Robert E. Howard: Trending quotes (page 6)

“A great poet is greater than any king.”

Robert E. Howard

"By This Axe I Rule!" (1967)

“"It is hard to describe precisely what made Mr. Howard's stories stand out so sharply; but the real secret is that he himself is in every one of them, whether they were ostensibly commercial or not. He was greater than any profit-making policy he could adopt — for even when he outwardly made concessions to Mammon-guided editors and commercial critics, he had an internal force and sincerity which broke through the surface and put the imprint of his personality on everything he wrote." ~ H. P. Lovecraft, "Robert Ervin Howard: A Memorium", Fantasy Magazine, 1936 (Reprinted in The Last Celt, Glenn Lord ed., p. 69, 1976,”

Robert E. Howard

About

Secret , Personality , Sincerity

“My feet are set on the outward trails
And the call of the roistering sea.
My wings are spread on the outbound gales
And the paths that are long and free.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (June 23, 1926)
Letters

Sea

“We’re making tin gods out of those poor buffoons in Hollywood; I dote on movies and appreciate the scanty art therein but I consider the profession about the most debased and debasing I know.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (week of February 20, 1928)
Letters

God , Art

“[Behind Howard's stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”

Robert E. Howard

~ Robert Bloch
About

Truth , Dreams

“Forget Schwarzenegger and the movies. This is pure pulp fiction from the 1930s, before political corrections and focus groups dictated the direction of our art. Swords spin, entrails spill, and woman swoon.”

Robert E. Howard

~ Men's Health magazine
About

Men , Health , Art , Forgetting

“Fool that I was to trust a Frenchman!”

Robert E. Howard

"Rattle of Bones" (1929)

Fools

“What shall a man say when a friend has vanished behind the doors of Death? A mere tangle of barren words, only words.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (c. May 1928)
Letters

Death

“The poem you sent me was as fiery and virile as anything you’ve ever written – or anybody else, for that matter. Especially the second part went to my brain like the flaming liquor of insanity. No one else besides Jack London has the power to move me just that way.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (c. November 1928)
Letters

Way , Parting

“A long bow and a strong bow, and let the sky grow dark!
The cord to the nock, the shaft to the ear, and the king of Koth for a mark!”

Robert E. Howard

Song of the Bossonian Archers
"The Scarlet Citadel" (1933)

Strong

“But who is this who rides in silver white
Attire that shames the stars across the night?
Helmet and shield and corselet all a-gleam,
Like some crusader from a drifting dream
Upon a prancing jackass shod with flame—
Rise, heralds of the past, bray forth his name”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (c. November–December 1928)
Letters

Dreams , Star , Past , Night

“Did you deem yourself strong, because you were able to twist the heads off civilized folk, poor weaklings with muscles like rotten string? Hell! Break the neck of a wild Cimmerian bull before you call yourself strong. I did that, before I was a full-grown man - like this!”

Robert E. Howard

"Shadows in Zamboula" (1935)

Hell , Strong

“"You cannot escape me!" he roared. "Lead me into a trap and I'll pile the heads of your kinsmen at your feet! Hide from me and I'll tear apart the mountains to find you! I'll follow you to hell!"”

Robert E. Howard

"The Frost-Giant's Daughter" (1953)

Mountain , Hell , Tear

“The lake-beings about him drew daggers and moved upon Kull. Then the king laughed and set his back against a column, gripping his sword hilt until the muscles stood out on his right arm in great ridges.
"This is a game I understand, ghosts," he laughed.”

Robert E. Howard

"Delcardes' Cat" (1967)

Game , Understanding

“Come, my friend, let us cuss things in general.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (January 14, 1926)
Letters

“My body seems a mere encumbrance to me; an imbecillic wagon, hitched to the horse of desire, which is the soul.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (August 28, 1925)
Letters

Soul , Horse

“Youngsters of this generation seem not quite so hazardous except in the way of mechanical speed, bad liquor and venereal diseases.”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to H. P. Lovecraft (c. April 1932)
Letters

Disease , Way , Speed

“The sea-road is good for wanderers and landless men. There is quenching of thirst on the grey paths of the winds, and the flying clouds to still the sting of lost dreams.”

Robert E. Howard

"The Road of Azrael" (1976)

Men , Dreams , Flying , Sea

“Don’t you think that as a people, Americans have less poetry, real poetry, in their souls than any other nations?”

Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Robert W. Gordon (January 2, 1926)
Letters

People , Soul , Thinking

“"This warrior says you must fight him for the leadership," said Bran, and Kull, eyes glittering with growing battle-joy, nodded: "I guessed as much. Give us space."
"A shield and a helmet!" shouted Bran, but Kull shook his head.
"I need none," he growled. "Back and give us room to swing our steel!"”

Robert E. Howard

"Kings of the Night" (1930)

Joy , Fight