245 quotes
Most civilisations, perhaps, look shinier in general terms and from several light-years away.
The Telling (2000)
I am not comfortable with the phrase “specific obsession,” but “cultural instinct” is worse.
Changing Planes (2003)
To know there is a choice is to have to make the choice: change or stay: river or rock.
Four Ways to Forgiveness (1995)
Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol twisted aside, and the lie come to be.
City of Illusions (1967)
He liked the vast openness of sky and prairie, and found loneliness a pleasure with so immense a domain to be alone in.
City of Illusions (1967)
“Why are you always so full of answers?”
“Because life’s so full of questions.”
The Eye of the Heron (1978)
Mede spoke with amused tolerance, as physicists generally speak of biologists.
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975)
The word must be heard in silence; there must be darkness to see the stars.
The Farthest Shore (1972)
“The solution lies in secrecy,” said Medra. “But so does the problem.”
Tales from Earthsea (2001)
The dance of renewal, the dance that made the world, was always danced here at the edge of things, on the brink, on the foggy coast.
Dancing at the Edge of the World (1989)
No granite is so hard as hatred and no clay so cold as cruelty.
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975)
This, at least, is the accepted explanation, though like most economic explanations it seems, under certain lights, to omit the main point.
The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.
The Dispossessed (1974)
To see a candle’s light, one must take it into a dark place.
The Farthest Shore (1972)
Coercion is the least efficient means of obtaining order.
The Dispossessed (1974)
The hunger of a dragon is slow to wake, but hard to sate.
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
No, I don’t understand him, but he is worth listening to.
The Farthest Shore (1972)
The counsel of the dead is not profitable to the living.
The Farthest Shore (1972)
A wrong that cannot be repaired must be transcended.
Tehanu (1990)
He detested them for forcing helplessness upon him.
Planet of Exile (1966)