"Ghosts of Wind and Shadow" in Dreams Underfoot : The Newford Collection (2003), p. 183
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Charles de Lint: 53 quotes2 likes
Famous Charles de Lint Quotes
Goninan in Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 336
The Little Country (1991)
“Waifs and Strays”, p. 25
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“I'm not Chinese. I thrive in interesting times.”
Someplace to be Flying (2005), p. 130
"Footprints in the Dust", p. 19
Memory and Dream (1994)
Charles de Lint Quotes about life
“Life’s like art. You have to work hard to keep it simple and still have meaning.”
“The Pochade Box”, p. 318
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
Making a Noise in This World in Hartwell ed. Year's Best Fantasy, (2000) p. 326
"Journal Entries", p. 118
Memory and Dream (1994)
“The real problem is, people think life is a ladder, and it’s really a wheel.”
“The Forest is Crying”, p. 44 (quoting Pat Cadigan)
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
"Journal Entries", p. 188
Memory and Dream (1994)
Context: I don't know why I care what people write about me after I'm dead, except that since I invest so much of my time telling the truth in my fiction, I'd hate to see someone play fast and loose with the pieces of my life. I don't care what they might think of me; but I don't want lies about my life used to invalidate the stories. My characters seem real because they are drawn from the realities of my life. I didn't have to research their pain; I just tapped into my own.
Source: Into the Green (1993), p. 26; This has also been misquoted as "The few wonders of the world only exist while there are those with the sight to see them."
Charles de Lint Quotes about the world
Part One: The Hidden People, "The Quarrlsome Piper" p. 19
The Little Country (1991)
“Remember the quiet wonders. The world has more need of them than it has for warriors.”
Charles de Lint book Moonheart
Moonheart (1994), p. 386
Context: Remember the quiet wonders. The world has more need of them than it has for warriors. And this I will tell you as well: One cannot seek to uphold honor in a being that has none.
“I love this world … That is what rules my life.”
Goninan in Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 336
The Little Country (1991)
Context: I love this world … That is what rules my life. When I die, I want to have done all in my power to leave it in a better state than it was in when I found it. At the same time I know that this can never be. The world has grown so complex that one voice can do little to alter it any longer. That doesn't stop me from doing what I can but it makes the task hard. The successes are so small, the failures so large and many. It's like trying to stem a storm with one's bare hands.
Part Two: The Lost Music, "The Touchstone" p. 501
The Little Country (1991)
Charles de Lint: Trending quotes
“Their hearts swelled with its beauty, its mystery. With all it revealed, and all that it hid.”
Part Two: The Lost Music, "The Touchstone" p. 507
The Little Country (1991)
Context: They stood and listened, arms around each other for comfort, as the sound washed over them. It reverberated in the marrow of their bones, sung high and sweet, heartbreakingly mournful, quick as a jig, slow as the saddest air. Their hearts swelled with its beauty, its mystery. With all it revealed, and all that it hid.
"Paperjack" in Dreams Underfoot : The Newford Collection (2003), p. 396
Context: Everybody makes the same mistake. Fortune-telling doesn't reveal the future; it mirrors the present. It resonates against what your subconscious already knows and hauls it up out of the darkness so you can get a good look at it.
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night”, p. 265
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
Context: “You’re confusing me.”
“But not deliberately so,” Coyote says. “Let it go on record that any confusion arose simply because we lacked certain commonalities of reference.”
Charles de Lint Quotes
“Like legend and myth, magic fades when it is unused”
hence all the old tales of elfin Kingdoms moving further and further away from our world, or that magical beings require our faith, our belief in their existence, to survive. … That is a lie. All they require is our recognition.
Goninan in Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 337
The Little Country (1991)
“No matter the semantics, they are of a kind and it is legend and myth that binds us all together.”
Goninan in Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 336
The Little Country (1991)
Context: Legend and myth are what we use to describe what we don't comprehend. They are out attempts to make the impossible, possible — at least insofar as our spirits interact with the spirit of the world, or if that is too animistic for you, then let's use Jung's terminology and call it our racial subconscious. No matter the semantics, they are of a kind and it is legend and myth that binds us all together. … Through them, through their retellings, and through those version that are called religion while they are current, we are taught Truth and we attempt to understand Mystery.
"Paperjack" in Dreams Underfoot : The Newford Collection (2003), p. 396
Context: It's the questions we ask, the journey we take to get to where we are going that is more important than the actual answer. It's good to have mysteries. It reminds us that there's more to the world than just making do and having a bit of fun.
“Legend and myth are what we use to describe what we don't comprehend.”
Goninan in Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 336
The Little Country (1991)
Context: Legend and myth are what we use to describe what we don't comprehend. They are out attempts to make the impossible, possible — at least insofar as our spirits interact with the spirit of the world, or if that is too animistic for you, then let's use Jung's terminology and call it our racial subconscious. No matter the semantics, they are of a kind and it is legend and myth that binds us all together. … Through them, through their retellings, and through those version that are called religion while they are current, we are taught Truth and we attempt to understand Mystery.
“Bird Bones and Wood Ash”, p. 169
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
Context: I had the same questions for Superman as I did for God: If he was so powerful, why didn’t he deal with some real problems? Why didn’t he stop wars, feed the starving in Ethiopia, cure cancer? At least God had the Church to do His PR work for Him — if you can buy their reasoning, they have any number of explanations ranging from how the troubles of this life build character to that inarguable catchall, “God’s will.” And the crap in this life sure makes heaven look good.
When I was growing up, the writers and artists of Superman never even tried to deal with the problem. And since they didn’t, I could only see Superman as a monster, not a hero. I couldn’t believe his battles with criminals, superpowered geniuses and the like.
I never believed in God either.
"Journal Entries", p. 186
Memory and Dream (1994)
Context: I've always had these bouts of depression; I hide them well but doesn't mean they aren't there. … I didn't have anyone around for whom I had to put on a cheerful mask. The thing with pretending you're in a good mood is that sometimes you can actually trick yourself into feeling better.
Source: Into the Green (1993), Ch. 36 p. 233
Context: He had seen trances before — wise men far in the east, who could feign death; a herbwife as she bent over her patient, searching for invisible hurts.
But this was different. He could sense something here, within the circle cast by the light of the fire. A presence.
Presences...
“By enlarging your knowledge of things, you will find your knowledge of self is enlarged.”
“The Pochade Box”, p. 318
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night”, p. 253
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“There are few joys to compare with the telling of a well-told tale.”
Charles de Lint book Yarrow
Yarrow : An Autumn Tale (1997), p. 43
Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 335
The Little Country (1991)
Part One: The Hidden People, "Border Spirit" p. 334
The Little Country (1991)
“That dichotomy between who she was and who she thought she should be was what really killed her.”
“Pal o’ Mine”, p. 244
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“The Wishing Well”, p. 74
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“When you’re invisible, no one can see that you’re different.”
“Pal o’ Mine”, p. 244
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night”, p. 267
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
Lammond in Ch. 36 p. 227
Into the Green (1993)
"Romano Drom" in Dreams Underfoot : The Newford Collection (2003), p. 118
"Dream Harder, Dream True", p. 293
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night”, p. 291
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
"Tallulah" in Dreams Underfoot : The Newford Collection (2003), p. 399
“Saxophone Joe and the Woman in Black”, p. 212
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
"Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night", p. 282
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“The problem with children is that you have to put up with their parents.”
As quoted in The Ultimate Guide to Celebrating Kids : K-6th Grade School (2005) by Linda LaTourelle, p. 134
“There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back.”
“Dead Man’s Shoes”, p. 143, quoting Elizabeth David
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“The Forever Trees”, p. 327 (quoting a Zen saying)
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Wisdom never comes to those who believe they have nothing left to learn.”
“The Forest is Crying”, p. 62
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
"Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night", p. 289
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Only fools think they’re wise; the rest of us just muddle through as we can.”
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night”, p. 264
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
"Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night", p. 254
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“Nothing’s different, but everything has changed.”
“The Forever Trees”, p. 331
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)
“I think you're all mad. But that's part and parcel of being an artistic genius, isn't it?”
"Baiting the Hook", p. 42
Memory and Dream (1994)
