|
c4567a4
|
I'm hungry, Garion, and I don't think well when I'm hungry." "That might explain a lot," Beldin noted blandly. "We should have fed you more often when you were younger." "You can be terribly offensive sometimes, do you know that?" "Why, yes, as a matter of fact I do."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
6f56b90
|
it's as empty as a merchant's soul. Sorry, Kheldar, it's just an old expression." "That's all right, Beldin," Silk forgave him grandly. "These little slips of the tongue are common in the very elderly."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
4dc075b
|
Zakath stared at the floor. 'I suddenly feel very helpless,' he admitted, 'and I don't like the feeling. I've been rather effectively dethroned, you know. This morning I was the Emperor of the largest nation on earth; this afternoon, I'm going to be a vagabond.' You might find it refreshing,' Silk told him lightly. Shut up, Kheldar,' Zakath said almost absently. He looked back at Polgara. 'You know something rather peculiar?' What's that?' ..
|
|
fantasy
happiness
|
David Eddings |
|
0d469c1
|
Impatience is a poor substitute for a well-considered plan.
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
5fa4d19
|
I want a sword not a knitting needle -Kalen
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
bef52c1
|
There's a peculiar dichotomy in the nature of almost anyone who calls himself a historian. Such scholars all piously assure us that they're telling us the real truth about what really happened, but if you turn any competent historian over and look at his damp underside, you'll find a storyteller, and you can believe me when I tell you that no storyteller's ever going to tell a story without a few embellishments. Add to that the fact that we..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
b137abd
|
The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. For all the rest of his life he had a special warm feeling for kitchens and those peculiar sounds and smells that seemed somehow to combine into a bustling seriousness that had to do with love and food and comfort and security and, above all, home. No matter how high Garion rose in life, he never forgot that all his memories began in that kitchen.
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
72d10d7
|
Young lady," Silk said urbanely, "I think you'd be amazed at how little Polgara's concerned about who you are." "Polgara?" Ce'Nedra faltered. " Polgara? I thought you said that she was your sister." "I lied," Silk confessed. "It's a vice a have."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
222b343
|
Sparhawk grinned. "If Martel finds out that he's drinking again, he'll reach down his throat and pull his heart out." "Can you actually do that to a man?" "You can if your arm's long enough, and if you know what you're looking for.[...]"
|
|
humor
|
David Eddings |
|
0c6f5f7
|
Mandorallen turned to Barak. "If it please thee, my Lord," he requested politely, "deliver my challenge as soon as they approach us." Barak shrugged. "It's your skin," he noted. He eyed the advancing knights and then lifted his voice in a great roar. "Sir Madorallen, Baron of Vo Mandor, desires entertainment," he declaimed. "It would amuse him if each of your parties would select a champion to joust with him. If, however, you are all such ..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
9e61778
|
Someday you'll have to show me how you did that," Asharak was saying. "I found the experience interesting. My horse had hysterics, however." "My apologies to your horse."
|
|
wolf
|
David Eddings |
|
f74afd5
|
I could insist that somebody take me to her so I can obey her orders." "I think you might choke on that one, Zakath," Silk said lightly. "Obey is a difficult concept for someone in your position." "He's an irritating little fellow, isn't he?" Zakath said to Garion. "I've noticed." "Why, your Majesties," Velvet said, all wide-eyed innocence, "what a thing to suggest." "Well, isn't he?" Zakath said pointedly. "Of course, but it's not nice to ..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
435db9b
|
Misty Sendaria," Silk said ironically. "Sometimes I'm amazed that the entire kingdom doesn't rust shut."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
8cb8eb3
|
I can't abide snakes." "I don't even think of her as a snake." "Ce'Nedra," he said patiently, "she's long and skinny, she wriggles, she doesn't have any arms or legs, and she's poisonous. By definition, she's a snake." "...I'm bitterly disappointed in you, Prince Kheldar. She's a sweet, loving, brave little creature, and you're insulting her." He looked at her for a moment, then rose to his feet and bowed floridly to the earthenware bottle..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
ffc1117
|
Mimbrates are the bravest people in the world --probably because they don't have brains enough to be afraid of anything. Garion's friend Mandorallen is totally convinced that he's invincible." "He is," Ce'Nedra said in automatic defense of her knight. "I saw him kill a lion once with his bare hands." "...I heard him suggest to Barak and Hettar once that the three of them attack an entire Tolnedran legion." "Perhaps he was joking." "Mimbrate..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
c68245e
|
Zakath's face grew thoughtful. "You know something, Garion?" he said. "Man thinks he owns the world, but we share it with all sorts of creatures who are indifferent to our overlordship. They have their own societies, and I supposed even their own cultures. They don't even pay attention to us, do you?" "Only when we inconvenience them...It teaches us humility," Garion agreed."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
21001f9
|
Whatever happened to him?" Silk asked. "He went swimming in the Nedrane." "I didn't know that Thulls swam all that well." "They don't-particularly not with large rocks tied to their feet."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
4c97233
|
You're a cynic," Urgit accused. Silk shook his head. "No, Your Majesty. I'm a realist."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
4780420
|
It's the nature of man to ask questions. --Belgarath
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
b45ec9a
|
Vella looked around. "This is really a revolting place, Yarblek," she told him. "You've been spending too much time with Porenn," he said. "You're starting to get delicate." "How would you like to have me gut you?" she offered. "That's my girl."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
1466a40
|
The whole world is beautiful, Belgarion' Eriond assured him in response to that unspoken thought. 'You just have to know how to look at it
|
|
wisdom
life-philosophy
|
David Eddings |
|
8ebcb97
|
There was a sudden, shocking sound that echoed through Garion's head like an explosion. "What was that?" Zakath exclaimed. "You heard it, too?" Garion was amazed. "You shouldn't have been able to hear it!" "It shook the earth, Garion. Look there." Zakath pointed off toward the north where a huge pillar of fire was soaring up toward the murky, starless sky. "What is it?" "Aunt Pol did something. She's that clumsy..." Belgarath and Beldin w..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
5db1679
|
As soon as a friendship passed a certain point - some obscure and secret boundary - a woman quite automatically became overwhelmed by a raging compulsion to complicate things.
|
|
women
|
David Eddings |
|
9057b97
|
Why do you persist in being so frivolous, Urgit?" "Why don't we just call it a symptom of my incipient madness?" "You're not going to go mad," she said firmly. "Of course I'm going to go mad, mother. I'm rather looking forward to it." --
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
2e9e110
|
When my sons told me about what they'd found, I went to the priests of Belar and had them examine the auguries. is the year to go. The ice up there won't be as thick again for years and years. Then they cast my auguries, and from what they say, could be the most fortunate year in my whole life." "Do you actually that superstitious nonsense?" I demanded. "Are you so gullible that you think that somebody can foretell the future by fon..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
5d10cc7
|
Belgarath and Garion effortlessly hurdled over the driftwood and loped off into the fog. "It's going to be a wet day," Garion noted soundlessly as he ran alongside the great silver wolf. "Your fur won't melt." "I know, but my paws get cold when they're wet." "I'll have Durnik make you some little booties." "That would be absolutely ridiculous, Grandfather," Garion said indignantly."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
d225efc
|
Durnik needs a tower somewhere in the Vale," Belgarath was saying. "I don't see why, father," Polgara replied. "All of Aldur's disciples have towers, Pol. It's the custom." "Old customs persist --even when there's no longer any need for them." "He's going to need to study, Pol. How can he possibly study with you underfoot all the time?" She gave him a long, chilly stare. "Maybe I should rephrase that."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
16cd957
|
If you're going to maintain any kind of self-respect, you're going to have to keep secrets from yourself.
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
5a6d0db
|
Why are the people all so unhappy?" he asked Mister Wolf. "They have a stern and demanding God," Wolf replied. "Which God is that?" Garion asked. "Money," Wolf said."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
71b4796
|
Let's kill the big one with the red whiskers then," another suggested. "He looks like he might be troublesome, and he's probably too stupid to know anything useful." "I that one," Barak whispered."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
62cae49
|
Ce'Nedra returned, frowning and a little angry. "They won't give me their eggs, Lady Polgara," she complained. "They're sitting one them." "You have to reach under them and take the eggs, dear." "Won't that make them angry?" "Are you afraid of a chicken?"
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
590d57d
|
I note this hound of thine, Sir Knight," he said to Garion to ease them past an embarrassing moment, "a bitch, I perceive--" "Steady," Garion said firmly to the she-wolf. "That is a offensive term," she growled. "He didn't invent it. It's not his fault." "...Canst thou perhaps, Sir Knight, identify her breed?" "She is a wolf, my Lord," Garion told him. "A wolf!" the baron exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "We must flee ere the fearsome bea..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
dfb8356
|
The Hierarch of Rak Urga drew himself up. "This is not a request, Urgit. I'm not asking you." "Good. Because I'm not going." "I command you to go." "I don't think so." "Do you realize to whom you're talking?" "Perfectly, old boy. You're the same tiresome old Grolim who's been boring me to tears ever since I inherited the throne from that fellow who used to chew on the carpets back in Rak Goska. Listen carefully, Agachak. I'll use short word..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
51fb2e5
|
Your extensive travels must have been fatiguing," Zakath said in that same flat tone, "particularly for the ladies. I'll see to it that your return journey to Mal Zeth is made in easy stages." "Your Majesty is very kind, but we're not going back to Mal Zeth." "You're wrong, Belgarion. You going back to Mal Zeth." "Sorry, I've got a pressing engagement elsewhere." "I'll convey your regrets to Zandramas when I see her." "I'm sure she'd be ..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
cc29aa0
|
Operating by trial and error mostly, we've evolved a tacitly agreed upon list of the elements that make for a good fantasy. The first decision the aspiring fantasist must make is theological. King Arthur and Charlemagne were Christians. Siegfried and Sigurd the Volsung were pagans. My personal view is that pagans write better stories. When a writer is having fun, it shows, and pagans have more fun than Christians. Let's scrape Horace's Dulc..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
1660d30
|
My daughter accepted without comment the fact that she wasn't going to age. The peculiar thing about the whole business in her case was the fact that she really . Beldin and the twins and I had all achieved the appearance of a certain maturity. We picked up wrinkles and grey hair and a distinguished look. Pol didn't...I guess a sorcerer is to look distinguished and wise, and that implies wrinkles and grey hair. A woman with grey hair and..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
e2f7b0a
|
Isn't it odd how the little things can change a man's entire life?
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
eafe20f
|
Vanity's ridiculous, be we all fall prey to it from time to time.
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
092324a
|
You're going to keep making these mistakes as long as you keep carrying your brain in the same scabbard with your sword, Lelldorin.
|
|
war
|
David Eddings |
|
09ee377
|
Zedar was gone...As an owl, though, I was able to drift silently from tree to tree until I caught up with him...He wasn't really hard to follow, since he'd conjured up a dim, greenish light to see by --and to hold off the boogiemen. Did I ever tell you that Zedar's afraid of the dark? That adds another dimension to his present situation, doesn't it? He was bundled to the ears in furs, and he was muttering to himself as he floundered along t..
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
0fc89c1
|
I'd really like to go with you, Agachak. Truly I would...but I just can't." "I don't understand. Why not?" "I'm not allowed to leave home. My mother'd punish me something awful if I did..." "But you're the king." "That doesn't change a thing. I still do what mother says. She tells everybody that I'm the best boy ever when it comes to that." Agachak resisted a powerful urge to change this half-wit into a toad or perhaps a jellyfish." --
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
c73144d
|
I'm truly amazed at you, Garion," Polgara said. "I didn't think you had the faintest idea of how to speak a civilized language." "Thank you," he said, "I think."
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
b00283f
|
Who owns a man, Durnik?" the blond young man asked sadly. "The one who rules him, or the one who pays him?"
|
|
|
David Eddings |
|
14ddb34
|
A great blow it was,' he said in expensive tones, 'worthy of the mightiest warrior and truly struck upon the nose of the foe. The bright blood flew, and the enemy was dismayed and overcame. Like a hero, Garion stood over the vanquished, and, like a true hero, did not boast nor taunt his fallen opponent, but offered instead advice for quelling that crimson blood. with simple dignity then, he quit the field, but the bright-eyed maid would not..
|
|
mocking
|
David Eddings |