Tad Williams: Trending quotes (page 3)

““Neither War nor Violent Death,” Morgenes had written, “have anything uplifting about them, yet they are the candle to which Humanity flies again and again, as complacently as the lowly moth. He who has been upon a battlefield, and who is not blinded by popular conceptions, will confirm that on this ground Mankind seems to have created a Hell on Earth out of sheer impatience, rather than waiting for that original to which—if the priests are correct—most of us will eventually be ushered.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 20, “The Shadow of the Wheel” (p. 302).

Death , War , Hell , Waiting

“Thank you for your news, Princess. It is none of it happy, but only a fool desires cheerful ignorance and I try not to be a fool. That is my heaviest burden.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Stone of Farewell (1990), Chapter 9, “Cold and Curses” (p. 237).

Fools , Princess , Happiness

“The last thing a drunkard loses, you see, is his cunning: it outlasts his soul by a long season.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 1, Chapter 9, “Pages in an Old Book” (p. 301).

Soul , Season

“Damn everyone to Hell. And damn the bloody forest. And God, too, for that matter.
He looked up fearfully from his chill handful of water, but his silent blasphemy went unpunished.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 16, “The White Arrow” (p. 238).

God , Hell , Water

“Binabik had taught him to do only what he could at any given time. “You cannot catch three fish with two hands,” the little man often said.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 24, “The Graylands” (p. 540).

Fish , Time

“If the strong can bully the weak without shame, then how are we different from the beasts of forest and field?”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 1, Chapter 8, “Nights of Fire” (p. 255).

Strong

“Ambitious men never believe others aren’t the same.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 30, “A Thousand Nails” (p. 484).

Men

“This fellow,” he indicated the woodsman with a sweep of his stick, “will reliably not become more alive, but he may have friends or family who will be unsettled to find him so extremely dead.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 17, “Binabik” (p. 253).

Family , Dead

“In times of badness, gold is being worth more than beauty.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 15, “A Meandering of Ink” (p. 357).

Beauty , Time

“No charm is proof against a dagger in the back.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 40, “The Green Tent” (p. 677).

““Thank you, Duke,” the troll said seriously. “May your god be blessing us indeed. We go into unknown places.”
“As do all mortals,” Josua added. “Sooner or later.””

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 34, “Forgotten Swords” (p. 567).

God

“As with all dwellings,” she said, “of mortals and immortals both, it is the living that makes a house—not the doors, not the walls.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Stone of Farewell (1990), Chapter 25, “Petals in a Wind Storm” (pp. 626-627).

Housing

““There is nothing like the ocean to remind you of what is important,” she said quietly, and smiled. Cadrach’s returned smile was weak.
“Ah, by the Good Lord, that’s true,” he groaned. “I am reminded that life is sweet, that the sea is treacherous, and that I am a fool.”
Miriamele nodded solemnly, staring up at the bellying sails. “Those are good things to remember,” she said.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 41, “Cold Fire and Grudging Stone” (p. 713).

Life , Smile , Fools , Sea

““Do you get tired, singing?” she asked.
Gan Itai laughed quietly. “Does a mother grow tired raising her children? Of course, but it is what I do.””

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Stone of Farewell (1990), Chapter 23, “Deep Waters” (p. 591).

Children , Singing

““Now, boy, now…” he said bewilderedly, “what is all this talk of glory? Have you caught the sickness, too? Curse me for a blind beggar, I should have seen. This fever has cankered even your simple heart, hasn’t it, Simon? I’m sorry. It takes a strong will or practiced eye to see through the glitter to the rotten core.””

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 10, “King Hemlock” (p. 139).

Boy , Strong , Heart

“She had little doubt that whatever happened to her on this drifting ship was of scant interest to a God who could allow her to reach this sorry state in the first place.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 1, Chapter 6, “The Sea-Grave” (p. 185).

God

“You have something that might be more use to me than either gold or power—something that in fact brings both in its train.”
“And what is that?”

Tad Williams

The count leaned forward. “Knowledge.”
Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 21, “The Frightened Ones” (p. 491).

Knowledge , Training

““I have not slept well since I first entered my brother’s dungeons. While my comfort has improved since then, worry has taken the place of hanging in chains as a denier of rest.”
“There are many kinds of imprisonment,” Jarnauga nodded.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 43, “The Harrowing” (p. 739).

“She didn’t know which she liked less, having people tell lies about her or having people know the truth.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 1, Chapter 2, “Chains of Many Kinds” (p. 71).

People , Truth

“Are these things you all say magical charms to chase me away? If so, they do not seem to be working.”

Tad Williams

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 1, Chapter 20, “Travelers and Messengers” (p. 636).