14 Quotes & Sayings By Stephen R Donaldson

Stephen R. Donaldson was born in 1951 and grew up in California and Texas. Before writing his first book, he worked as a journalist, and for a time he was a lawyer. He has written more than 30 best-selling novels and numerous short stories, including the highly acclaimed Thomas Covenant series, which is set in an alternate world where the land of the Seven Kings is populated by humans who have been magically altered so that they can walk through both worlds Read more

His recent work includes The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Warded Man, and The Great God's War.

Be true, unbeliever.
1
Be true, unbeliever. Stephen R. Donaldson
Part of him wanted to weep... but his purpose was...
2
Part of him wanted to weep... but his purpose was rigid within him. He felt he could not bend to gentleness without breaking. Stephen R. Donaldson
It is wrong to ask for more than you give...
3
It is wrong to ask for more than you give freely. In this way, we come to resemble what we hate. Stephen R. Donaldson
4
The story of Terisa and Geraden began very much like a fable. She was a princess in a high tower. He was a hero come to rescue her. She was the only daughter of wealth and power. He was the seventh son of the lord of the seventh Care. She was beautiful from the auburn hair that crowned her head to the tips of her white toes. He was handsome and courageous. She was held prisoner by enchantment. He was a fearless breaker of enchantments. As in all the fables, they were made for each other. . Stephen R. Donaldson
5
Where do you get dreams like this? Stephen R. Donaldson
6
A real man–real in all the ways that we recognize as real–finds himself suddenly abstracted from the world and deposited in a physical situation which could not possibly exist: sounds have aroma, smells have color and depth, sights have texture, touches have pitch and timbre. There he is informed by a disembodied voice that he has been brought to that place as a champion for his world. He must fight to the death in single combat against a champion from another world. If he is defeated, he will die, and his world–the real world–will be destroyed because it lacks the inner strength to survive. The man refuses to believe that what he is told is true. He asserts that he is either dreaming or hallucinating, and declines to be put in the false position of fighting to the death where no "real" danger exists. He is implacable in his determination to disbelieve his apparent situation, and does not defend himself when he is attacked by the champion of the other. Stephen R. Donaldson
7
The speed felt tremendous. And the bottom of the ravine was treacherous. She ought to control her mount somehow - slow it; steer it to safer footing. Of course. And while she was at it, she ought to defeat the Alend Monarch's army, take care of Master Gilbur and the arch- Imager Vagel, and produce peace on earth. While composing great music with her free hand. Instead of doing all that, however, she concentrated with a pure white intensity that resembled terror on simply staying in the saddle. Stephen R. Donaldson
8
This you have to understand. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken. Stephen R. Donaldson
9
I was sitting at the bar of the Hegira that night when Ginny came in. The barkeep, an ancient sad-eyed patriarch named Jose, had just poured me another drink, and I was having one of those rare moments any serious drunk can tell you about. A piece of real quiet. Jose's cheeks bristled because he didn't shave very often, and his apron was dingy because it didn't get washed very often, and his fingernails had little crescents of grime under them. The glass he poured for me wasn't all that clean. But the stuff he poured was golden-amber and beautiful, like distilled sunlight, and it made the whole place soothing as sleep–which drunks know how to value because they don't get much of it. Stephen R. Donaldson
10
When the emergency brappers went of they did what any dedicated, well-trained and quick-minded Service personnel would do; they paniced. From the short story What Makes Us Human. Stephen R. Donaldson
11
And he who wields white, wild magic gold is a paradox For he is everything and nothing Hero and fool Potent, helpless And with one word of truth or treachery He will save or damn the earth Because he is mad and sane Cold and passionate Lost and found Stephen R. Donaldson
12
But he could not call the doctors at the leprosarium. They would return him to Louisiana. They would treat him and train him and counsel him. They would put him back into life as if his illness were all that mattered, as if wisdom were only skin deep, as if grief and remorse and horror were nothing but illusions, tricks done with mirrors, irrelevant to chrome and porcelain and clean, white, stiff hospital sheets and fluorescent lights. . Stephen R. Donaldson
13
And you require no answers", Foamfollower was laughing in his gladness, "You are sufficient to every question". Stephen R. Donaldson