Uncanny Tales Quotes

“He collapsed to the pavement. He was leaving a mess, but he couldn’t help it. It was inevitable that in a world built for the living, dying should be an inconvenience to others. But to a man dying, death should be a triumph and a glorious summation of all the best acts, visions and nuances of his existence, blazing forth now as he descended into the dark mystery that alone made life worth living.”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“water recedes from him, leaving his face caked with black mud and him with the nickname given him by the Corybantes, Old Dirtymouth. No water for Tantulus. That’s the first rule.”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“The only happily married magic-worker from the past I could think of was Nicholas Flamel and his precious Perrenelle. And he was very much the exception. In my rush to join the ranks of magicians, to be counted among them, I hadn’t really considered what I was getting into.”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“I had a collection of Marsilio Ficino’s letters. His nobility made me ashamed of myself. I knew I was being too self-seeking.”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“didn’t tell him how I had deduced that magicians in the past like Cagliostro and the Comte de St. Germain had grown rich and famous, but finally their powers had deserted them and they ended badly. I think their downfall came from telling, and from demanding too much.”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“That Mind-Slaves of Manitori Pandora’s Box—Open with”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“Uncanny Tales Stories Robert Sheckley”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories

“after a tough day’s thinking to be able to think about nothing. Or to think your own thoughts. I used to think about where I was brought up— Maine, up near the Quebec border. I used to like to think about those Maine mornings, the sun coming up over the fir trees, the whole world growing green and light. I thought about other things, too. But there’s no time for that now. We’ve warned”
― Robert Sheckley, Uncanny Tales: Stories