Dan Clore > Dan's Quotes

“. . . and then, from that dungeon in the West,
There rises up a melody, beguiling and forlorn.
It is the sweet, sad, self-deceiving murderer's song,
And it will not end 'til morn . . .'
-- Wheldrake, The Prisoners”
― Michael Moorcock, The New Nature of the Catastrophe

“It's beautiful to contemplate the ruins of human habitations; and even more beautiful to contemplate the ruins of human bodies; but far and away the most beautiful of all, to contemplate the ruins of human minds!”
― Dan Clore, The Unspeakable and Others

“The miserable frequently believe that possession of power for its own sake is what has made others more content. They grab such power in many different ways and remain baffled as to why they are just as miserable as they were to begin with.”
― Michael Moorcock, The Dragon in the Sword

“It is ironic that I saved both myself and those I cared for by recalling, at the crucial moment, my identity as an ordinary mortal. There are subtle dangers to the role of hero. I am glad I no longer have to consider them.”
― Michael Moorcock, The Dragon in the Sword

“Reagan is talking about getting back to the old versions, but that's just this old politician horseshit. They've been saying it for a hundred years: "Back to the virtues that made America great and can make America great again!" It's not to be taken seriously, of course. Biologically speaking, the only direction you can't go, is back! It's impossible. It's a law.”
― William S. Burroughs, Burroughs and Friends: Lost Interviews

“Bow down, I am the emperor of dreams.”
― Clark Ashton Smith, The Last Oblivion: Best Fantastic Poems of Clark Ashton Smith

“One would go mad if one took the Bible seriously; but to take it seriously one must be already mad.”
― Aleister Crowley, Magick: Liber ABA: Book 4

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”
― James Branch Cabell, The Silver Stallion

“The patriot everywhere, it may be observed, remains always exceedingly careful lest his country's banner become besmirched by any touch of that bloody sponge which is his brain.”
― branch cabell

“A flag, after all, does very grandly fly in the face of logic to symbolize the honor of a nation. None can define that inconceivable compost of land, and of tradition, and of forests, and of buildings, and of cultural limitations, and of mutually repugnant human beings, and of pandemic prejudice, and of insane legal fictions, and of yet other unrelated odds and ends, which combine to form a "nation.”
― branch cabell

“You may, in fact, observe that nobody is quite at ease in dealing with a policeman: the man represents, however genially, with howsoever bright adornments of figured brass and rubicundity, an oppression that is upon us; and while in theory the relation between the legally honest taxpayer and his two hired and liveried retainers, the policeman and the mail-carrier, is the same, one notes in practise a marked difference. The courts and officers of the law, and all legal processes, are matters with which we as if by instinct avoid involvement: for, here again, man occupies somewhat the position of a Frankenstein. . . .”
― James Branch Cabell , Straws and Prayer-Books

“And what of Allegro? Shunned by the scholarly community, he left academia to pursue a career as a writer. During his scroll years, he was described as "cavalier, impudent, cheerfully iconoclastic," but in time the hostility of the scholarly community left him "weary and disillusioned." In 1970, he committed scholarly suicide by publishing a book entitled The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, in which he argued that Jesus never existed but was merely an image produced by early Christians under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms, that Christianity began as an orgiastic mushroom cult. In a letter to the London Times, fourteen prominent British scholars, including his old Oxford mentor, Godfrey Driver, repudiated the book and his publisher apologized for publishing it. Allegro remained in academic and literary exile until his death at sixty-five in 1968.”
― Hershel Shanks, The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls

“We, too, were married on a Friday; but while your Friday was a nondescript fifth day (I never knew whether it should be called fifth or sixth) ours was the 31st of October,--Hallowmas Eve. To be married on the of Hallowe'en is to play at skittles with an offended deity, the wedded couple being the skittles of course. But to be married at Hallowtide when it happens to fall on a Friday is to invite Satan to your house as an honored guest, and then needlessly insult him by a gift of the Shorter Catechism or an S.P.C.K. pamphlet.”
― William Sharp, Wives in Exile: A Comedy in Romance

“Add to this the imagery that Christian Kabbalists have heaped on the Tree of Life, which stands like an overburdened Christmas tree in some textbooks on kabbalistic practice, and finish with Aleister Crowley's book of correspondences, 777, and you have an ill-assorted relish tray from which to choose.”
― Caitlín Matthews, Walkers Between the Worlds: The Western Mysteries from Shaman to Magus

“A vast unkindness of haematic ravens
Arose to feast as spirits reached their havens.”
― Ashley Dioses, Diary of a Sorceress

“Not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“If it were customary to send little girls to school and teach them the same subjects as are taught to boys, they would learn just as fully and would understand the subtleties of all arts and sciences.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“There Adam slept, and God formed the body of woman from one of his ribs, signifying that she should stand at his side as a companion and never lie at his feet like a slave, and also that he should love her as his own flesh.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Similarly, Medusa (or Gorgon) was celebrated for her outstanding beauty. She was a daughter of the very wealthy king Phorcys whose large kingdom was surrounded by the sea. This Medusa, according to the ancient stories, was of such striking beauty that not only did she surpass all other women--which was an amazing and supernatural thing--but she also attracted to herself, because of her pleasing appearance--her long and curly blond hair spun like gold, along with her beautiful face and body--every mortal creature upon whom she looked, so that she seemed to make people immovable. For this reason the fable claimed that they had turned to stone.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“Moreover, in order to show forth her wisdom and the excellence of her mind to the centuries to come, she [Nicostrata/Carmentis] worked and studied so hard that she invented her own letters, which were completely different from those of other nations, that is, she established the Latin alphabet and syntax, spelling, the difference between the vowels and consonants, as well as a complete introduction to the science of grammar.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“She [Isis] invented a form of shorthand which she taught to the Egyptians and provided them a way to abridge their excessively involved script.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Through her ingenuity she invented a shorthand Greek script in which a long written narrative could be transcribed with far fewer letters, and which is still used by the Greeks today, a fine invention whose discovery demanded great sublety. She [Minerva/Pallas (Athena)] invented numbers and a means of quickly counting and adding sums.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“The gates of Anat's house were shut,
and the lads met the lady of the mountain.
And then Anat went to battle in the valley,
she fought between the two cities:
she killed the people of the coast,
she annihilated the men of the east.
Heads rolled under her like balls,
hands flew over her like locusts,
the warriors' hands like swarms of grasshoppers.
She fastened the heads to her back,
she tied the hands to her belt.
She plunged knee-deep into the soldiers' blood,
up to her thighs in the warriors' gore;
with a staff she drove off her enemies,
with the string of her bow her opponents.
And then Anat arrived at her house,
the goddess reached her palace;
there, not satisfied with her battling in the valley,
her fighting between the two cities,
she made the chairs into warriors,
she made the tables into an army,
the stools into heroes.
She battled valiantly, and looked,
Anat fought, and saw:
her soul swelled with laughter,
her heart was filled with joy,
Anat's soul was exuberant,
as she plunged knee-deep into the soldiers' blood,
up to her thighs in the warriors' gore,
until she was satisfied with her battling in the house,
her fighting between the tables.
The soldiers' blood was wiped from the house,
oil of peace was poured from a bowl.
The Virgin Anat washed her hands,
the Mistress of the Peoples her fingers;
she washed the soldiers' blood from her hands,
the warriors' gore from her fingers.
She made the chairs chairs again,
the tables tables;
she made the stools stools.”
― Michael David Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan

“Good heavens, there are very detailed, and very arbitrary descriptions in all occult books that suggest how this is done and all this stuff you have to go through. I think myself that it's time for them to come out of the circle and into the street with all this. I said that in an introduction to the Necronomicon. I just don't follow all this absolutely arbitrary ritual of certain incenses and herbs and words and so on.”
― William S. Burroughs, Burroughs and Friends: Lost Interviews

“I don't know who first said, "Science fiction is the mythology of our time." An increasing number of occultists are realizing this and are incorporating science fiction into their rituals.”
― Robert Anton Wilson, Beyond Chaos and Beyond: The Best of Trajectories, Vol. II

“Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.”
― Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger: Die letzten Geheimnisse der Illuminaten oder An den Grenzen des erweiterten Bewusstseins

“Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!”
― Michael Moorcock, Stormbringer

“A moment later, the world's first all-purpose human being strode eastward, whistling.
'A tasty world,' it reflected cheerfully. 'A very tasty world.'
'You said it, Cornelius!”
― Michael Moorcock, The Final Programme

“Three swift swords for the sisters three;
The first shall be of ivory;
The second sword's forged of rarest gold;
The third shall be cut from a granite fold.

The first sword's name is "Just Old Man";
And the second is called "The Urgent Brand";
While the third thirsty sword of that glamour'd three
Is the hungry blade named "Liberty".
--Ernest Wheldrake, Border Ballads”
― Michael Moorcock, Elric: Swords and Roses