E. K. > E.'s Quotes

“The sound of the trumpets died away and Orlando stood stark naked. No human being since the world began, has ever looked more ravishing. His form combined in one the strength of a man and a woman’s grace. As he stood there, silver trumpets prolonged their note, as if reluctant to leave the lovely sight which their blast had called forth; and Chastity, Purity, and Modesty, inspired, no doubt, by Curiosity, peeped in at the door and threw a garment like a towel at the naked form which, unfortunately, fell short by several inches. Orlando looked at himself up and down in a long looking-glass, without showing any signs of discompose, and went presumably, to his bath.

We many take advantage of this pause in the narrative to make certain statements. Orlando had become a woman - there is no denying it. But in every other respect, Orlando remained precisely as he had been. The change in sex, though it altered their future, did nothing whatever to alter their identity. Their faces remained, as their portraits prove, practically the same. His memory - but in the future we must, for convention’s sake, say ‘her’ for ‘his’, and ‘she’ for ‘he’ - her memory then, went back through all the events of her past life without encountering any obstacle. Some slight haziness there may have been, as if a few dark spots had fallen into the clear pool of memory; certain things had become a little dimmed; but that was all. The change seemed to have been accomplished painlessly and completely and in such a way that Orlando herself showed no surprise at it. Many people, taking this into account, and holding that such a change in sex is against nature, have been at great pains to prove (1) that Orlando has always been a woman, (2) that Orlando is at this moment a man. Let biologists and psychologists determine. It is enough for us to state the simple fact; Orlando was a man till the age of thirty; when he became a woman and has remained so ever since.”
― Virginia Woolf, Orlando

“Here was light, and flowers, and colours in profusion. There was a loom in the corner, and baskets of fine, thin thread in bright, bright hues. The woven coverlet on the bed, and the drapings on the open windows were unlike anything I had ever seen, woven in geometric patterns that somehow suggested fields of flowers beneath a blue sky. A wide pottery bowl held floating flowers and a slim silver fingerling swam about the stems and above the bright pebbles that floored it. I tried to imagine the pale cynical Fool in the midst of all this colour and art. I took a step further into the room, and saw something that moved my heart aside in my chest.
A baby. That was what I took it for at first, and without thinking, I took the next two steps and knelt beside the basket that cradled it. But it was not a living child, but a doll, crafted with such incredible art that almost I expected to see the small chest move with breath. I reached a hand to the pale, delicate face, but dared not touch it. The curve of the brow, the closed eyelids, the faint rose that suffused the tiny cheeks, even the small hand that rested on top of the coverlets were more perfect that I supposed a made thing could be. Of what delicate clay it had been crafted, I could not guess, nor what hand had inked the tiny eyelashes that curled on the infant’s cheek. The tiny coverlet was embroidered all over with pansies, and the pillow was of satin. I don’t know how long I knelt there, as silent as if it were truly a sleeping babe. But eventually I rose, and backed out of the Fool’s room, and then drew the door silently closed behind me.”
- Robin Hobb | Farseer Trilogy
Book 1 | Assassin’s Apprentice
Chapter Nineteen | Journey”
― Robin Hobb

“Nowhere is it written in stone that you must love in only one way, only one person, only one time. You haven't missed your shot at love, because love isn't just one thing.”
― Rosiee Thor, Fire Becomes Her

“But perhaps all pretty things have thorns. The best things, at least, most certainly do.”
― Rosiee Thor, Tarnished Are the Stars

“We are made or unmade by our choices.”
― Rosiee Thor, Tarnished Are the Stars

“I have never been wise.”
― Robin Hobb

“Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”
― William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

“It's too late to apologize for I have already forgiven you." -FitzChivalry Farseer”
― Robin Hobb

“I was the Fool and the Fool was me. He was the Catalyst and so was I. We were two halves of a whole, sundered and come together again. For an instant I knew him in his entirety, complete and magical, and then he was pulling apart from me, laughing, a bubble inside me, separate and unknowable, yet joined to me. "You do love me !" I was incredulous. He had never truly believed it before. "Before, it was words. I always feared it war born of pity. But you are truly my friend. This is knowing. This is feeling what you feel for me. So this is the Skill". For a moment he reveled in simple recognition.”
― Robin Hobb, Assassin's Quest

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
― Mary Oliver

“Stardog beheld a sight more wonderful than a dream… a place to call… home.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Is my dream only a dream? Or are there others like me?”
― E.K. Mosley

“Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgement. Captures forever that which is fleeting.”
― Sarah Winman, Still Life

“Tree said, Thanks for everything. It’s been nice knowing you. You too, said Cress. Will you be OK? I’m a tree. I’ve done this a thousand times before. Done what? Goodbyes. Really? Think about it. Leaves”
― Sarah Winman, Still Life

“Is my dream only a dream? Or are there others like me?”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Do you wish… to cross the bridge?”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Stardog told Tiger of where she'd come from and her journey to restore her magic.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“One night, heavy with loneliness, Stardog fell out of the sky, past the planets… down… down… down…”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Stardog awoke to a world, beautiful and plentiful... and wondered, 'there are so many creatures here, could there are another like me?”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“...there are so many creatures here, could there be another like me?”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Together these stars gave me the name, Stardog, keeper of stars and protector of dreams.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Together these stars gave me the name, Stardog, keeper of stars and protector of dreams. But now I am lost, and my crown broken, so I must find another stardog to help restore it.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“They had never met a real stardog, believing they were only a myth.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Come with us, we'll take you across the bridge...”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“We can be your crew!' offered Stardog. 'Where to?'
'Through waters brimming with sea monsters!' Frog hummed. 'It's very risky.”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“The other frogs all told me to stay safe in our well and to stop filling my head with, "Dangerous ocean nonsense!" But I could not forget...”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Dangerous ocean nonsense!”
― E. K. Mosley, The Last Stardog

“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”
― Robin Hobb, Fool's Fate

“Don’t do what you can’t undo, until you’ve considered what you can’t do once you’ve done it.”
― Robin Hobb, Assassin's Apprentice

“Everyone thinks that courage is about facing death without flinching. But almost anyone can do that. Almost anyone can hold their breath and not scream for as long as it takes to die.

True courage is about facing life without flinching. I don't mean the times when the right path is hard, but glorious at the end. I'm talking about enduring the boredom, the messiness, and the inconvenience of doing what is right.”
― Robin Hobb, The Mad Ship