Tanith Lee quotes - page 5

The countryside meant grain and herds, and a river meant fish. And if the sky meant anything, it meant a cruel God who took no notice of their pains and chastised them if they sinned. (Tanith Lee)
Sorry,” I said sweetly, "I'm the new one with the quick temper and the uncontrollable homicidal tendencies. View quote
Tanith Lee
Like most loners,” said Moddik, "you carry the seeds of violent authority. Loners need to be bossy. They quickly learn it's the only method they have of shoving people off their backs. View quote
Tanith Lee
I think Kathaos fears no divine forces.” "Then he's a brave man.” "Oh, men make their own gods,” Yannul remarked. "I have a god with a fat belly, and a house full of expensive women to attend his every need, and I call him Yannul the Lan in Five Years from This. View quote
Tanith Lee
Well now,” he said, "was I as good as you were when you were me? View quote
Tanith Lee
It was, therefore, the sort of loveliness which is not perfect, but draws its charm from a measure of imbalance, which can accommodate flaws and make little of them, for a while at least. View quote
Tanith Lee
The bird stabs the worm, the big cat breaks the bird's neck, the man casts his spear into the heart of the cat. That is how the world is. Even the man had better look behind him; the wolf may be near, or another man, or fate, the hungriest hunter of them all. View quote
Tanith Lee
Having failed, do you accept failure, saying only: Well, it is so. I will turn to other things? When night comes, do you accept the blackness of it, saying only: Well, it is so. I will turn and wait for morning? Or do you go on striving to light a candle against that dark however often the wind blows out the flame, however often the night returns? View quote
Tanith Lee
I know the old ways. There's nothing evil there, only strange, and not even strange when you know it. View quote
Tanith Lee
Sickness, the serpent, is coming to bite you, Death, the old dark man, is coming to carry you off, Rest uneasy, you stinking carrion, on your gold beds. View quote
Tanith Lee
Tonight it was to be a play for aristocrats to watch, concerning gods and shepherds; it was the humble villages that clamored for princesses and emperors. (Tanith Lee)
This sight was terrible, more terrible than words convey, for words are cowards as men are, and hide things as men do. View quote
Tanith Lee
There are two clever tricks men know. One is to make much of nothing. The second is to make nothing of much. View quote
Tanith Lee
Somewhere in me was a rod of steel to which I clung. I'd had a vision, as good as any vision given to any poet, sage, or prophet in the past. I wasn't elated, I wasn't confident even, but somehow, I knew, and with the end of doubt had come the death of despair. View quote
Tanith Lee
The year was woven on the loom, finished and folded away upon the pile of other years in the tall chests of Time. View quote
Tanith Lee
At that, I understood for sure I must not lose her, for the earth is not the earth without some light to see it by, and she was mine. View quote
Tanith Lee
This much poison cannot pour in one's ears without it will leave some trace. View quote
Tanith Lee
I had made vows and to spare, but the present cannot be ruled forever by the past. View quote
Tanith Lee
Destiny or gods or fortune-whatever one is pleased or innocent enough to call them-they seal men to their decree. View quote
Tanith Lee
There is, too, a sort of relief in admitting defeat. Struggling to drag a mountain from my path, acknowledging at last the mountain would remain, lying down beneath the mountain, thankful for the shade of it. View quote
Tanith Lee
The grape of truth is often bitter, but not to taste it in its season would be to waste the vine. (Tanith Lee)
Far too soon a man is in his grave, and how small are the hurricanes and mountains of his life-vengeance, love, might, and conquest-compared to that tiny heap of bone dust at its end. View quote
Tanith Lee
Nothing breaks more quickly than corroded steel. View quote
Tanith Lee
Human aspiration is often blind, its motto: I want, therefore I will have. View quote
Tanith Lee
The stink of madness is unsubtle here. Let us be going. View quote
Tanith Lee