Quotes from Lloyd Alexander

What seems to be love beyond any question is usually a simple case of indigestion.

By all means, cried the bard, his eyes lighting up. A Fflam to the rescue! Storm the castle! Carry it by assault! Batter down the gates! There's not much of it left to storm, said Eilonwy. Oh? said Fflewddur, with disappointment. Very well, we shall do the best we can.

I'm trying to make myself invisible. That's an odd thing to attempt.

If I fret over tomorrow, I'll have little joy today.

Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. But don't forget to put out your nets!

I can't make sense out of that girl, he said to the bard, Can you? Never mind, Fflewddur said, We aren't really expected to.

You know how chickens are, imagining the world coming to an end one moment, then pecking corn the next.

Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains.

If a storyteller worried about the facts - my dear Lucian, how could he ever get at the truth?

A taste for adventure is by no means a masculine monopoly.

Any fool can tell a story. Take a few odds and ends of things that happen to you, dress them up, shuffle them about, add a dash of excitement, a little color, and there you have it.

I decided that adventure was the best way to learn about writing.

It is strange,' he said at last. 'I had longed to enter the world of men. Now I see it filled with sorrow, with cruelty and treachery, with those who would destroy all around them.' 'Yet, enter it you must,' Gwydion answered, 'for it is a destiny laid on each of us. True, you have seen these things. But there are equal parts of love and joy.

Find what you want. I will find you.

He was a great poet They lamented. No, he was not a great poet, said Theo, He was a good poet, he could have been better. That's the real loss don't you see?

I saw myself.... In the time I watched, I saw strength—and frailty. Pride and vanity, courage and fear. Of wisdom, a little. Of folly, much. Of intentions, many good ones; but many more left undone. In this, alas, I saw myself a man like any other. But this, too, I saw.... Alike as men may seem, each is different as flakes of snow, no two the same. You told me you had no need to seek the Mirror, knowing you were Annlaw Clay-Shaper. Now I know who I am: myself and none other. I am Taran.

Are you slow-witted? I'm so sorry for you. It's terrible to be dull and stupid.

Behind one truth there is always yet another.

Writings can be stolen, or changed, or used for evil purposes. But isn't the risk worth taking? The more people who share knowledge, the greater safeguard for it. Isn't there more danger in ignorance than knowledge?

For Wayfarers still journeying, for Wanderers at rest.

No matter what has happened, you're not a pig-boy; you're an Assistant Pig Keeper!

True allegiance is only given willingly.

If you want truth, you should begin by giving it.

Miss Vesper Holly has the digestive talents of a goat and the mind of a chess master. She is familiar with half a dozen languages and can swear fluently in all of them. She understands the use of a slide rule but prefers doing calculations in her head. She does not hesitate to risk life and limb- mine as well as her own. No doubt she has other qualities as yet undiscovered. I hope not.