Quotes from Lloyd Alexander

Each day of war takes us farther from all we could hope to be or do. We gain nothing but heartbreak, and lose everything we cherish. Our lives erode and diminish, our children see no future except a calendar of anguish and death. Our only hope for tomorrow is for peace now.

righteousness [is] always more believable when combined with dreariness.

The art is more important than the artist. The work is more important than the person who does it. You must be prepared to sacrifice all the you could possibly have, be, or do; you must be willing to go all the way for your art. If it is a question between choosing between your life and a work of art -- any work of art -- your decision is made for you.

I know it isn't nice to vex people on purpose—it's like handing them a toad—but this is much too good to miss and I may never have another chance at it.

Go back' Taran shouted at the top of his voice.'Have you lost your wits?' Eilonwy, for it was she, half-halted. She had tucked her plaited hair under a leather helmet. The Princess of Llyr smiled cheerfully at him. 'I understand you're upset,' she shouted back, 'but that's no cause to be rude.' She galloped on. For a time, Taran could not believe he had really seen her.

My luck's no greater than yours or any man's. You need only sharpen your eyes to see your luck when it comes, and sharpen your wits to use what falls into your hands.

She was the most confusing person he had ever met

But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging.

we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.

A grower of turnups Or shaper of clay, a commot Farmer or a king-Every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone.

How easy it is to think well of ourselves. Until the moment is upon us, we can never be certain.

Thus, death begets death; evil begets evil.

Gwydion stood as a wolf at bay, his green eyes glittering, his teeth bared.

For the odd thing about wisdom is the more you use it the more it grows; and the more you share, the more you gain. You'd be amazed how few understand that.

Keep out of this, Lucian said. I'm not smiting anybody. You're showing mercy. Catch-a-Tick nodded. That's heroic, too. But not as good as smiting.

I shall not lie! Eilonwy cried, not for this traitor and deserter. It is not for him, Taran said quietly, but for the sake of our quest. It isn't right, Eilonwy began, tears starting in her eyes. We do not speak of rightness, Taran answered. We speak of a task to be finished.

Once, he added, you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain.

Is a man truly what he see himself to be?' 'Only if what he sees is true.

I ask no comfort, Taran replied, but the truth, be it harsh or happy. Ah, my sweet robin, said Orddu, for the finding of that, nothing is harder. There are those who have spent lifetimes at it, and many in worse plight than yours.

When imagination fails, compassion and humaneness dwindle and atrophy along with it. Unleavened by imagination, the variety and richness of life turn into flat abstractions; people become objects to be manipulated -- with the social consequences we know all too well.

Its powers?' Dallben answered with a sad smile. 'My dear boy, this is a bit of metal hammered into a rather unattractive shape; it could better have been a pruning hook or a plow iron. Its powers? Like all weapons, only those held by him who wields it. What yours may be, I can in no wise say.

A man's life weighs more then glory, and a price paid in blood is a heavy reckoning.

Adaon smiled gravely. "Is there not glory enough in living the days given to us? You should know there is adventure in simply being among those we love and the things we love, and beauty, too.

The ocean filled the footprints where a boy and cat had stood.