Quotes from Christopher Paolini

If you are ever faced with this choice, are you willing to die for what you believe in?

The only thing she could be certain of was that she existed. All else was suspect, even her own thoughts.

We don't always get to do what we like. Sometimes we have to do what is right, not what we want

As Roran watched, the man's arms, neck, and chest shriveled, and his bones appeared in sharp relief-from the bowlike curve of his collarbones to the hollow saddle of his hips, where his stomach hung like an empty waterskin. His lips puckered and drew back farther than they were intended to over his yellow teeth, baring them in a grisly snarl, while his eyeballs deflated as if they were engorged ticks being squished empty of blood, and the surrounding flesh sank inward.

Do not worry about these things. Find peace in where and what you are. People often know what must be done. All you need to do is show them the way - that is wisdom.

Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders. He names the dragon Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller, Brom.

The floor was strewn with loose straw. Everything was scrupulously clean

THE MAW OF THE OCEAN The obsidian seas heaved underneath the Dragon Wing, propelling the ship high in the air. There it teetered on the precipitous crest of a foam-capped swell before pitching forward and racing down the face of the wave into the black trough below. Billows of stinging mist

If wish to remain above the forces here, do not let anyone's disapproval dictate your actions.

A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment. I won't tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you.

One part brave, three parts fool.

How am I supposed to know which religion is the true religion? he wondered. Just because someone follows a certain faith does not necessarily mean it is the right path.… Perhaps no one religion contains all of the truth of the world. Perhaps every religion contains fragments of the truth and it is our responsibility to identify those fragments and piece them together. Or perhaps the elves are right and there are no gods. But how can I know for sure?

I'll fight when needed, revel when there's occasion, mourn when there is grief, and die if my time comes … but I won't let anyone use me against my will.

Up on her back, Blödhgarm loosened the straps that held his legs in Saphira's saddle, then slid down her side. For a moment, Eragon had the supremely disorienting experience of meeting himself. He immediately decided that he disliked how his hair curled at the temples.

He had lost much that was dear to him, yet fate had given him rare and great gifts; for the first time, he was proud of simply who he was

When he grew hungry, he bought a wedge of cheese and a loaf of bread and ate them, sitting on a curb.

Take your sorcerer's stone elsewhere.

Especially when you're around to cuckold the husband.

Katrina stepped out from behind Horst and tossed back her auburn hair like a spray of molten copper.

Beware of losing your way, for you are one of the few who are truly free to choose their own fate.

You believe dragons are better than gods?

Eragon mounted Saphira

The pain is of our own making. It only hurts as much as we let it

Eragon—a fifteen-year-old farmboy—is shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrow's sister and has not been seen since Eragon's birth.