Quotes from Diana Gabaldon

It is for this reason that a scientist constructs hypotheses—suggestions for the cause of an observation. But a hypothesis must never be confused with an explanation—with proof.

I know what it felt Ã¢â'¬Â¦ like when I Ã¢â'¬Â¦ thought you were dead, and—" A small gasp for breath, and her eyes locked on his. "And I wouldn't do that to you.

All the sounds of the house, from the creak of the back stair under an early-rising maid's foot, to the drumming rain on the roofslates, were sounds he had heard a thousand times before; heard so often, he didn't hear them anymore. I did.

yowled, and Mrs. Chisholm—who was a rather buxom

And that, ma chère madame, is all I can tell you—no more than I can tell any troubled soul who comes to me for advice: put your trust in God, and pray for guidance." He shoved the fresh pastry toward me. "But whatever you are to do, you will

Nothing moved on the surface but faint coruscations of starlight, caught like fireflies in a spider's web.

If he's bound to risk his life, then it's my job to see he gets the most return from his gambling.

I am what God has made me, and must deal with the Times in which He has placed me.

You'll lie wi' me now," he said quietly. "And I shall use ye as I must. And if you'll have your revenge for it, then take it and welcome, for my soul is yours, in all the black corners of it.

The tooth had belonged to a gentleman named Murphy from Ellis Ward, the one we lived in. I say "had belonged" because I had the badly broken and infected bicuspid out of Mr. Murphy's head before he could have said Jack Robinson, though he was in such pain that he could barely recall his own name, let alone Jack's. Mr.

You know Mountgerald, the big house at the end of the High Street? There's a ghost there, a workman on the house who was killed as a sacrifice for the foundation. In the eighteenth century sometime; that's really fairly recent," he added thoughtfully.

Someone, he thought rather crossly, ought to see him and tell him just what the sentence was, until he should have suffered enough to be purified, and at last to enter the Kingdom of God. Whether he was expecting a demon or an angel was uncertain. He had no idea of the staffing requirements of Purgatory; it wasn't a matter the dominie had addressed in his schooldays.

One of my mother's friends was an artist. He showed me a few things – though warning me that to become an artist was the only certain way to starve.

It looks as though it hurt." "It did." "Did you cry?" His fists clenched involuntarily at his sides. "Yes!" Jenny walked back around to face him, pointed chin lifted and slanted eyes wide and bright. "So did I," she said softly. "Every day since they took ye away.

I drew a deep breath, trying to think of something to say, then pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and gave it to him. Are you breathing, Ian? His mouth twitched a little. Aye, I htink so. That's all you have to do, for now.

Twilight was coming on, and so was a storm. In the eerie light beneath the clouds, even the thoroughly modern houses along the road looked as ancient and as sinister as the weathered Pictish stone that stood a hundred feet away, guarding the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years. It seemed a good night to be inside with the shutters fastened.

A forced oath canna bind a man, though, or keep him from his knowledge of right.

Aye, I ken fine how strong women are," he said quietly. "And you're strong enough for what must be done, m' annsachd—believe me.

though. It isn't necessarily easier if you know what it is you're meant to do—but at least you don't waste time in questioning or doubting. If you're honest—well, that isn't necessarily easier, either. Though I suppose if you're honest with yourself and know what you are, at least you're less likely to feel that you've wasted your life, doing the wrong thing.

Ayer rece durante todo el camino colina arriba, no para que te quedaras, no me parecía correcto. Rezaba para tener la fortaleza necesaria para dejar que te fueras. Dije <>, ha sido el momento mas difícil, sassenach.

What a mystery blood was—how did a tiny gesture, a tone of voice, endure through generations like the harder verities of flesh? He had seen it again and again, watching his nieces and nephews grow, and accepted without thought the echoes of parent and grandparent that appeared for brief moments, the shadow of a face looking back through the years—that vanished again into the face that was now.

A brown, rocklike fist rose out of the mass and descended with considerable force, meeting decisively with some bony protuberance, by the sound of the resultant crack.

Roger was on the whole rather glad that her father was not present, since he would certainly have taken paternal umbrage at the sorts of thoughts Roger was thinking; thoughts

The Continental army got more generals than they got private soldiers, these days. An officer lives through more 'n two battles, they make him some kind of general on the spot. Now, gettin' any pay for it, that's a different kettle of fish.