Quotes from Alison Croggon

When people are afraid they will give up almost anything for the illusion of safety.

Unlike the back streets, the road boiled with people.

If I find any more baby Bards in the wild, I shall give up traveling," he said at last. "I'm not running a School.

I know it is a time of fear, but equally we should be wary of fearing too much and suspecting where suspicion is pointless. The Dark seeks just such erosions of trust for they serve its purpose.

I see a fate on thee, sister.

It is the pain of being in the world, where so much that is fair passes into death and forgetfulness. But if we are to know joy, we must embrace that pain. You cannot have one without the other." Maerad nodded, her face downcast. Sometimes, it seemed to her, the pain far outweighed the joy.

Well, Hem, all's well that ends well, but it almost ended very badly. Almost in disaster." Hem looked down, and his cheeks flushed. Cadvan patted his shoulder. "I forgive you for almost getting us killed, or worse," he said.

I would not like to pass another night in the open, even with Maerad the Unpredictable to protect us; and my head is sore as a bear's.

It is ever the way of the Knowing. I have often thought it is like a light blooming on a dark sea: as it increases, so does the depth and size of the unknown. The most wise are those who know how little they know!

Say not an end,' said Maerad in the same language, surprising herself for she felt as if another voice spoke within her, 'say rather another beginning'.

There are many futures and many pasts, and your present is but a tiny fulcrum, changing all of them...

He was coming home.

We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.

Love is one of the true mysteries,' he said at last. 'The truest and the deepest of all. One thing, Maerad: to love is never wrong. It may be disastrous; it may never be possible; it may be the deepest agony. But it is never wrong.

While the heart beats, hope lingers.

There is no shame in not knowing something. The shame is in not being willing to learn.

It is only the darkness in our own hearts that will defeat us, in the end.

It is not given to us to know what difference we can make, and perhaps we can make no difference at all. But that is no reason not to make the attempt," said Saliman quietly. "The Light shines more brightly in the darkness.

You have a great heart, but will only find it to be so through great pain. This is the wisdom of love, and its doubtful gift. . . . I have endured much suffering and still remain unbitter and unclosed.

Light blooms the brighter in the darkest places.

Never be ashamed of your love," he said gently. "The only thing to be ashamed of is denying your love. That is what makes the shadow grow within your heart; that is the darkening of the Light. And we all have many loves.

Drunk with beauty, I tore down Armfuls of blossoms. How desolate the marred sky!

Nothing is ever truly gone... Not for me, nor for any human being. We can only go forward, unless we are guests in some enchantment that is not is ours. We are condemned to an endless present, and we can never go back-the source of all our joy, and all our sorrow." -Hem at Zelika's grave

Love is never easy. We begin by loving the things we can, according to our stature, but it is not long before we find that what we love is other than ourselves and that our love is no protection against being wounded. Do we then speak to dominate what we love, to make it bend to our will, to stop it from hurting us even though to do so is to betray love? And that is only where the difficulty begins..