Mercedes Lackey Quotes

If I'm walking on thin ice, I might as well dance my way across.

If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.

If it is stupid but it works, it isn't stupid. (a Shin'a'in saying)

Adventure, yeah. I guess that's what you call it when everybody comes back alive.

Give your enemy a face, If he is human, do not dehumanize him. Know him and know why he is your enemy. If your enemy is within you, understand what it is and why you are afraid. Put a face on your fear. When you understand it, and it is no longer vague and shapeless, you will find that your fear is no longer so formidable.

The great love is gone. There are still little loves - friend to friend, brother to sister, student to teacher. Will you deny yourself comfort at the hearthfire of a cottage because you may no longer sit by the fireplace of a palace? Will you deny yourself to those who reach out to you in hopes of warming themselves at your hearthfire?

It isn't wise to be rude to one's mother. She knows everything about your childhood that is potentially embarassing.

Some must be warriors, that others may live in peace.

It's only gossip if you repeat it. Until then, it's gathering information.

You are human and mortal; we are the sum of our weak moments and our strong.

Inexperience can be overcome, ignorance can be enlightened, but prejudice will destroy you.

Three things never anger or you'll not live for long; A wolf with cubs, A man with power, And a woman's sense of wrong.

To treat a person like a carpet, it is necessary that one do the walking, and one allow himself to be walked on. --Shin'a'in saying

Not forgiving someone hurts you worse than it hurts him...even if he doesn't deserve to be forgiven...Not forgiving someone is like not pulling a thorn out of your foot just because you weren't the one who put it there.

Honor was never taking the easy way when it was also the wrong one. Never telling a falsehood unless the truth was painful and unnecessary, or a lie was necessary to save others. Never manipulating the truth to serve only yourself. Protecting the weak and helpless; standing fast even when fear made you weak. Keeping your word.

Truth and trust are the means by which civilization holds off barbarism.

Do you know the kind of things that live up there?...things without names 'cause no one who's seen 'em has lived long enough to give them any name besides 'AAAARG!

One day,' Orest said, looking at him comically, 'you will say something that is less than practical and sensible, something that is driven by no forethought and nothing but passion, and I will probably collapse with shock.

The freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose.

Fanatics can justify practically any atrocity to themselves. The more untenable their position becomes, the harder they hold to it, and the worse the things they are willing to do to support it.

This I think I have learned: where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased. This I have observed: what occurs in nature, comes by the hand of nature, and if the gods did not approve, it would not be there ~ Moondance k'Treva (Magic's Pawn)

If they projected the fact that they are dangerous any harder, there would be little puddles of "danger" on the floor around them. Look, it's "danger", don't step in it!

How DARE the villainous cads be as clever as the heroes.

Certainly no one has ever died of an unrequited passion—it's usually the ones that are requited that get people in trouble.

Three things trust and cherish well- The horse on which you ride, The beast that guards and watches, And your shield-mate at your side.

In a calm, clear voice, she suggested that the wyrsa in question could do several highly improbable, athletically difficult and possibly biologically impractical things involving its own mother, a few household implements, and a dead fish.

Of three things be wary- of a feather on a cat, The shepherd eating mutton, And a guardsman that is fat.

Zen Hugs - the hugs that you would get, if we were there, if we could hug you, but we aren't, and we can't.

Getting angry over something that won't change is like seeing what happens if you hit your hand with a hammer over and over again, and being surprised each time when it hurts. So you might as well stop doing it.

I'm tired of having to struggle for what seems to come easily to everyone else.

. . . from what he knew about the Creatures of the Dark they wouldn't waste their time laying elaborate traps. They'd just eat someone.

I have no place in my life for someone who is sure he can do everything.

Three things never trust in- The maiden sworn as pure, The vows a king has given, And an ambush that is sure.

... everything written is at least in part fantasy. Except maybe the national budget. That's horror.

We're none of us quite so sure of our place in the world that we can't be rocked off our feet by bad times. It's the getting back up again that counts. Not that you fall, but getting back up again counts for more in the long run.

Three things see no end- A flower blighted ere it bloomed, A message that was wasted, And a journey that was doomed.

Three things know a secret- First; the lady in a dream, The dog that barks no warning, And a maid that does not scream.

Not forgiving someone is like not pulling a thorn out of your foot just because you weren't the one to put it there.

Mister Cameron - I have read the unexpurgated Ovid, the love poems of Sappho, the Decameron in the original, and a great many texts in Greek and Latin histories that were not though fit for proper gentlemen to read, much less proper ladies. I know in precise detail what Caligula did to, and with, his sisters, and I can quote it to you in Latin or in my own translation if you wish. I am interested in historical truth, and truth in history is often unpleasant and distasteful to those of fine sensibility. I frankly doubt that you will produce anything to shock me.

He isn't stupid, but his interests are so narrow I doubt I could slip a sheet of paper in between them

Pretend long enough that you belong, and eventually even you will believe it." - Gallen

I'm not a legend or a hero, I don't slay dragons, I don't do any of the things that a real hero can. But I can make things better, one day at a time, for most of the kingdom.

There’s no such thing as `one, true way’; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good — they’re the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren’t willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race.

Once the blinders are off, it's rather hard to go back to seeing things the way you used to.

There are more nasty things in pretty packages in the world than most people would believe.

I'm not out to disturb anybody's faith. I happen to be happy and comfortable with a belief system that has a dual deity and operates on a lunar schedule. It suits my needs. If you happen to be happy and comfortable with a belief system that features a single masculine deity and operates on a solar schedule, fine. I don't give a fat damn. What matters is what you do, not who's name you do it in.

Nevertheless, now that I have met you, I know that all that I am, and all that I have, could not match what you are worth.

... sometimes good people [are] helpless... terrible things happen... to good people... there [are] sad endings as well as happy ones.

If you would rise, do so alone.

A quaint conceit, don't you think?

...Though drowned was just as dead as any other way of dying.

If he didn't get out of here - right now - Harrier was either going to break into hysterical laughter or strangle somebody.

We believe that all those who are served should also spend time serving.

Better watch out said a second voice from somewhere under the Beetle. Don't park those two kraut cars too close together; it's springtime, and they might decide to mate. then Charlie'll be stuck with a garage full of little orange safety cones

First commandment: there ain't no such thing as "one true way" and the way you find is only good for you, not anybody else, because your interpretation of what you see and feel and understand as the truth is never going to be the same as anyone else's. Second commandment: the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself. Third commandment: leave the world better than you found it. Fourth commandment: if it isn't true, going to do some good, or spread a little love around, don't say it, do it, or think it. Fifth commandment: there are only three things worth living for; love in all it's manifestations, freedom, and the chance to keep humanity going a little while longer. They're the same things worth dying for. And if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race.

Established religion is like established anything else. It's easy. It offers answers you can get prepackaged and predigested, right off the shelf, and the same for everybody. No thinking required, much less hard thinking. Like a board game--you follow the rules, you go to heaven. That's why established religion gets the assholes. They aren't "good" Christians. I rather doubt they ever gave up a thing they valued for any reason or anybody. People like that aren't good anything. What they believe, they believe because it's appropriate; it's what everybody believes because it's the right thing to do--in short, it's easy. Our way isn't easy. We get assholes too, but they usually give up and get out, or get it knocked out of them.

Teach what you know, regardless of when you have learned it -- teach what you learned yesterday sagely, as if you have known it all your life, and teach what you have known for decades with enthusiasm, as if you learned it only yesterday.

...for a country whose people ceased to believe in magic soon lost much of their ability to imagine and dream, and before long, they ceased to believe--or hope-- for anything.

...not forgiving someone is like not pulling a thorn out of your foot just because you weren't the one that put it there.

Genius will only take you to 'good.' Practice will take you to 'Master.

In a dog's world, only three states existed: "now," "in a while," and "forever." If someone left, he was gone "forever," and when he returned they rejoiced as much as if he were back from the dead precisely because he'd been gone "forever.

The dragonets found the carpenters to be even more fascinating than the furniture, and followed the poor men from pen to pen, crowding around to watch, tasting the wooden planks, trying to steal the tools. It made for an interesting day for everyone, as the boys tried to keep the dragonets away from the carpenters, and the dragonets tried to get at the carpenters, and the carpenters worked probably a great deal faster than they ever had in their lives, sure that the dragonets would go from tasting the wood to tasting them.

Witch' is just a religion, okay? No baby-sacrificing, no Black Masses, no sending imps out to scare the dog-snot out of kids, trying to make them think they're crazy. We don't do things like that. Our number-one law is 'Have fun in this lifetime, but don't hurt anybody.' Nice little paraphrase of "An it harm none, do as ye will" if I do say so myself.

It's just as easy to be lonely in a city as out in the wilderness. Easier, really. It's harder to get to know someone when you meet in a crowded place. People can freely ignore you in the city; they can assume they don't have any responsibility for you. When there are fewer people, (...) they begin assuming some kind of responsibility, simply because you naturally do the same.

The gods gave you a brain, boy,' he'd say. 'If you want to honor them, use it.

Muddling along ... is the great secret to life... You take the good and the bad and cope as they happen" - Gallen in Intrigues

If you don’t look after your fellow man, if you think that what you want is always more important than what anyone else wants or needs, you’re not human, and that’s that.

[...] what the hell do I do about a broken lifebond?" He shook his head, obviously at a loss. "I can't tell you; I don't know. I don't Heal minds, I Heal bodies. And I don't know of anyone who Heals hearts.

Harrier says the Wild Magic is as annoying as a goat. And the only other Wildmage either of us has ever met kept hitting him with a wooden spoon. Wildmages aren't like, oh - like Kellen and Idalia and Vestakia the Redeemed in The Book of the Light. They're people.' [Tiercel Rolfort]

Van, Van, we’re only simple, fallible mortals - we aren’t saints, we aren’t angels - we fall on our faces and make errors and sometimes people die of them - sometimes people we love dearly -

You jackass. We're all going to die here. You know that, right?' Harrier said. Yeah," Eugens said shakily. '...Guess I might as well die here with you as out on the desert with a bunch of other jackasses.

Harrier twisted himself sideways on his saddle to stare at him [Tiercel]. 'You had a vision,' he said flaty. Yes. No. I don't know. I...Yes. No.

There will always be bad times... It's the getting back up again that counts." - Gallen in "Intrigues

We're given a choice in our lives, to make things better, or worse, or merely endure like sheep. I choose to make things better, as much as I can.

I'm so bad with people I can't even win an argument with myself.

It is a hunger with me, books. I had rather read than eat, I do think.

It was Mags' turn to snort. "But most on it is there ain't 'nough space for him an' his ego t' be in th' same room at th' same time.

Life is attention to both the large and the small, little brother. Pay heed to the sun, but watch your feet, or you'll fall ingloriously on your nose.

But--" she tried not to wail, but her voice crept upward, anyway "--I want to go HOME--" "And I want a palace and a handsome, young prince who has an unnatural lust for old women, and neither of us are going to get what we crave, so let's concentrate on what we can do something about!" Granny said sharply.

Then he heard a wild, high-pitched cackling that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. It wasn't sane, that laugh. In fact, it was the laughter of someone who never had more than a nodding acquaintance with sanity.

I think I know why you never married, Sarah." "Well, and I reckoned if I wanted something that'd come and go as he pleased, take me for granted, and ignore me when he chose, I'd get a cat. And if I wanted something I'd always have to be picking up after, getting into trouble, but slavishly devoted, I'd get a dog.

You are eccentric when you have enough money to not be considered crazy,

There are no excuses,” he said at last. “But there are reasons. Reasons why we are what we are. Reasons why we do not have to stay that way.

Yeah, well, that's what you said the last time it did this, and it was doing it that time too,' Tiercel said waspishly. Clear as mud,' Harrier muttered.

[Harrier] locked eyes with Zanattar. He couldn't remember another time in his life when he'd been this angry and hadn't hit something.

When you want something done, you ask a man. When you want it done quietly and without any fuss, you ask a woman.

So her safe little world would never be safe again... She knew that the nurturing hand also held the knife, and that was very unsettling.

Anyone who thought this would be a weak point in the manor's defenses would have a rude surprise, shortly before coming down with a serious case of death.

But the purpose of stories was to take the ugly, terrifying truths with which one must live and turn them into brave and beautiful ideas one might love.

Words and love together can more often achieve what magic cannot.

My parents can take themselves off on a scenic tour of hell before they tell me who my friends will be,” Gan said pleasantly.

Make someone a devout, fanatical anything, and his brain turns to mulch.

Although you feel relief now, this is likely to be the source of many sleepless nights for you. You will lie awake, look upon your heart, and find it unlovely. You will be certain that (...) you are the greatest of monsters. This is a good thing; although you may forgive yourself, you must never come to think that your actions were in any way justifiable. But- (...) Being a sane, honorable human being is not always comfortable.

They called Matthew March "autistic" as a child. What no one had known was that he was not closed into a world of his own, he was far, far too open to the real one.

I’m the leader of this herd of cats,” she responded. “I doubt my sanity every day.

Ow!' was the first thing out of her mouth, followed by a steam of articulate and literate curses that were neither blasphemous nor prurient.She'd had years to develop a vocabulary of invective that wouldn't offend anyone. It was the sort of thing a princess had to do if she was going to be able to adequately vent her feelings.

Thought it has certainly taken you long enough to realize what should have truly been precious to you. Not your own self-importance, nor how clever you thought you were, but the affections of those who cared for you, and that you should have cared for in return. e become truly great only when we work for others as well as ourselves. By your own light, you can only illuminate a small part of the world, but when your light is reflected and shared, it is magnified.

Doctor MacKenzie says "Sometimes I think the Victorians had the right idea. When you lost a family member back then you were suppose to be in full mourning, dress in nothing but black, for a whole year. Then you went into something they called 'half mourning' for another full year, adn during those two years, you were pretty much expected to have emotional breakdowns, you could do it whenever you felt you needed to, and everybody would support you. Now?, A month after a tragedy, maybe two, and you're expected to be all better-or down pills so you can pretend you are.

(From the Author Note at the beginning of the book.) Dorothy L. Sayers used to say that mystery stories were the only moral fiction of the modern world--because in a mystery, you were guaranteed to see that the bad got punished, the good got rewarded and in the end all was made right. I'd like to think that fantasy does the same thing. It reminds us that this is how it should be, and maybe if we all put our minds to it a little more, this is how it will be. The good will be rewarded. The bad will be punished. Sins will be forgiven. And they will live happily ever after.

Priests confine broad truths into narrow doctrines, because more rules mean that they have more power. Priests mistake their own prejudice for conscience and mistake what they personally fear for what should universally be feared. Priests look inward to their own small souls and try to impress that smallness on the world, when they should be looking at the greatness of the universe and trying to impress that upon their souls. Priests forget they owe everything to their gods and begin to think the world owes everything to them . . . : the cat stopped, and shook his head. :Power is a poison.