Wizard Quotes

“But I don’t believe in heroes anymore. I just believe in people coping with their lives as best they can. You do what you have to do, and in some ways you have no more choice about it than a rock has about falling from a high place.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“If it’s not worth making beautiful,” Valiha said, “it’s not worth making.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“A toast! To the road! May it lead to adventure and carry us safely back home.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“If she must face the fact that she was fearful, she would also face the fear and overcome it.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“I wasn’t around, and I guess if I had been, I would have been part of the oppressor class and think it was the way things should be. But I have been told that things are a lot better now. I won’t say they’re perfect. Things don’t get perfect. But most of the women I know are happy. They don’t think there’s many battles left to fight.” “You’d better stop there,” Robin cautioned. “Most women have always been happy with the way things were, or at least they said so. That goes back to before peckish society allowed women to vote. Just because we of the Coven believe some things that I now know are overstated or incorrect, don’t draw the conclusion that we are foolish about everything. We know that the majority is always willing to let things remain as they are until they are led to something better. A slave may not be happy with her lot, but most do nothing to improve it. Most do not believe it can be improved.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“She grew into a quiet, beautiful young woman. The beauty was a nuisance, like smog and poverty.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Yes, but what is it good for? What does it mean?” Her look was full of pity. “If you have to ask that question, you wouldn’t understand the answer.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“We both had to reject the concept of life after death, even if we weren’t brought up to believe in it, because all human cultures are steeped in the idea.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“We believe the root of human troubles lies in the fact that you must be taught, that you are born with nothing but savagery and appetite and more often than not have those urges reinforced into a way of life.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Once again you prove that when you try, you can give me a better show than anyone.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“We admire and sometimes envy the fire of your emotions.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Every word is going to sound awkward as hell later if we survive.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“She ran, and Gaea’s wrath poured from the world all around her.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“She wants you to put on a good show for her, and she doesn’t care whether you live through it.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“no matter how tough you think you are, thought you were, you haven’t been around long enough to be tested in many, many ways.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“You are not the first Wizard I have nominated in my three million years. There is only one way to leave the job and that is feet first. No one has survived it and no one will.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“I want you back, fear I cannot, and yet want you to stay if for no other reason than to give the place some class.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“It was just a feeling, but she trusted her feelings.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Life is just a game to you, and you control the pieces. The better show they give you, the more you like it. You have all these people to kiss your ass any time you tell them to. And I will insult you as I please.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“A name is just a sound; it has no power over anything.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Never speak her name to me again.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“You there, whatever your name is, bring a large glass of something cold for the Wizard. Never mind what it is so long as it contains no water.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Cirocco stepped off the edge, and the wind caught her like a leaf. She entered the cable and sped toward the hub.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“I’m never sure of anything.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“At first it had been necessary for Gaea to stamp the ground quite close to the Wizard to bring her properly to heel. As time went by she did not even have to lift her foot; Cirocco would wiggle under like a worm and feel any pressure as only right and good.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Gaea was so God-awful big, and it was so easy to despair.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“Whatever you do or don’t do to me, I’ve gained something. I wish I knew exactly what it was, and I wish it didn’t hurt so much to have it, but I wouldn’t go back to what I was.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“What’s wrong with a few minor enigmas to invest your lives with a little spice?”
― John Varley, Wizard

“If I gave the things I have the power to give for free, I would soon be swamped with every mendicant, solicitor, fakir, conjuror, sponger, and just plain bum from Mercury to Pluto.”
― John Varley, Wizard

“The dance had left her cold; she was going now to listen to the song.”
― John Varley, Wizard