Byzantium Quotes

“Oh, but once my memories had pulsed with the blood-heat of life. In desperation, I forced myself to recall that once, I had walked with kings and conversed in languages never heard in this land. Once I had stood at the prow of a Sea Wolf ship and sailed oceans unknown to seamen here. I had ridden horses through desert lands, and dined on exotic foods in Arab tents. I had roamed Constantinople’s fabled streets, and bowed before the Holy Roman Emperor’s throne. I had been a slave, a spy, a sailor. Advisor and confidant of lords, I had served Arabs, Byzantines, and barbarians. I had worn captive’s rags, and the silken robes of a Sarazen prince. Once I had held a jeweled knife and taken a life with my own hand. Yes, and once I had held a loving woman in my arms and kissed her warm and willing lips...Death would have been far, far better than the gnawing, aching emptiness that was now my life.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium

“The Lord came, not to remove our suffering, but to show us the way through it to the glory beyond.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“Well, I was thinking this very thing. I was thinking: I am going to die today, but Jesu also died, so he knows how it is with me. And I was thinking, would he know me when I came to him? Yes! Sitting in his hall, he will see me sail into the bay, and he will run down to meet me on the shore; he will wade into the sea and pull my boat onto the sand and welcome me as his wayfaring brother. Why will he do this? Because he too has suffered, and he knows, Aeddan, he knows.” Beaming, Gunnar concluded, “Is that not good news?”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“Jesu is alive!” he rasped, raising his voice above its normal whisper. “Rejoice and be glad, my friends, for all who trust in Christ have eternal life. And as we will one day gather in Heaven’s Great Hall, let us enjoy the blessings of God’s rich bounty this good Easter day—a foretaste of the Feast of the Lamb.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“Fear arises from uncertainty. Where there is perfect certainty, there is no fear.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“I saw Byzantium in a dream, and knew that I would die there. That vast city seemed to me a living thing: a great golden lion... I felt the dread jaws close on me as I stood screaming.

Then I awoke; but my waking brought neither joy nor relief. For I rose not to life, but to the terrible certainty of death. I was to die, and the golden towers of Byzantium would be my tomb. ~ Aidan”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium

“never doubt in the darkness that which you believed in the light. Also, this: unless the pilgrim carry with him the thing he seeks, he will not find it when he arrives.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“Truth, they say, is a cold and bitter draught; few drink it undiluted.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny

“Life is a school of the spirit, Aidan,” Ruadh intoned with gentle insistence. “Learning is our soul’s requirement, and suffering our most persuasive teacher.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium: From Monk to Warrior and Spy—One Man's Epic Quest to Command His Destiny