41 Quotes & Sayings By Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a prolific American author best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan. Burroughs' first book, A Princess of Mars, was written in 1912 and published by Street and Smith. The novel was an instant hit and inspired a successful literary trend. Burroughs published another 150 titles that sold close to 300 million copies over the course of his lifetime Read more

He died in 1950 and is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

1
And so, in silence, we walked the surface of a dying world, but in the breast of one of us at least had been born that which is ever oldest, yet ever new. I loved Dejah Thoris. The touch of my arm upon her naked shoulder had spoken to me in words I would not mistake, and I knew that I had loved her since the first moment my eyes had met hers that first time in the plaza of the dead city of Korad. Edgar Rice Burroughs
I got this story from someone who had no business...
2
I got this story from someone who had no business in the telling of it. Edgar Rice Burroughs
I had aimed at Mars and was about to hit...
3
I had aimed at Mars and was about to hit Venus unquestionably the all-time cosmic record for poor shots. Edgar Rice Burroughs
So glorious does love transfigure its object
4
So glorious does love transfigure its object"~ Tarzan Edgar Rice Burroughs
...smiles are the foundation of beauty.
5
...smiles are the foundation of beauty. Edgar Rice Burroughs
6
Imagination is but another name for super intelligence. Edgar Rice Burroughs
7
I do not understand exactly what you mean by fear, " said Tarzan. "Like lions, fear is a different thing in different men, but to me the only pleasure in the hunt is the knowledge that the hunted thing has power to harm me as much as I have to harm him. If I went out with a couple of rifles and a gun bearer, and twenty or thirty beaters, to hunt a lion, I should not feel that the lion had much chance, and so the pleasure of the hunt would be lessened in proportion to the increased safety which I felt."" Then I am to take it that Monsieur Tarzan would prefer to go naked into the jungle, armed only with a jackknife, to kill the king of beasts, " laughed the other good naturedly, but with the merest touch of sarcasm in his tone." And a piece of rope, " added Tarzan. Edgar Rice Burroughs
8
I took her in my arms and kissed her. And thus in the midst of a city of wild conflict, filled with the alarms of war; with death and destruction reaping their terrible harvest around her, did Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, true daughter of Mars, the God of War, promise herself in marriage to John Carter, Gentleman of Virginia. Edgar Rice Burroughs
9
What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with broad sarcasm." Men have died for less than that, ancient one, " E-Thas reminded him." I am safe, " retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular son of the jeddak of Manator. Edgar Rice Burroughs
10
No fiction is worth reading except for entertainment. If it entertains and is clean, it is good literature, or its kind. If it forms the habit of reading, in people who might not read otherwise, it is the best literature. Edgar Rice Burroughs
11
P33- the wail of the living had answered the call of universal motherhood within her wild beast which the dead could not still. Edgar Rice Burroughs
12
I am glad, " he said, "that I do not dwell in your country among such savage peoples. Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when they meet - men of different races - but their weapons are first for the slaying of beasts in the chase and defense. We do not fashion weapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples. Your country must indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate to have escaped to the peace and security of Caspak. . Edgar Rice Burroughs
13
The whole fabric of our religion is based on superstitious belief in lies that have been foisted upon us for ages by those directly above us, to whose personal profit and aggrandizement it was to have us continue to believe as they wished us to believe. Edgar Rice Burroughs
14
He longed for the little cabin and the sun-kissed sea - for the cool interior of the well-built house, and for the never-ending wonders of the many books. Edgar Rice Burroughs
15
To lose the only creature in all his world who ever had manifested love and affection for him was the greatest tragedy he had ever known. Edgar Rice Burroughs
16
They say that none of us exists, except in the imagination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisible mentality. Edgar Rice Burroughs
17
What are you Tarzan?" he asked aloud. "An ape or a man? If you are an ape, you will do as the apes do - leave one of your kind in the jungle to die if it suited your whim to go elsewhere. If you are a man, you will return to protect your kind. You will not run away from one of your own people, because one has run away from you. Edgar Rice Burroughs
18
As a mistress, death seemed lacking in many essentials. Therefore, I decided not to die. Edgar Rice Burroughs
19
We are between the wild thoat of certainty and the mad zitidar of fact. Edgar Rice Burroughs
20
Twenty years have intervened; for ten of them I lived and fought for Dejah Thoris and her people, and for ten I have lived upon her memory. Edgar Rice Burroughs
21
Lives there upon any world such another as John Carter, Prince of Helium? Lives there another man who could fight his way back and forth across a warlike planet, facing savage beasts and hordes of savage men, for the love of a woman? Edgar Rice Burroughs
22
Tut, tut! I have often admonished my pupils to count ten before speaking. Were I you, Mr. Philander, I should count at least a thousand, and then maintain a discreet silence. Edgar Rice Burroughs
23
Day had now given away to night and as we wandered along the great avenue lighted by the two moons of Barsoom, and with Earth looking down upon us out of her luminous green eye, it seemed that we were alone in the universe, and I, at least, was content that it should be so. Edgar Rice Burroughs
24
I have discovered that the world over, unusual weather prevails at all times of the year. Edgar Rice Burroughs
25
Teach me to speak the language of men. Edgar Rice Burroughs
26
If your vocation be shoeing horses, or painting pictures, and you can do one or the other better than your fellows, then you are a fool if you are not proud of your ability. And so I am very proud that upon two planets no greater fighter has ever lived than John Carter, Prince of Helium. Edgar Rice Burroughs
27
If I sometimes seem to take too great pride in my fighting ability, it must be remembered that fighting is my vocation. Edgar Rice Burroughs
28
Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter; I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them. Edgar Rice Burroughs
29
There was one slight, desperate chance, and that I decided I must take--it was for Dejah Thoris, and no man has lived who would not risk a thousand deaths for such as she. Edgar Rice Burroughs
30
Even brave men, and D'Arnot was a brave man, are sometimes frightened by solitude. Edgar Rice Burroughs
31
But the wireless, " asked Momulla. "What has the wireless to do with our remaining here?" "Oh yes, " replied Gust, scratching his head. He was wondering if the Maori were really so ignorant as to believe the preposterous lie he was about to unload upon him. "Oh yes! You see every warship is equipped with what they call a wireless apparatus. It lets them talk to other ships hundreds of miles away, and it lets them listen to all that is said on these other ships. Edgar Rice Burroughs
32
As much as I enjoy a fight, I cannot always indulge myself, and just now I had more weighty matters to occupy my time than spilling the blood of strange warriors. Edgar Rice Burroughs
33
P 18 - Hundreds of thousands of years ago our ancestors of the dim and distant past faced the same problems which we must face in the same primeval forest. That we are here today evidences their victory. Edgar Rice Burroughs
34
P44- in tarzans clever little mind many thoughts revolved and back of these was his divine power of reason. Edgar Rice Burroughs
35
You didn't find any trace of her?" asked d' Arnot. // Tarzan shook his head. "None. In the jungle, I could have found her; but here —-here, in civilization, a man cannot even find himself. Edgar Rice Burroughs
36
I should at least die as I had lived–fighting. Edgar Rice Burroughs
37
Captain Billings, " he drawled finally, "if you will pardon my candor, I might remark that you are something of an ass, don't you know. Edgar Rice Burroughs
38
It never seems to occur to some people, that, like beauty, a sense of humor may sometimes be fatal. Edgar Rice Burroughs
39
Love is a strange master, and human nature is still stranger. Edgar Rice Burroughs
40
Anger and hate against one we love steels our hearts, but contempt or pity leaves us silent and ashamed. Edgar Rice Burroughs