Stephen R. Donaldson Quotes

• It is wrong to ask for more than you give freely. In this way, we come to resemble what we hate.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Hate, Giving, Way

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.260, Del Rey

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• "Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"
  Absently he replied, "I was, once."
  "And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?"
  "I live."
  "Another?" Foamfollower returned. "In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more - with one word you will make me weep."

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Sea, Two, Three

  "Lord Foul's Bane: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book One". Book by Stephen Donaldson, 2013.

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• Despair and bitterness are not the only songs in the world

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Song, Despair, World

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.264, Del Rey

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• This you have to understand. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Hurt, Men, Giving

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “The Wounded Land”, p.42, Del Rey

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• In accepting the Gift you Honor the Giver

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Honor, Accepting, Giver

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• It is the responsibility of the living to make meaningful the sacrifices of the dead.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Meaningful, Responsibility, Sacrifice

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “The Illearth War”, p.141, Del Rey

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• I respect my limitations, but I don't use them as an excuse.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Use, Excuse, Limitation

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• I may not yet be as old as dirt, but dirt and I are starting to have an awful lot in common.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Awful, Dirt, May

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• Stone and sea are deep in life Two unalterable symbols of the world Permanence at rest And permanence in motion Participants in the power that remains

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Sea, Two, World

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.103, Del Rey

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• Any belief that puts itself beyond doubt nurtures its own collapse.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Doubt, Belief, Nurture

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• Are you a person—with volition and maybe some stubbornness and at least the capacity if not the actual determination to do something surprising—or are you a tool? A tool just serves its user. It’s only as good as the skill of its user, and it’s not good for anything else. So if you want to accomplish something special—something more than you can do for yourself—you can’t use a tool. You have to use a person and hope the surprises will work in your favor. You have to use something that’s free to not be what you had in mind.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Determination, Skills, Mind

  Stephen R. Donaldson (1982). “The One Tree”, Del Rey

  9 Copy quote

• Gradually, the night stumbled as if stunned and wandering aimlessly into an overcast day -- limped through the wilderland of transition as though there were no knowing where the waste of darkness ended and the ashes of light began. The low clouds seemed full of grief -- tense and uneasy with accumulated woe -- and yet affectless, unable to rain, as if the air clenched itself too hard for tears. And through the dawn, Atiaran and Covenant moved heavily, unevenly, like pieces of a broken lament.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Grief, Rain, Night

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.97, Del Rey

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• There is no life which does not possess its own importance, no life which may not be touched by greatness at any time -- Yes, be touched by greatness and have a hand in it. (from The Mirror of Her Dreams)

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Dream, Greatness, Mirrors

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2013). “The Mirror of Her Dreams”, p.282, Del Rey

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• Whatever the explanation, it's perfectly obvious that our educational system has nothing to do with education: it's a babysitting service designed to replicate the worst qualities of the parents.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Educational, School, Parent

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• Joy is in the ears that hear.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Joy, Ears

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Power That Preserves”, p.284, Del Rey

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• One word more, a final caution: Do not forget whom to fear at the last. I have had to be content with killing and torment; but now my plans are laid, and I have begun. I shall not rest until I have eradicated hope from the Earth. Think on that, and be dismayed!

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Thinking, Finals, Earth

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.140, Del Rey

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• We need metaphors of magic and monsters in order to understand the human condition.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Order, Magic, Monsters

  8 Copy quote

• When you've tried all the salves in the world and they don't work, you start thinking about fire

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Thinking, Fire, World

  Stephen R. Donaldson (1982). “The wounded land”, Del Rey

  4 Copy quote

• We didn't make the world. All we have to do is live in it.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  World

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.20, Del Rey

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• "And you require no answers", Foamfollower was laughing in his gladness, "You are sufficient to every question".

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Laughing, Contentment, Answers

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “The Wounded Land”, p.286, Del Rey

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• However you look at it, in these books "power" tends to be an expression of the essential nature of the person or being whose power it is. On those occasions when we've seen Lord Foul act directly, he seems to exert the withering force of pure scorn. IMHO, that's pretty intense.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Hate, Book, Expression

  12 Copy quote

• The story of Terisa and Geraden began very much like a fable. She was a princess in a high tower. He was a hero come to rescue her. She was the only daughter of wealth and power. He was the seventh son of the lord of the seventh Care. She was beautiful from the auburn hair that crowned her head to the tips of her white toes. He was handsome and courageous. She was held prisoner by enchantment. He was a fearless breaker of enchantments. As in all the fables, they were made for each other.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Beautiful, Daughter, Princess

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2013). “The Mirror of Her Dreams”, p.6, Del Rey

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• Steven Erikson is an extraordinary writer. I read Gardens of the Moon with great pleasure. And now that I have read it, I would be hard pressed to decide what I enjoyed more: the richly and ominously magical world of Malaz and Genabackis; the large cast of sympathetically-rendered characters; or the way the story accumulates to a climax that hits like machinegun fire. My advice to anyone who might listen to me is, Treat yourself to Gardens of the Moon. And my entirely selfish advice to Steven Erikson is, write faster.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Selfish, Writing, Character

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• The heart cherishes secrets not worth the telling

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Heart, Secret, Cherish

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.155, Del Rey

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• Futility is the defining characteristic of life.

  Stephen R. Donaldson

  Futility Of Life, Defining, Characteristics

  Stephen R. Donaldson (2012). “Lord Foul's Bane”, p.20, Del Rey

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