Quotes from Stephen R. Lawhead

You seem a thoughtful sort of man, Will," the cheerful cleric observed. "I hope I am," I replied.

talent without discipline is only an empty promise—the glitter of an unworked crystal. It is nothing of itself.

Apart from pleasure, beauty also kindles imagination, hope, and encouragement. If beauty ceased to exist we would, in a very real sense, cease to exist – for we would no longer be who we are.

Kings come and go, but sovereignty remains. Kings are men, and men may fall to vice and corruption, but sovereignty is pure and undefiled at its source.

Thus, the world is changed—not with a sword, but with a word.

He mistook convalescence for indolence and resented it

May God go with you on your journey, my wayfaring friends. A thousand angels go before you; a thousand prayers for your return. Peace! Good-night.

Bitter the day of birth, for death is its companion. Yet, though life be cold and cruel, we are not without a last consolation. For to die in one world is to be born into another. Let all men hear and remember!

I saw Byzantium in a dream and knew that I would die there.. and the golden towers of Byzantium would be my tomb ~ Aidan

What else is love," Mathiax had asked her one day, "but taking the pain of another as your own—especially when you are not obliged to?" Thus, pain was woven into the very fabric of the universe—because there could be no love without it, and because the Infinite Father had set love as the cornerstone of His creation.

I saw Byzantium in a dream, and knew that I would die there. That vast city seemed to me a living thing: a great golden lion... I felt the dread jaws close on me as I stood screaming. Then I awoke; but my waking brought neither joy nor relief. For I rose not to life, but to the terrible certainty of death. I was to die, and the golden towers of Byzantium would be my tomb. ~ Aidan

True poetry is born of scrutiny, Scrutiny, the son of meditation, Meditation, the son of lore, Lore, the son of inquiry, Inquiry, the son of investigation, Investigation, the son of knowledge, Knowledge, the son of understanding, Understanding, the son of wisdom, Wisdom, the son of Surrender to the Divine Will. The

Young Bran, striving to please and yearning for the approving touch of a father's hand, only ever saw that hand raised in anger. Thus, he learned at an early age that since he could never please his father, he might as well please himself.

Fear arises from uncertainty. Where there is perfect certainty, there is no fear.

Had he but known that before the day was over he would discover the hidden dimensions of the universe, Kit might have been better prepared.

If I have learned anything in my time among you, it is this: true honor lives not in the skill of weapons or the strength of arms, but in virtue. Skill fades and strength fails; virtue alone remains. Therefore, let us put off all that is false. Let us prefer instead the valor of virtue, and the glory of right.

Alas, words were but empty things, devoid of power and all too easily broken, discarded, and forgotten.

For ourselves, Mighty Father, I pray you keep us from the sin of hatred, keep us from the sin of vengeance, keep us from the sin of despair, but protect us from the wicked schemes of our enemies.

Alas," mused Roger Bacon, "it is not only the public which so often fails to appreciate the nature of our more delicate investigations—many of our leading churchmen are particularly lacking in the finer faculties of discernment. Led by the twin banes of intolerance and ignorance, they too often condemn where they rightly should revere. They traduce what should be championed. They denounce what should be praised.

they had started out with all the tools for creating Utopia right from the very beginning; they had all of history to teach them how to organize and govern themselves. They might have chosen to recreate Eden. Instead, they chose Hell.

Of course it is escapist," he cried. "That is its glory! When a soldier is a prisoner of war it is his duty to escape—and take as many with him as he can." He went on to explain, "The moneylenders, the knownothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as possible.

Time . . . strange stuff," mused Thomas. "Time is the central mystery of our existence. It confines and defines us in many ways. We are obedient to its inexorable mechanism throughout our lives, and yet we know almost nothing about it. Why does it flow in only one direction? What is it made of ? How is it regulated? Is it everywhere the same for everyone? Or might its substance or speed be altered by mechanisms as yet undiscovered?

I began to sense a momentous glory radiating from every form that met my eye- every limb and leaf, every blade of grass ablaze with the unutterable grandeur and majesty. And it seemed to me that the world I saw before me was merely an outward manifestation of a vastly powerful, deeply fundamental reality that existed just out of sight. I might not discern this veiled reality directly, but I could perceive its effects.

Raising an army of king's men with the king in an enemy prison?" Tuck queried. "What is difficult about that?" "I don't think he even has an army." "Well, that would make it slightly more tricky, I suppose," remarked Tuck.