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Louis L'Amour Quotes

1908–1988 United States

Louis Dearborn L'Amour /ˈluːi ləˈmʊr/ (22 March 1908 – 10 June 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works consisted primarily of Western novels, which he called his "frontier stories", but who also wrote historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

United States
Memoirists
Novelists
Poets
Science fiction authors

Random Louis L'Amour quote

31 quotes

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished; that will be the beginning.

Lonely on the Mountain (1980)

A knife is sharpened on stone, steel is tempered by fire, but men must be sharpened by men.

The Walking Drum (1984)

A great book begins with an idea; a great life, with a determination.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

When a man is one of a kind, he will be lonely wherever he is.

The Lonesome Gods (1983)

I came into the world with two priceless advantages: good health and a love of learning.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

Fortunately, there seem to be few of his kind, and my subsequent friendships with university professors have proved exciting, stimulating and fun.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

Somewhere along the line I had fallen in love with learning, and it became a lifelong romance.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

Do not let yourself be bothered by the inconsequential. One has only so much time in this world, so devote it to the work and the people most important to you, to those you love and things that matter.

Ride the River (1983)

A mistake constantly made by those who should know better is to judge people of the past by our standards rather than their own. The only way men or women can be judged is against the canvas of their own time.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

I never fail to toss a stone on the pile, Hannes. In my own way it is a small offering to those lonesome gods.

The Lonesome Gods (1983)

Many people know how to get money, but few know how to keep it. Wise investments are always based on information, Johannes, so the more you know, the better.

The Lonesome Gods (1983)

Each generation has a group that wishes to impose a static pattern on events, a static pattern that would hold society forever immobile in a position favorable to the group in question.

The Walking Drum (1984)

Characters have a way of taking on a life on their own, expressing themselves in the simple philosophy of their times, and expressing beliefs acquired through living, working, and being.

How much could I tell them? How much dared I tell them?

The Walking Drum (1984)

One thing has always been true: That book or that person who can give me an idea or a new slant on an old idea is my friend.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

Only one who has learned much can fully appreciate his ignorance.
He knows well the limits of his knowledge and how much is waiting to be learned.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read.

Education of a Wandering Man (1989)

Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be.

The Walking Drum (1984)

Out here you better have a gun, and a gun in the wagon ain't good for nothin'. I believe what the old Quaker said,"Trust in the Lord, but keep your powder dry."

The Quick and the Dead (1973)

Each people has its gods, or the spirits in which they believe. It may be their god is the same as ours, only clothed in different stories, different ideas, but a god can only be strong, Hannes, if he is worshiped, and the gods of those ancient people are lonesome gods now.

The Lonesome Gods (1983)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Louis L'Amour (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.