12 quotes
He is indeed a creature of evil; but so are you, and so am I.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
The most trivial skirmish is not trivial to those who die in it, and so should not be trivial in any ultimate sense to us.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
“We can only hope.”
“That’s like the frog said when he seen the stork.”
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
I was the core of the universe, as we always are to ourselves.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
What is perceived is dictated by the instrument. If you had other eyes, or another mind, you would see all things otherwise.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
It’s easy—very easy—to slay a ruler. But it’s very difficult to prevent a worse one from coming to his place.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
Until we reach the end of time, we don’t know whether something’s been good or bad; we can only judge the intentions of those who acted.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
“Yours is a race of pawns,” Tzadkiel told me. “You move forward only, unless we move you back to begin the game again. But not all the pieces on the board are pawns.”
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
“I pledged myself to show you wonders.”
I drew her farther from the building. “I’m not ready to see wonders. Yours, or any other woman’s.”
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
“You’re a poet too, aren’t you? And a good liar, I bet.”
“I was the Autarch of Urth; that required a little lying, if you like. We called it diplomacy.”
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
Those who have never fought suppose that the deserter who flies the field is consumed by shame. He is not, or he would not desert; with only trifling exceptions, battles are fought by cowards afraid to run.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)
We never really got married. When we both wanted to we never had the money, somehow. And when we had the money, there was always some kind of quarrel. After a couple of years everybody thought we were married anyway.
The Book of the New Sun (1980)