Anthony Ryan Quotes & Sayings

Some memories are best left to wither. — Anthony Ryan

Those who have not lived cannot meditate on the mysteries of life. — Anthony Ryan

a White breathing fire on a group of Spoiled kneeling in obvious supplication. An egg bathed in fire and cracking open to reveal the screaming infant Black inside, the flames fading to reveal an old man in a robe staring down at the fledgling drake with the expression of a proud father. — Anthony Ryan

Wise Bear said something in his own language, mouth twisting in disgust as if the words stained his tongue. He caught Vaelin's enquiring gaze and provided a terse translation, "Cat People. — Anthony Ryan

My mother used to say that men would fight and kill for money, but they would only die for their gods. — Anthony Ryan

Sella smiled sadly as she laid the scarf on her knees, her fingers tracing over the delicate gold-thread pattern (...) The moon, the sing of calm reflection, from where reason and balance are derived (...) The sun, source of passion, love, anger (...) We exist here, between the two. Grown from the earth, warmed by the sun, cooled by the moonlight night. Your brother's heart had been pulled too far into the sun, fired with anger and regret. Now he has cooled and he looks to the moon for guidance. — Anthony Ryan

Desert winds blow hard at me
Till we reach the shining sea.
And borne away across the waves
My lover's life I'll sail to save. — Anthony Ryan

The Dark is a word for the ignorant. The people hare are Gifted. Different powers, different abilities. But Gifted. Like you. — Anthony Ryan

An axe without a blade is just a stick. — Anthony Ryan

In order to contemplate, one must have something to contemplate. A life without experience provides no chance of contemplation. Those who have not lived cannot mediate om the mysterious of life. — Anthony Ryan

The promise of power wasn't enough, he thought. So now she temps me with knowledge (...) He knew now his enmity for her was a deceit, an attempt to avoid his own share of blame, but even so found himself holding to it. She is cold, she is scheming, she is untrustworthy. But more than that, he hated the lingering hold she had over him, her effortless ability to engage his interest. — Anthony Ryan

It felt safer to run, a moving target was harder to hit. But this vague sense of security evaporated when the darkness came, it was like running in a void where every step brought the threat of a painful fall. — Anthony Ryan

Your men?" His face took on an expression of deep confusion. "But you came alone. He said you would come alone." His sword fell to his side as he stumbled back a few steps, his gaze distant, unfocused. "He said you would come alone — Anthony Ryan

The lessons of the past guide us in the present (...) Our Faith is strengthened by the knowledge of those who have gone before us. — Anthony Ryan

A man doesn't know his true strength until he fears for his life — Anthony Ryan

Love may claim our hearts but lust will always claim our bodies. It is the traitor that lurks in every soul. — Anthony Ryan

All knowledge is a threat to someone." Vaelin — Anthony Ryan

What is broken remains so, it is the way of things. — Anthony Ryan

Tell me, do you really believe all this tripe you spout?" There was no venom in Nortah's tone, just vague curiosity. "We call each other brothers but we share no blood. We're just boys forced together by this Order. Don't you ever wonder what it would have been like if we had met on the outside? Would we have been friends then, or enemies? Our fathers were enemies, did you know that? — Anthony Ryan

The impulse to lie, to continue to wallow in secrets as he had for years, was only the faintest whisper now, a nagging sense of stepping too far on an uncharted path, easily overridden by need to tell her. If he couldn't tell her, at least he could find some comfort in confidence. — Anthony Ryan

Why is it the only joy you show these days is in battle? Why do you hunger for it so? Does it makes you forget? Does it ease your pain?"
Nortah tugged his horse's reins and resume the walk to the stables. "It eases nothing. But it does make me forget, for a while at least. — Anthony Ryan

The Lonak have no word for secret. Did you know that? To them everything is important, to be written down, recorded, told over and over. The Order has no such belief. We have fought battles that left more than a hundred corpses on the ground an not a word of it has ever been set down. The Order fights, but often it fights in shadow, without glory or reward. — Anthony Ryan

Oh, I was born here. There's a village a few miles south of Varinshold, so small it doesn't even have a name. You'll find my kin there. — Anthony Ryan

Is a lie really a lie if it is honestly believed? — Anthony Ryan

Brothers of the Second Order searched her house and found evidence of Deniers activity. Forbidden books, images of gods, herbs and candles, the usual stuff. Turned out she and her father were followers of the Sun and the Moon, a minor sect. They're pretty harmless mostly since they don't try to convert others to their heresy, but a Denier's a Denier. — Anthony Ryan

Quite so, although our brothers and sisters in the Seventh Order do not refer to the Dark. They regard themselves as guardians and practitioners of dangerous and arcane knowledge, much of which defies such mundane concepts as names and categories. — Anthony Ryan

Beware the seduction of the quick conclusion. Do not indulge in the answer you desire until you know all you need to know. — Anthony Ryan

An overconfident enemy is prone to carelessness. — Anthony Ryan

For nine more nights they trained, after an arduous day's march, Vaelin would try to turn a poet into a swordsman. — Anthony Ryan

Ignorant people will believe anything if they're scared enough. — Anthony Ryan

Hunger is the best seasoning. — Anthony Ryan

True change has never been bloodless. — Anthony Ryan

I think I preferred him jaded. The world might be a better place were it ruled by disappointed souls. — Anthony Ryan

Battle is a hard business, sister. Soft training will make for soft soldiers, who will in turn become soft corpses. — Anthony Ryan

Oh I don't always do what I'm told. I'm a bad girl. I don't do the things girls should. — Anthony Ryan

There was something new in his expression, something Vaelin had never seen before and couldn't name. In later years he would see it in the faces of a thousand men and know it as an old friend: fear. — Anthony Ryan

He recalled those brief years when his song had fallen silent, his refusal to heed it leaving him bereft, without guidance. It had been hard to be so rudderless in a sea of chaos and war. This, however, was much worse, because now there was the chill, the bone-deep cold that had seeped into him in the Ally's domain and lingered on here in this world of myriad paths, all seemingly so dark. And the words, of course, those words that hounded him from the Beyond. We will make an ending, you and I. — Anthony Ryan

I pray you weep no more my love, let no tears fall for my demise, lift your face to the sky above, and let the sun dry your eyes... — Anthony Ryan

is just a word. You can't eat it or drink it and yet everywhere I go men talk of it endlessly, and they all tell a different tale of what it actually means. For the Alpirans it's all about duty, the Renfaelins think it's the same as courage. In these islands it appears it means killing a son for a crime committed by his father then slaughtering a helpless man when the pantomime fails to go to plan. — Anthony Ryan

Face after face contorted in hate, men, women, children. Whatever lies had been voiced against me had clearly gained near-universal acceptance. I knew then that, regardless of what transpired here, my home was now lost to me. It wasn't just that these people would never accept me, more that I would never forgive their gullibility. — Anthony Ryan

It was said that the winds would carry into the Beyond and the Departed used them to send messages back to the Faithful, some of whom would stand for hours on hillsides straining for words of wisdom or comfort from lost loved ones. — Anthony Ryan

My people do, I do not. Gods are a myth, a comforting story for children." "Such — Anthony Ryan

The day watch stayed on deck, running the rigging and undertaking the never-ending chores of ship life. A few favoured me with a customary glare or two, but none attempted to converse, a mercy for which I was grateful. — Anthony Ryan

He found his shivers receding as his resolve grew. It really wasn't that cold. The fear and horror of his night in the forest had left a mark on him, a mark that might never fade, but he would face it and overcome it. There was no other choice. — Anthony Ryan

The voice was a blood-song. He knew it instinctively. Another blood-song. The tone was different from his own, stronger and more controlled. Another voice speaking in his mind. — Anthony Ryan

Truth is the heart of the song, Rat. If you cannot hear truth, you cannot hear anything. — Anthony Ryan

War is always an adventure to those who've never seen it. — Anthony Ryan

Honour' is just a word. You can't eat it or drink it and yet everywhere I go men talk of it endlessly, and they all tell a different tale of what it actually means. — Anthony Ryan

A man engaged in a constant search for the weaknesses of others, Hilemore decided. Perhaps the means by which he maintains faith in his own superiority. "Chief — Anthony Ryan

War is never good for commerce. Lest your trading in steel o'course. — Anthony Ryan

You mistake purpose for cruelty, and I have always had a purpose. I am not mindless. — Anthony Ryan

She didn't like seeing it, Vaelin realised. Didn't like seeing the killer in me. — Anthony Ryan

Speaking it aloud would reveal the absurdity of it, and he preferred the dream. — Anthony Ryan

Somehow he knew it, knew the beast and whatever commanded it had tracked them from the Firejack to the Badlands and back again. And, although it was just a small speck, he could have sworn he saw the swaddled man perched on the drake's back before it angled its wings and disappeared from view. - — Anthony Ryan

You will know him by the blade he carries and the Dark-born skill with which he wields it, for none who know the love of the Father may defeat the Darkblade, yet all must stand against him. — Anthony Ryan

Well he could hate too, hate was easy, hate would fuel him if his mother's love could not. Loyalty is our strength. He snorted a silent laughed of derision. Let loyalty be your strength, Father. My hate for you will be mine. — Anthony Ryan

They can hear lies, he realized. But not thoughts. He could hide things, he didn't have to lie. Silence could be his shield. — Anthony Ryan

No, I'm truthful. It's my weapon. — Anthony Ryan

A book's value rests in the knowledge it contains, and knowledge is ever a dangerous thing. — Anthony Ryan

Leadership is not learned by watching your brothers beat each other bloody. Nor is it learned by letting them fail their tests. — Anthony Ryan

It is the lessons we learn that change us from boys to men. — Anthony Ryan

They are hung from the walls whilst still alive and left to starve to death. Their tongues are cut so their screams will not disturb passerby. This is done purely because they follow a different faith (...) I told you I had been all over this world. The are countless faiths, countless gods. There are more ways to honour the divine than there are stars in the sky. — Anthony Ryan

He lay awake, restless, heart thumping so hard with alternating hatred and anger that he wondered if it would burst through his ribs. Panic made it beat even faster, sweat beaded his forehead and bathed his chest. — Anthony Ryan

One day I will write the story of our service in the Faith. I feel our Order has been sadly missing in recording its history. Do you know we are the only Order not to have its own library? (Caenis, about the Book of the Five Brothers) — Anthony Ryan

Between lovers, betrayal is always the worst sin. — Anthony Ryan

He was knowledgeable and often frighteningly intelligent but he was also a dreamer. He had a mental library of a thousand stories and seemed to believe them all. Heroes, villains, princesses in need of rescue, monsters and magical swords. It all lived in his head, as vital and real as his own memories. — Anthony Ryan

Freedom brought a change in my song, made it soar, seeking out wonders and novelty. — Anthony Ryan

Loyalty is our strength (...) Loyalty is another lie you use to trap the unwary in your designs. — Anthony Ryan

My finest student, and also my greatest disappointment. — Anthony Ryan

Herlia, goddess of justice, weeping as she passes her first judgement (...) She fell in love with a mortal man, but his passion for her drove him to commit a terrible crime and so she judged him, consigning him to the depths of the earth, chained to a rock, where his flesh is eternally eaten by vermin (...) Indeed, he stole a magic sword and with it slew a god, thinking him a rival for her affections. In fact he was her brother, Ixtus, god of dreams. now, whenever we suffer nightmares it is the shade of the fallen god taking his revenge on mortal kind. — Anthony Ryan

There were times when I consider simply taking the dagger and sinking it into his heart, I had ample opportunity after all, but I was still young and tough my hatred consumed me, I still lusted for life. I was a coward, a prisoner whose captivity was made worse by the knowledge of the vastness of his prison. Despair began to rot my heart. I fell to indulgence again, seeking escape in wine and drugs and flesh, an indulgence that would have seem me dead before long, had not the foreigners arrived. — Anthony Ryan

They laughed together, for a long time. Pain receded and was forgotten. They laughed and never spoke about how much it hurt. — Anthony Ryan

Liquor wasn't forbidden in the Order, but it was frowned upon by the more Faithful masters. Some said anything that dulled the senses was a barrier to the Faith, the less a man remembered of his life the less he had to take with him to the Beyond. — Anthony Ryan

The only aspect of his appearance to match his legend was his eyes: black as jet and piercing as a hawk's. They said his eyes could strip man's soul bare, that no secret could be hidden if he met your gaze. — Anthony Ryan

Hide an advantage and you double its value. — Anthony Ryan

Put more than one philosopher together and you'll birth an argument," Erlin commented. "A truism I've observed the world over. In fact, I once saw one argue with himself, it got quite violent in the end. — Anthony Ryan

There were tears in his eyes but he blinked them away. "I wish to learn many things". — Anthony Ryan

A woman of keen mind but no moral scruple whatever. And an occasionally violent temper. Just how many time did you stab that merchant, Derla? I forget. — Anthony Ryan

Caution favours no-one in battle, — Anthony Ryan

We found a jewel in the desert,'" I quoted. "'And from it fashioned a charred cinder.
'Queen of Fire Pg 313 — Anthony Ryan

There," he said, pointing. "We'll camp on the westward slope. No fires, and it would be greatly appreciated, Baron, if your men refrained from excessive noise." "I'll do what I can, my lord. But they're not peasants, y'know. Can't just flog them like your lot." "Maybe you should, milord," Dentos suggested. "Remind 'em they bleed the same colour as us peasants. — Anthony Ryan

Life isn't what you want it to be, it's what you make it become. — Anthony Ryan

A miser is merely a pauper with fewer friends. — Anthony Ryan

She greeted him with a smile, holding her hand out for him to kiss (...) Nevertheless he went to one knee and pressed his lips against her knuckles. Her flesh was warmer than he'd expected and he angered himself for enjoying the sensation. — Anthony Ryan

Many words came to me than as I stood clutching my bleeding face, many bile-filled, loathsome words sure to cute her to the core with lacerating truth. But meeting her blazing eyes, I felt the words die in my breast, my anger shriveling and flying away on the seaborne wind, replaced by a depth of pity and regret I knew had always lurked in my soul. — Anthony Ryan

What has happened cannot be changed, and so you cannot touch it. Change is the province of the future. — Anthony Ryan

In time I came to realise my playmates were chosen for their dullness, their lack of guile or cunning. Friends with sharper minds would have sharpened my own thoughts, made me consider that this pleasant life of luxury and plenty was in reality nothing more than an ornate cage, and I a slave within it. — Anthony Ryan

It was as if hardship bred indifference. — Anthony Ryan

I expect the notions of personal freedom and representative government would appear radical to a slave of the corporate world." "A — Anthony Ryan

It's called star silver because it glows brighter than the heavens when it's put to the flame (...) But it's not silver, it's a form of iron, rare iron that comes from the earth like all metals, there's nothing Dark about it. But it's this that makes swords of the Order stronger than others. With this, your blades will withstand blows that would shatter others and, if wielded with skill, will cut through mail and armour. — Anthony Ryan

A fool is any man who doesn't think he's a fool. — Anthony Ryan

I have no need for riches, Highness. I can't be bought either. — Anthony Ryan

Men who love themselves hate those who would dim their glory. — Anthony Ryan

Caenis surveyed the celebrating crowd with naked disgust. Vaelin couldn't hear the word he mouthed but the shape of his lips carried the meaning clearly enough: "Scum. — Anthony Ryan

Nature has a voice (...) Learn to hear it and you'll never be lost and no man will ever take you unawares. — Anthony Ryan

Lord Antesh," Uncle Sentes said. "I see no recognisable flag of truce, do you?" Antesh pursed his lips and shook his head. "Can't say as I do, my lord." "Well then." ". . . swift transportation to any land of your choice," the Volarian was saying, the scroll held in front of his eyes. "Plus one hundred pounds in gol - " He choked off as Antesh's arrow punched through the scroll and the breastplate beyond. He tumbled from the saddle and lay still, the scroll pinned to his chest. "Right," the Fief Lord said, turning away. "Let me know when the rest get here. — Anthony Ryan

It's a bad place, brother. All ruins and bare rock. Only ever seen it from a distance and it gave me the frights. Something in the air (...) Just feels bad. The Lonak call it Maars Nir-Uhlin Sol, the Place of the Stolen Souls. — Anthony Ryan

He wants to make an end. And we will. — Anthony Ryan

If the stars in the sky are not fixed, then nothing is fixed. Nothing is eternal, all is temporary and ever-changing." She turned away from the stars, meeting his gaze. "Nothing is fixed, my lord. No course is so set it cannot be changed. — Anthony Ryan

Give them the right lie and they'll believe it. — Anthony Ryan