Robin Jarvis Quotes & Sayings

Lies breed distrust, and distrust brings conflict. — Robin Jarvis

The path of life is strewn with many perils and the folly of knowledge is one of the greatest dangers. Wisdom is a treacherous weapon, little master, for it is sundered from compassion. All too often the end of the journey gains more import than it should and the wise become blind to the road and the method of their passing. — Robin Jarvis

Yours is a true heart, Vespertilio. Beware of it, for it is surely too large for thy chest to contain. — Robin Jarvis

Pedestrianism, [William Bingley] claims, is the most 'useful' mode of travel, 'if health and strength are not wanting.'
'To a naturalist, it is evidently so; since, by this means, he is enabled to examine the country as he goes along; and when he sees occasion, he can also strike out of the road, amongst the mountains or morasses, in a manner completely independent of all those obstacles that inevitably attend the bringing of carriages or horses.'
Bingley has a specific reason here for valuing the combination of freedom and intimacy with one's surroundings enjoyed by the pedestrian, but his rationale is generalisable to other travellers. — Robin Jarvis

Raise thy head, Handmaiden of Orion, thou has borne thyself well thus far. — Robin Jarvis

Have no fear," the voice told her, "for in thee lies the hope of all. Only thou can deliver the land from darkness."
"How can I?" she asked. "I am just one against so many."
The eyes gleamed behind the dappling leaves. "Yet the smallest acorn may become the tallest oak," came the answer. — Robin Jarvis

The time is come," he spoke quietly. "Now, when lesser folk would wither, thou must be true to the blood of thine ancestors. Much greatness is bred in thee; accept now this terrible mantle and take a step nearer thy destiny. — Robin Jarvis

Under the stars we are as one. Theirs is the power of countless years. They see our grief and know our pain, yet still they shine and their light gives us hope. From acorn to oak, but even the mightiest of oaks shall fall. Thus do we recognize the great wheel of life and death and life once more. We surrender our departed souls under the stars and may the Green gather them to him. — Robin Jarvis

Remember us, Belle," Cyllinus wept, "when the dangers are past and you sit upon the throne in Greenreach. Think of us. Do not forget me, little one. — Robin Jarvis

I shall not waste any more words on you," she said coldly. "Your mind is too closed to hear them. — Robin Jarvis

The most harmful lies and the most hurtful, always contain a grain of truth," he said. "But nevertheless, lies they do remain. — Robin Jarvis

Many grim tales stem from your green lands, and still deeds both noble and evil shall yet unfold there. — Robin Jarvis

We are happy to observe an increasing frequency of these pedestrian tours: to walk, is, beyond all comparison, the most independent and advantageous mode of travelling; Smelfungus and Mundungus may pursue their journey as they please; but it grieves one to see a man of taste at the mercy of a postilion.'
For the 'man of taste' to be actively recommended the pedestrian alternative indeed shows that a decisive reversal of educated attitudes has taken place, and within a relatively narrow span of years. — Robin Jarvis

Tread not into the fearsome night
But pull the covers high,
Step not into the wild dark wood
For the Hobbers are dancing nigh — Robin Jarvis

I walked slowly on, without envying my companions on horseback: for I could sit down upon an inviting spot, climb to the edge of a precipice, or trace a torrent by its sound. I descended at length into the Rheinthal, or Valley of the Rhine; the mountains of Tyrol, which yielded neither in height or in cragginess to those of Appenzel, rising before me. And here I found a remarkable difference: for although the ascending and descending was a work of some labor; yet the variety of the scenes had given me spirits, and I was not sensible of the least fatigue. But in the plain, notwithstanding the scenery was still beautiful and picturesque, I saw at once the whole way stretching before me, and had no room for fresh expectations: I was not therefore displeased when I arrived at Oberried, after a walk of about twelve miles, my coat flung upon my shoulder like a peripatetic by profession.
-William Coxe — Robin Jarvis

Keep trying, especially at first. It can be very discouraging if your submissions keep being rejected by a publisher, but if your work is what people want to read, you should get there eventually! — Robin Jarvis

Alone, her soul destroyed and her heart bereft and empty, the Lady Ninnia touched her amulet and closed her eyes. "No," she breathed, "I was wrong. This time, my wisdom has failed me. Our daughter is not ready. To become the Handmaiden of Orion, one must know terrible grief in order to learn compassion." She gazed after her husband and shook her head sorrowfully. "Even the deaths of us, her parents, are not, I fear, enough. May she find what she needs upon that dark and deadly road upon which I have sent her. My poor, poor child - farewell. — Robin Jarvis

Is the Starwife a witch?" asked Firgil. "Is any wise female a witch? Just because they have been blessed by the Green and given strange and beautiful gifts, does not mean they use them for evil purposes. — Robin Jarvis

There is no evil in the darkness, it's just an absence of light. — Robin Jarvis

[William] Coxe expresses ... both the pedestrian's advantage of complete freedom of movement, and the inspiring effect of the combination of continual change of scene with maximum time for appreciation that characterises the mobile gaze of the pedestrian traveller. If not a peripatetic by profession, Coxe is clearly one by choice. — Robin Jarvis

I hope that the examples I have given have gone some way towards demonstrating that pedestrian touring in the later 1780s and the 1790s was not a matter of a few 'isolated affairs', but was a practice of rapidly growing popularity among the professional, educated classes, with the texts it generated being consumed and reviewed in the same way as other travel literature: compared, criticised for inaccuracies, assessed for topographical or antiquarian interest, and so on. — Robin Jarvis

Travel became distinguishable from pain and began to be regarded as an intellectual pleasur ... These factors
the voluntariness of departure, the freedom implicit in the indeterminancies of mobility, the pleasure of travel free from necessity, the notion that travel signifies autonomy and is a means for demonstrating what one 'really' is independent of one context or set of defining associations
remain the characteristics of the modern conception of travel.
Eric Leed — Robin Jarvis

Curious how even a little time can alter so much. — Robin Jarvis

I am Audrey Brown," she shouted proudly, "and I know nothing of spells, or dark magic: I place myself in the protection of the Green Mouse! Whatever you do to me I know that I shall be received by Him. — Robin Jarvis

Long, long ago, when the mountains were but hills and the ungirdled oceans were pools and meres, a vast darkness lay over eastern lands. Whilst on western shores the foundations of the three thrones were still part of the living rock and the Raith Sidhe had not grown to an eighth of their later strength, in the East a foulness reigned. — Robin Jarvis

There are many things in this unhappy world we cannot alter. We must learn to live with our lot and find peace with ourselves. — Robin Jarvis

I don't want to be the Starwife!" Ysabelle protested. "It isn't fair!"
Her mother wavered; even now, it was not too late.
"You must fulfill your destiny," she said at last. "The Starwifeship is already yours. All that remains is for you to bring the amulet and the Starglass together. Once that is done, the power of the heavens will be yours to command. Use it wisely, for the forces locked within the Silver Acorn may be used for good or ill. On your journey, never be parted from it; always wear it about your neck. — Robin Jarvis

I come to call down my destiny - and it is tall and dangerous! — Robin Jarvis

The moles came bearing their lamps and then the most ancient and magical creature that ever danced beneath the moon was lost in darkness once more. — Robin Jarvis

Woodget glanced into the dim shadows behind the trees. "What you be hiding fer?" he called.
"On such a night as this even the greatest may hide and not be ashamed," came the response. — Robin Jarvis

Hesitating at the last instant, she gazed back at Vesper, and tears brimmed in her eyes as she murmured in a meek voice, "Good-bye, my love." Then she returned to the enchanted device and called out, "May this new vessel serve you well! — Robin Jarvis

The time had finally come when she would have to accept the full power of the Starwife. No longer could she be just Ysabelle. Now she had a land to govern and all the daunting responsibilities that that entailed. The liberty she had experienced since the night she had escaped from the Ring of Banbha seemed to vanish. She was left stripped of her freedom, and only long years of a lonely reign stretched out before her. — Robin Jarvis

Now is the time!" Ysabelle cried. "Now do I accede to the throne and claim my place as Handmaiden to Orion! — Robin Jarvis