Coll Quotes

“Barring the necessary brains, of course,” Kruppe said, “which is my true skill—though one such as Coll would never understand such abilities, alien as they are to him.”
― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon

“Well, that is one of the three foundations of learning: see much, study much, suffer much.”
― Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

“Coll would be a heavenly place to be a child. There are beaches and boats, everyone knows you, it’s the kind of place you leave the door open. If you’re on the island, it’s know. If you catch the ferry to the mainland, well, that’s known about too. Should you have a mishap and require the air ambulance, a helicopter will have you in a Glasgow hospital in twenty minutes, by which time the island will have learned of your fate. A mere thirteen miles of single-track road separates ‘the unspoiled end’ from ‘God’s own country’. There are local land feuds, a limited supply of fresh water, and no high school. In effect, the children leave home when they are an unfledged eleven, to travel as boarders to the secondary school in Oban. Higher education and jobs take them yet farther afield. It seems a price to pay for an apparently idyllic island life, to lose your children so young.”
― Kathleen Jamie, Findings