The Shadow at the Gate Quotes

“Though the important thing to understand was that the Dark could not create of its own power. It could not make something out of nothing. Rather, it could only remake and twist things that already existed into shapes of its own device.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate

“the Dark could not create of its own power. It could not make something out of nothing. Rather, it could only remake and twist things that already existed into shapes of its own device. “The Dark is only a warped reflection of what is good in this world,” said the hawk. “Think of it like this: you cast a shadow as you walk along this path; the shadow cannot cast you. However, if the Dark somehow gained control of you, then it would slowly work its will in you until you were only a reflection of who you once were—a dim, ugly reflection.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate

“The blades described circles and arcs and angles, creating a myriad of fantastic tableaus that existed in the air over the platform, springing into being one instant, only to be replaced the next instant with another succession of whirls and lines. Here was the perfect, steel-colored circle of a many-spoked wheel throwing off a dazzle of light. Here was the abrupt unfolding of a lady’s fan, opening with a clatter and formed of light and air and iron death. And there was a strange flower grown of loops and whorls and deadly clashing petals.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate

“man thinks of war as being won with the loud, sudden violence of swords and battle, but the slow, quiet wars can be lost in peace. It is as if the whole land sleeps. I fear we will awake one day and find that the Dark has crept so close that its face is the face of our neighbor, our loved one, ourselves.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate

“But if enough people seek to do what is right and true, then the mosaic of their lives is in harmony with the mosaics of all those who choose in like fashion. Some people, however, choose the darkness, even though they do not realize what they have done. There are only two colors of the mosaic: darkness and that which is not darkness, and the two can never exist in harmony.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate

“It is said that life—and by that I mean all of everything that exists—is like a mosaic made of countless tiny stones. Each person’s life comprises a part of the mosaic, and each person can only see their part of the mosaic. Birth, death, love, and hate—all the pain, sweat, and grief that are the lot of every man—those are the stones man is given power to place. Our choices dictate how our own few stones are laid into the larger pattern of the mosaic.”
― Christopher Bunn, The Shadow at the Gate