Raymond E. Feist Quotes

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.

I'm a huge fan of Cabernet and Bordeaux, and am passionate about Pinot Noir and Burgundies.

You learn something new every day, if you just stop to pay attention.

Also, it's risky to try to duplicate earlier success. Magician had a certain charm to it, mostly due to my choice of lead characters, that I would be hard put to duplicate.

Well, he thought, dwelling on past failures once you'd learned all there was to learn was just heaping futility on failure.

There is no magic, only tricks.

Old habits are hard to forget, and old fears are habits.

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.

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.

The real secret of magic is that there is no magic.

It is said by some that the gods show us their bitter humor by molding us into what we hate most in others.

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.

People like rules, or at least the appearance of rules, even in fantasy.

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.

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

The order of the universe is like a gem with many facets, and we see only one, that which reflects the existence of our own world.

History is written by victors," said Duko. "But I have little use for history. It is the future with which I am concerned.

The faults we see in others never seem as dreadful as those we see in ourselves.

Good," said Creed. "I always like it when a captain has a plan; makes getting killed a lot less random.

Often I'll try things that just won't happen the way I'd like them to, so hearing that they're not working saves me some wear and tear the next time around.

Still, few things of worth are ever simple. Or easy.

Trying to guess the enemy's next move is useful; trying to guess what they are thinking is pointless.

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.

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.

Never underestimate the potential for human stupidity when wealth and power are at stake.

Tell them this: somehow our two worlds stand linked again by some dark power of Tsurani origin. It moves against the Kingdom. It is power beyond human understanding, perhaps power to challenge the gods themselves.

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.

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.

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

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.

The sort of enchantment I am speaking of is nothing you can teach. It's not of the sort of magic men can employ at whim. It's a magic the gods have given to only a few lucky men and women. It's the magic of a love so real and profound that nothing can change you back once you've known it. - Kulgan, Prince of the Blood

You can't succeed unless you're willing to risk failure

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.

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.

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.

I let my anger consume me."

"It's understandable," she said.

"It may be understandable," replied Pug, "but it is no more forgivable for being understandable.

A man makes choices," Tal said.

"True, but what choices a man makes depends on what choices he is offered.

Altruism accrues little benefit to those lying cold in the gutter.

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.

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

Most of us move through life with little chance to learn much about ourselves. We know some things we like and some things we dislike, we have a few ideas about what makes us happy, and we die in ignorance regarding anything profound within ourselves.

Dolgan: 'Tis a wise thing to know what is wanted, and wiser still to know when 'tis achieved.
Rhuagh: True. And still wiser to know when it is unachievable, for then striving is folly.

Never think taking a life is easy. Do that and in a way they win.

A small bad intention is often far more easily believed than a big one, Magnificence

few things of worth are ever simple. Or easy.' Tomas

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

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.

Dirk, stunning the man. Borric shoved the third bruiser hard into a fat merchant

It's the problem with having a logical mind and giving women the same credit for ability as men, he mused as he dismounted. You can't contrive reasons to keep them safe.

on that night you told me you were the author of my current existence.

There are many ways to love someone. Sometimes we want to love so much we're not too choosy about who we love. Other times we make love such a pure and noble thing no poor human can ever meet our vision. But for the most part, love is a recognition, an opportunity to say, 'There is something about you I cherish.' It doesn't entail marriage, or even physical love. There's love of parents, love of city or nation, love of life, and love of people. All different, all love.

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.

He likes to humble our foes by making them seem ridiculous. As he said to me the other day, 'Kill a man, and you cede him honor in the eyes of the gods. Laugh at him and you shame him'.

Knowing what things are not is often as important as knowing what they are.

You know what they say: 'Men have throats and daggers have sharp edges'.

I wonder if those who live here get used to this beauty."

"Undoubtedly, Magnificence. It is the nature of man to become oblivious to that which is around him daily,

Remember, never rely on one plan, Tal. Always have two or more in place when you undertake something perilous. If the first one fails, go to the second plan. If the second plan fails, go to the third." "If the third plan fails, Your Grace?" Kaspar laughed. "Then run like hell if you're still alive.

when you enter another's reality, you observe her rules. Then

Your destiny is now your own to forge as best as you may.

The brave man is not the one without fear but the one who does what he must despite being afraid. To succeed, you must be willing to risk total failure; you must learn this.

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

Warlords who fail in conducting war tend to fall from grace quickly.

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

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

Find where the sound ends and silence begins. Then exist in that moment, for there will you find your secret centre of being, the perfect place of peace within yourself.

It takes a man of unusual character to openly confront his own shortcomings. It's so much more convenient to blame others.

The saddest part of a broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start
The tragedy starts from the very first spark
Losing your mind for the sake of your heart

The universe collapsed and came crashing down upon them. It

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.

What is he?' 'What would you have him be?

There are two kinds of strength. Power and the ability to wield it is obvious, but resilience, the ability to resist power, is the other.

Boys... You're all idiots" - Carlaine

My dear dead mother wanted me to go into an honorable trade, like grave robbing. Would I listen? No. Be an assassin, like your uncle Gustav, she said. Would I pay heed? No. Apprentice to the Necromancer―

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.

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.

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

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

The Empire is all those who live within its borders, from the nobles to the lowest servant, even the slaves who work the fields. It must be seen as a whole, not as being embodied by some small but visible part, such as the Warlord or the High Council.

One of the key issues will be personal honour vs. the good of the many, and unforeseen consequences.

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.

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.

The sound of old winter ice breaking at spring's touch,

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

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

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?

Debts of friendship are not debts.

Science fiction is fantasy about issues of science. Science fiction is a subset of fantasy. Fantasy predated it by several millennia. The '30s to the '50s were the golden age of science fiction - this was because, to a large degree, it was at this point that technology and science had exposed its potential without revealing the limitations.

There was no answer he knew, until he actually faced death.

My ancestors were conquerors, though now they are heroes in our history." Glancing at Amos, he said, "But we wrote the history.

All the Midkemia stories are part of a 'history of an imaginary place,' so I've always known the cycle covered five rift wars. I just got to the end after 30 books. So there was no particular inspiration, save it was time to finish the whole shebang.

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.

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

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.

Friends can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand.

Tragic to kill a friend in battle by mistake when there are so many enemies to go around.

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.

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.

One likes to think one grows as a writer as one ages, else all you get is an 'old' young writer. Beyond that is the changing landscape of the universe and the stories I choose to tell.

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.

I know, when we are young we cannot entertain the idea another's feelings can be as deep as our own. Our love is so much loftier, our pain so much more intense.