219 quotes
“The whole question of morality…”
“Is as nothing when one’s stomach rumbles,” said Jhary.
The Oak and the Ram (1973)
Destiny was apparently a word describing an individual’s desperate need for certainty.
The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
I said: “Then in reality I had little choice.”
“Let us say that your character has already determined your choice.”
The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
“Are you aware we anticipate the Apocalypse, von Bek?”
“The obsession’s common enough, Montsorbier, amongst ignorant folk.”
The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
My instinct shouted “Conspiracy” but my head reasoned “Coincidence”.
The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
By telling a single lie to oneself or to another, by denying a single fact of the world as it has been created, one adds to the World’s Pain.
The War Hound and the World’s Pain (1981)
I had always claimed to welcome the truth; yet now, in common with most of us, I was resentful of the truth because it called upon me to take an unwelcome course of action.
The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
Americans need bullshit the way koala bears need eucalyptus leaves. They’ve become totally addicted to it. They get so much of it back home that they can’t survive without it.
London Bone (1997)
Once rich, moreover, I should again travel easily about Europe, for while in the public eye a poor radical is dangerous rogue, a rich radical is merely an eccentric gentleman!
The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
Do you know what damnation can be, Sir? It can be a state of permanent caution, making one chronically unable to risk anything, even a risk which might save one from extinction.
The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
Scholarly men were suspect in my town. Women could not admit to scholarship at all. Men are afraid of two things in this world, it seems—women and knowledge. Both threaten their power, eh?
The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
“Be silent!” That is the perpetual admonition of Tyranny. Tyranny bellows ‘Be silent!’ even to the screams of its victims, the pathetic moans and groanings and supplications of its trampled millions.”
The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
We set high store by prophecies here in the desert. It seems that our longing for help might have coloured our reason.
The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
She opened her bag and made sure of her jar of instant coffee. It was the one thing she couldn’t get at the End of Time.
Elric at the End of Time (1985)
By acting as they would act, we become what they are. And if we are what they are, then there is little point in resisting them!
The Dragon in the Sword (1986)
I appreciated his attempt at a neutral tone, given his evident distaste for matter psychic and mystical. We shared, I think, a similar outlook.
The Cairene Purse (1997)
A threat to free speech. It was marvelous how they accepted the principles of democracy and rejected them at the same time by talk of mob action!
The Winds of Limbo aka The Fireclown (1965)
“Could you punish a heretic?”
“Madam, I do not know what a heretic really is. The word is made much of, these days. It seems to describe anyone you wish dead.”
The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
As Barrington Bayley had pointed out in his book Structural Dynamism, man was not an intelligent animal. He was an animal with intelligence that he could apply to some, not all, of his activities.
The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius (1976)
You fail to understand, my friend. We do not control time. If anything, it controls us. We simply measure it.
The Time Dweller (1969)