?
Footsteps sounded softly on the path that ran past the orchard. Almen spun to find a tall young man walking down out of the foothills. He had deep red hair and he wore ragged clothing: a brown cloak with loose sleeves and a simple white linen shirt beneath. The trousers were finer, black with a delicate embroidery of gold at the cuff.
“Ho, stranger,” Almen said, raising a hand, not knowing what else to say, not even sure if he’d seen what he thought he’d seen. “Did you… did you get lost up in the foothills?”
The man stopped, turning sharply. He seemed surprised to find Almen there. With a start, Almen realized the man’s left arm ended in a stump.
The stranger looked about, then breathed in deeply. “No. I’m not lost. Finally. It feels like a great long time since I’ve understood the path before me.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Bloody ashes, woman. This isn't a metaphor for anything! It's just boots.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Small things were important. Secods were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man's life.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“So long as we do not depend on the facts entirely, incomplete knowledge is better than complete ignorance.
--Egwene al'Vere”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Nobody walks a difficult path without stumbling now and again. It didn’t break you when you fell. That’s the important part.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“The newest pups always blame the elders of the pack.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“When change comes, you can scream and try to force things to stay the same. But you’ll usually end up getting trampled. However, if you can direct the changes, they can serve you.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“It was hard to explain to students that there was a rule that trumped all of the others: Always trust your instincts.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Prudence is for those who intend to live long lives,”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Noal nodded to one of the corridors 'These corridors are narrow. Good choke points. A man could stand there and only have to fight one or two at a time. He'd last maybe a few minutes. ...

'Thom, you're in no shape to fight. Mat, you're the one who's luck can find a way out. Neither of you can stay, but I can.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Respect is a thing earned and not demanded, Perrin Aybara.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“When an officer runs by with a look like that on his face, you don’t ask if he needs help. You just follow!”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“That was a thing of wolves; they could know the past and the future, yet keep their attention on the hunt. Could he do the same? Allow himself to be consumed when needed, yet keep balance in other parts of his life?”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“He hadn’t asked to become a leader, but did that absolve him of responsibility? People needed him. The world needed him. And, with an understanding that cooled in him like molten rock forming into a shape, he realized that he wanted to lead. If someone had to be lord of these people, he wanted to do it himself. Because doing it yourself was the only way to see that it was done right.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Sweetbuns?” “Tradition among us Two Rivers folk.” “Never heard of that tradition.” “It’s very obscure.” “Ah, I see. And what did you do to those buns?” “Sprinklewort,” Mat said. “It’ll turn her mouth blue for a week, maybe two. And she won’t share the sweetbuns with anyone, except maybe her Warders. Joline is addicted to the things. She must have eaten seven or eight bags’ worth since we got to Caemlyn.” “Nice,” Thom said, knuckling his mustache. “Childish, though.” “I’m trying to get back to my basic roots,” Mat said. “You know, recapture some of my lost youth.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“In war, as in farming, you sometimes had to step in and get knee-deep in the muck.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“You never could tell what a man would do when he was drunk, even if that man was your own self.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“It soon became obvious, even with9in the stedding, that the Pattern was grwoing frail. The sky darkened. Our dead appeared, standing in rings outside the broders of the stedding, looking in. Most troubingly, trees fell ill, and no song would heal them.

It was in this time of sorrows that I stepped up to the Great Stump. At first, I was forbidden, but my mother, covril, demanded I have my chance. I do not know wht sparked her change of heart, as she herself had argued quite decisvely for the opposing side. My hands shook. I would be the last speaker, and most seemed to have already made up their minds to open the Book of Translation. They considered me an afterthought.

And I knew that unless I spoke true, humanity would be left along to face the Shadow. In that moment, my nervousness fled. I felt only a stilness, a calm sense of purpose. I opened my mouth, and I began to speak.

-from The Dragon Reborn, by Loial, son of Arent son of Halan, of Stedding Shangtai”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“a victory of diplomacy did not come when everyone got what they wanted—that made everyone assume they’d gotten the better of her, which encouraged more extravagant demands. The trick is not to satisfy everyone, but to leave everyone feeling they reached the best possible result. They must be satisfied enough to do as you wish, yet dissatisfied enough to know that you bested them.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“What was the good of acting out fake stories? Why not go live a few stories of your own?”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“The trick is not to satisfy everyone, but to leave everyone feeling they reached the best possible result.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Women were always happy for a chance to educate a boy when he was young; Mat thought they assumed they could educate him out of becoming a man if they tried hard enough.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Never choose the card a man wants you to. Mat should have realized that. It was one of the oldest cons in creation.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“She grimaced, remembering one incarnation when she and he had been forced to grow old together, peacefully. Most boring life she’d ever known, though at the time—ignorant of her grander part in the Pattern—she’d been happy with it.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“And so we begin the game that cannot be won,” Thom said, sliding the knife back into its sheath. “Courage to strengthen,” Noal whispered, stepping forward, holding up a lantern with a flickering flame. “Fire to blind. Music to dazzle. Iron to bind.” “And Matrim Cauthon,” Mat added. “To bloody even the odds.” He stepped through the doorway. Light”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“Defying the Dark One no matter the length of his shadow. We will live, that defiance said. We will love and we will hope.”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“If you ever meet a Malkieri,” Noal said, “you tell him Jain Farstrider died clean.” “I will, Jain,” Mat said. “May the light hold you.” Noal”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

“It was easier to pretend at night. Some men lived their entire lives that way, preferring the curtains of darkness to the open windows of daylight, because they let them see the world all in shadow. It”
― Robert Jordan, quote from Towers of Midnight

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“Je ne crois pas que les animaux sauvages puissent être heureux ou même joyeux quand ils sont adultes. C'est la vie avec les hommes qui a dû faire naître cette faculté chez les chiens. J'aimerais savoir pourquoi nous agissons sur eux comme une drogue. C'est peut-être le chien qui est responsable de la folie de grandeur de l'homme. Même à moi, il m'est arrivé de penser que je devais avoir quelque chose de particulier, quand je voyais Lynx défaillir de joie en me regardant. Mais je n'avais rien d'exceptionnel, bien sûr ; Lynx était tout simplement fou des hommes comme tous les chiens.”
― Marlen Haushofer, quote from The Wall

“Dickinson left the rostrum to applause, loud shouts of approval. Franklin was surprised, looked toward Adams, who returned the look, shook his head. The chamber was dismissed, and Franklin pushed himself slowly up out of the chair. He began to struggle a bit, pain in both knees, the stiffness holding him tightly, felt a hand under his arm.
“Allow me, sir.” Adams helped him up, commenting as he did so, “We have a substantial lack of backbone in this room, I’m afraid.”
Franklin looked past him, saw Dickinson standing close behind, staring angrily at Adams, reacting to his words.
“Mr. Dickinson, a fine speech, sir,” said Franklin.
Adams seemed suddenly embarrassed, did not look behind him, nodded quickly to Franklin, moved away toward the entrance. Franklin saw Dickinson following Adams, began to follow himself. My God, let’s not have a duel. He slipped through the crowd of delegates, making polite acknowledgments left and right, still keeping his eye on Dickinson. The man was gone now, following Adams out of the hall. Franklin reached the door, could see them both, heard the taller man call out, saw Adams turn, a look of surprise. Franklin moved closer, heard Adams say, “My apologies for my indiscreet remark, sir. However, I am certain you are aware of my sentiments.” Dickinson seemed to explode in Adams’ face. “What is the reason, Mr. Adams, that you New England men oppose our measures of reconciliation? Why do you hold so tightly to this determined opposition to petitioning the king?” Franklin heard other men gathering behind him, filling the entranceway, Dickinson’s volume drawing them. He could see Adams glancing at them and then saying, “Mr. Dickinson, this is not an appropriate time...” “Mr. Adams, can you not respond? Do you not desire an end to talk of war?” Adams seemed struck by Dickinson’s words, looked at him for a long moment. “Mr. Dickinson, if you believe that all that has fallen upon us is merely talk, I have no response. There is no hope of avoiding a war, sir, because the war has already begun. Your king and his army have seen to that. Please, excuse me, sir.” Adams began to walk away, and Franklin could see Dickinson look back at the growing crowd behind him, saw a strange desperation in the man’s expression, and Dickinson shouted toward Adams, “There is no sin in hope!”
― Jeff Shaara, quote from Rise to Rebellion

“Maybe Cinderella didn’t live happily ever after. Maybe, come midnight, she wanted to run away. Maybe her price wouldn’t let her. Mine didn’t.”
― J.M. Darhower, quote from Monster in His Eyes

“...condemning Nyasha to whoredom, making her a victim of her femaleness, just as I had felt victimised at home in the days when Nhamo went to school and I grew my maize. The victimisation, I saw, was universal. It didn't depend on poverty, on lack of education or on tradition. It didn't depend on any of the things I had thought it depended on. Men took it everywhere with them. Even heroes like Babamukuru did it. And that was the problem. You had to admit Nyasha had no tact. You had to admit she was altogether too volatile and strong-willed. You couldn't ignore the fact that she had no respect for Babamukuru when she ought to have had lots of it. But what I didn't like was the way that all conflicts came back to the question of femaleness. Femaleness as opposed and inferior to maleness.”
― Tsitsi Dangarembga, quote from Nervous Conditions

“It's the price of rootlessness. Motion sickness. The only cure: to keep moving.”
― Tony Kushner, quote from Angels in America

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