Raymond E. Feist Quotes & Sayings

Mostly I'm writing about people, so I feel constrained to take with me my view of people, my curiosity about how people choose the things they do and why they come to certain decisions in a certain fashion and all the things that drive most writers. — Raymond E. Feist

You've learned something very young, Prince, something that even older men rarely understand. You've learned that fear isn't a terrible-looking thing but something lovely and seductive. — Raymond E. Feist

There was no answer he knew, until he actually faced death. — Raymond E. Feist

That was not the professional hatred of one warrior for another in the heat of battle, in which even beneath the hatred there still existed a certain begrudging respect. — Raymond E. Feist

You must define yourself, for no one else has the wisdom to do it for you. — Raymond E. Feist

Robert had taught him to keep his thoughts in the present or near future, for as Robert had told him, To dwell in the past is to live in regret. — Raymond E. Feist

We saw what we saw. Whether it was a place or a vision in our mind, it doesn't matter. We must act upon what we experienced, so to that end, yes, it was real.' 'Now? — Raymond E. Feist

Yes," said Talon, his voice the hiss of a coiled serpent. — Raymond E. Feist

Luck is when those who are prepared take advantage of the moment. — Raymond E. Feist

Besides, it seems to mee that spreading the doctrine of doing good can harm no one.' Nakor shook his head. 'Would that it were true. Men have been put to death for preaching good. — Raymond E. Feist

Now he wondered what use it would be. For Kaspar's death would not bring back his father, Elk's Call at Dawn, or his mother, Whisper of the Night Wind. His brother, Hand of the Sun, and his little sister Miliana would remain dead. The only time he would hear the voice of his grandfather, Laughter in His Eyes, would be in his memory. Nothing would change. No farmer outside Krondor would suddenly stand up in wonder and say, "A wrong has been righted." No boot-maker in Roldem would look up from his bench and say, "A people has been avenged. — Raymond E. Feist

What matters isn't whether or not you're frightened, but how you behave. — Raymond E. Feist

It was an interesting dilemma and with all such dilemmas an opportunity might emerge. 'How best to turn this setback into an advantage,' he wondered silently. — Raymond E. Feist

Life is what happens, Magnus, no matter what you expect or want. — Raymond E. Feist

As they walked he glanced sideways and at last asked, "You are the one they call Pug?"
If Pug hadn't already been surprised by what they had encountered, he was now openly taken aback. "Yes," he said.
"I'd thought you'd be taller," mused the Pantathian. — Raymond E. Feist

As a kid, I sat transfixed watching Ray Harryhausen's '7th Voyage of Sinbad.' — Raymond E. Feist

It is something only a few know in their lives. It is a vision of something so clear, so true, it can only be a madness. You see what life is worth, and you know what death means. — Raymond E. Feist

As my grandmother said, 'Sorry won't unbreak the eggs'. Just clean the mess and move on. — Raymond E. Feist

Mama shrieked. The first man turned — Raymond E. Feist

It's difficult the first time you have to get close to kill another. You see their eyes, see the light in it go out. Even a troll's eyes have that light. I'd be worried if you didn't feel something after that. I don't like hunting with a man who's a killer without that feeling. — Raymond E. Feist

You would do well to know, Marcus, that irritating a better swordsman than yourself is a good way to end up dead. — Raymond E. Feist

Train those around you well, Pug. Make them powerful, but make them loving, generous men and women as well. — Raymond E. Feist

But should you ever come to a time when you need to say something upon my behalf, say this, 'The last truth is that there is no magic. — Raymond E. Feist

A hero is someone who simply got too frightened to use his good sense and run away, then somehow lived through it all. — Raymond E. Feist

in kings people overlook and forgive behaviour they would not tolerate in others. — Raymond E. Feist

Writing is hard work; it's also the best job I've ever had. — Raymond E. Feist

Sanity is all that stands between good and evil. — Raymond E. Feist

Whatever displeasure she felt was openly voiced, and quickly resolved, by either compromise or one partner's acceptance of the other's intractability. — Raymond E. Feist

All the way home, his wound pulsing with every hearbeat, he had cursed himself for a fool. How could he think she loved him? He had never been loved in his life, save perhaps by Erik and the other men who had served with him across the sea, and that was the love of comrades. He had never known the love of women, just their embrace. Twice he had found tears running down his face ... — Raymond E. Feist

It was something he had never quite understood about himself. He had seen thousands of men die in nearly ten years of war and could look on it at times with a near-total detachment, but an animal suffering - be it a horse or needra injured in battle, or the stag now dying - moved him deeply. — Raymond E. Feist

I know you'll think this odd, but I find it strangely exhilarating not knowing what's coming next. — Raymond E. Feist

He knew there was only a slight difference between an armed guard and an escort, but sometimes that difference separated the honored and the condemned. — Raymond E. Feist

You learn something new every day, if you just stop to pay attention. — Raymond E. Feist

Writing is not a competitive sport. Everyone that writes has his or her own voice. — Raymond E. Feist

Some love comes like the wind off the sea, while others grow slowly from the seeds of friendship and kindness. - Carline — Raymond E. Feist

When you talk about fantasy, the usual problem is that whilst you've got the world of imagination, there are no controlling forces. — Raymond E. Feist

Your human gods love to present you with such riddles and challenges, or so it has seemed to me for most of my life ... You often seem to prefer difficult choices when simple alternatives are available; it is a constant source of amazement to my kind. — Raymond E. Feist

...knew the futility of agonizing over why things had transpired as they had. What could have happened, did. — Raymond E. Feist

You will have to make decisions far worse. You are going to have to learn to think before you act, but never to regret your decisions, right or wrong. Otherwise, you will slowly begin to not make decisions at all. — Raymond E. Feist

Any good story can galvanize a person, make him/her think about things a different way, reassess their own motives and needs, but that's never my intent. That's an unintended consequence of me just trying to entertain, to write what we used to call 'ripping yarns.' — Raymond E. Feist

The past can be a terrible weight bound to you by an unbreakable chain. You can drag it with you, forever looking over your shoulder at what holds you back. Or you can let it go and move forward. It's your choice. — Raymond E. Feist

It is the single blackest shame in the memory of our race that one segment of our people utterly destroyed another. 'But — Raymond E. Feist

In some worlds there seems to be a synergy, but for the most part, what Kalkin said to you is the root truth: they are merely personifications of natural forces given whatever powers they possess by their worshippers. They have aspects that are perceived by mortals, and attributes they can wield. — Raymond E. Feist

The issue of the Betrayal was so central to that, I felt the need to comment upon it. My choices were to ignore the games and put them 'outside' of continuity or to integrate them. I chose the latter. — Raymond E. Feist

Bountiful was the table of your grandsire, for there is still fat at the root of my heart from the feasts he gave in my honour. — Raymond E. Feist

You can only have one first born child. You may love all your children deeply and with passion, but there is something unique about the first born. — Raymond E. Feist

Fear had driven two enemies into each other's arms and he smiled at that thought. 'They fear me more than they do each other and that is good' he thought. — Raymond E. Feist

I love a question I can't answer. It keeps things interesting, even after so many years. — Raymond E. Feist

The trick to not being discovered until it is too late is to become part of the expected surroundings. Stealth is more the art of blending in with the background than sneaking through dark shadows. — Raymond E. Feist

A hunt leader could not show fear, or let it linger in his stomach, for others would sense it soon enough, taste that fear and become possessed by it. They would hesitate when an order was given, and uncertainty would claim their life as readily as the blade of the enemy. — Raymond E. Feist

All his life he has been in the shadow of Grandfather, and of the man for whom he was named."
...
"Then, Grandfather would tell us it has nothing to do with fame."

"He enjoyed the notoriety, though," said Dash.

"Agreed," said Jimmy. "But he gained it from being so bloody brilliant at what he did. He didn't set out to be the most fiendishly clever noble in history."

"Maybe that's what Father knew from the start; it's just getting the job done and let history decide what history will decide," observed Dash. — Raymond E. Feist

Seconds slowed and passed before Nicholas's mind's eye like a parade of snails upon the garden path. — Raymond E. Feist

I don't write fantasy; I write historical novels about an imaginary place. — Raymond E. Feist

He had seen the worst and best of the rest, and had gone from a fraternity of men bent on trivial gain by any means, including murder, to a fellowship of men who would sacrifice even their own lives for the greater good.
His ambition was to be like them, to be noble by strength of purpose and clarity of vision rather than by accident of birth. — Raymond E. Feist

Either systems are in balance or they are falling apart. If people are acting in what appears to be a twisted way, I want to know the reason for that. — Raymond E. Feist

There is no idea so brilliant or original that a sufficiently-untalented writer can't screw it up. — Raymond E. Feist

No, killing a man is fairly easy. It is killing him and not getting caught that makes it difficult. — Raymond E. Feist

Then the universe rocks. The very fabric of reality is rent. — Raymond E. Feist

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Talon said, 'It doesn't matter. They are all dead.' He felt moisture gathering in his eyes and blinked. 'It's been a while since I've felt that.'

Caleb nodded. 'It never goes away, completely. But you'll discover other things in life. — Raymond E. Feist

Friends can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand. — Raymond E. Feist

the enemy of our enemy is our ally, — Raymond E. Feist

You must step forward, Arutha. You will never be the man for whom you were named, and you will never be your father, but nature didn't intend for you to be either of those men, no matter how worthy they were. You must become the best man you are capable of. — Raymond E. Feist

He considered the importance of what he was to do, and calmed himself. He felt the dragon's mood and acknowledged it. It was a willingness to accept whatever fate brought, but without a resignation to defeat. Death might come, but with it might also come victory. — Raymond E. Feist

Never accept the proposition that just because a solution satisfies a problem, that it must be the only solution. — Raymond E. Feist

she fills a dark and cold place within me as no one else has."

"If it is still dark and cold when she is not with you, it is not truly filled. — Raymond E. Feist

Altruism accrues little benefit to those lying cold in the gutter. — Raymond E. Feist

If I leave my computer, I'm probably not going to get back for hours. If I take a few minutes to answer questions and go web surfing, then guilt kicks in and I get back to work. — Raymond E. Feist

Why? Why do you care what happens to scum like them?'
De Loungville moved his horse alongside Erik's, so he was almost nose-to-nose with Erik when he answered. 'I don't care what happens to scum like them. You could cut off a piece at a time over a week and I wouldn't give a whore's promise for what it would do to them. But I do care what it would do to you, Erik. — Raymond E. Feist

People most often don't see what is right before them. — Raymond E. Feist

The first love is the difficult love. — Raymond E. Feist

We'll never again be the boys we once were, Tomas. But we've become so much more than we dreamed. — Raymond E. Feist

There was nothing left to fear. He would endure or he wouldn't. — Raymond E. Feist

The sun had burned off whatever morning fog and low clouds had gripped the city, and now a glorious fall day was upon them. Warm sunlight caressed his face as cool ocean breezes carried the sound of gulls and the tang of salt. He remembered the stab of pain he had felt when he had thought he would not see the day, and the terror and panic that had gripped him as rough hands had placed him upon the gallows returned. Erik felt a choking sensation in his own chest, and suddenly, without any ability to control it, he began to weep. Roo — Raymond E. Feist

You know what it is to laugh at death, Arutha. You'll never be the same man again. — Raymond E. Feist

A shrieking battle cry echoed on the wind, a spine-tingling scream that sounded like the baying of the wolves closing in on their prey. — Raymond E. Feist

You can be as sharp-tongued as a viper, but you can also be as sweet as wild clover honey. — Raymond E. Feist

A man makes choices," Tal said.

"True, but what choices a man makes depends on what choices he is offered. — Raymond E. Feist

here you've got to live, breathe, and eat trust, or you're dead. — Raymond E. Feist

There is a hand behind every curtain,' " she quoted. " 'And a knife in every hand,' " finished Mara. — Raymond E. Feist

The sound of old winter ice breaking at spring's touch, — Raymond E. Feist

There are sunsets above other oceans, Ghuda. Mighty sights and great wonders to behold. — Raymond E. Feist

Men love their fears. That is why they hold on to them so tightly. — Raymond E. Feist

Among our people we have the recognition, the sudden knowledge that a mate is before you. Not all our people know this certainty, and to them falls the difficult task of slowly building a bond with another who has also not known the recognition. With Calis and Elien, it is the difficult way. But often it ends in a love as profound as the first. — Raymond E. Feist

But to speed it along, he needs to know that pain will come. The knack is to not engage the pain, not hold on to it like a treasured thing, but to simply let it pass through and wait until it's gone. It will come less frequently and after a time, be gone. — Raymond E. Feist

Informants can be helpful, but they are never infallible. All tools can break, or be turned into weapons. — Raymond E. Feist

The thought struck Dennis that a hundred years before he was even born Tinuva undoubtedly knew of the river. Again he realized just how ancient the elven race was and with it came the recognition of just how much they risked when facing battle: it wasn't just a score of years in the balance, it was a score of decades. — Raymond E. Feist

It's tempting to think of yourself as powerful when those around you are far less so, but compared to the simple fact of existence, to the power of life and how it hangs on, we are nothing. — Raymond E. Feist

But for the most part, love is a recognition, an opportunity to say, 'There is something about you I cherish. — Raymond E. Feist

One time is much like another to death. She comes when she will. So why give over your mind to worry? — Raymond E. Feist

In Tsurani culture, forgiveness was simply a less shameful form of weakness than capitulation. — Raymond E. Feist

More men have been defeated by reports than all the steel of all the swords in history. — Raymond E. Feist

He reminded himself as he turned another corner - glancing automatically into the shadows to see if anyone lurked there - the deed was the thing, not the praise. — Raymond E. Feist

I just pray I don't have to work on you some day. Stitching together flesh that has no soul is bitter work. — Raymond E. Feist

The ways of the heart are complex." He looked out at the ocean again. "The waves churn and break upon the rocks, Talon. So do human feelings. Passion can be a man's undoing. With passion must come wisdom; otherwise, your enemies have a weapon to use against you. — Raymond E. Feist

In the end, my reasons for moving down the timeline and introducing a new cast have more to do with keeping myself entertained, on the assumption that if I get bored, my readers are going to be even more bored. — Raymond E. Feist

few things of worth are ever simple. Or easy.' Tomas — Raymond E. Feist

I know he hasn't a mean or petty bone in him, but one can err on the side of caution as well as rashness. — Raymond E. Feist

I've never worried about 'the reader' because there isn't one. There are thousands, and they all have strong opinions, from 'Magician' was the best ever,' and I've gone downhill since to 'The new book is the best ever,' so to whom to I listen? So I write for myself and hope other people like it. — Raymond E. Feist

Never underestimate the potential for human stupidity when wealth and power are at stake. — Raymond E. Feist

when you enter another's reality, you observe her rules. Then — Raymond E. Feist