Timothy Zahn Quotes

And those who stand in our way," he added softly, "will not watch at all.

Still, even when false, legends can be most informative.

No one is immune from failure. All have tasted the bitterness of defeat and disappointment. A warrior must not dwell on that failure, but must learn from it and continue on. But

A writer absolutely has to make his villains clever and competent. It's no fun - and no challenge - for the heroes to get out of trouble without sweating about it first.

For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone. -

[Han] glared into his mug. Besides, he didn't add, asking Princess Leia for repacement reward credits would mean he'd have to tell her how he'd lost the first batch. Not in gambling or bad investments or even drinking, but to a kriffing pirate.
And then she would give him one of those looks.
There were, he decided, worse things than being on Jabba's hit list

What about you, Commander? Why do *you* seek higher rank?'
It was a question many had asked over the years. Thrawn had asked it of himself. The answer never seemed to satisfy the questioner.
'Because there are problems that must be solved. Some cannot be solved by anyone except me.

All opponents are not necessarily enemies. But both enemies and opponents carry certain characteristics in common. Both perceive their opposite as an obstacle, or an opportunity, or a threat. Sometimes the threat is personal; other times it is a perceived violation of standards or accepted norms of society. In

If the new movies do contradict my books in some way, I can probably come up with some hand-waving story that will explain the apparent discrepancy. If there's one thing we authors are good at, it's hand-waving.

If you don't want to be noticed, you don't use a Star Destroyer.

For a long moment, they stood together in silence. Vader thought about his secret... about Thrawn's loyalty... about the Emperor's continued need for him. Perhaps the entire Empire's need for him... "Anakin Skywalker is dead," he said.

Thrawn lowered his head. "I know."

Vader nodded slowly. *I know.* Not *So I have heard.* Not *So I was informed.* But *I know.* "We will not speak of him again," he said. "*You* will not speak of him again."

"I understand, my lord," Thrawn said. "But I will always honor his legacy.

Fear and anger, Yoda had often warned him, were slaves to the dark side. Vaguely, Luke wondered which side curiosity served.

She was here, and it was now; and as the emperor's instructors had so often drummed into her, the first item of business was to fit into her surroundings. And that meant not looking like an escapee from the medical ward

With none of Vader's backstory available at the time, and having just invented the Noghri species for this story, I came up with the idea that Vader might have designed his mask to look like a stylized version of a Noghri face, the better to facilitate his command of the death commando squads.

And in that single crackle of tortured electronics she had lost everything. Her comm, her lights, her limited maneuvering jets, her life support regulator, her emergency beacons.

Everything.

For a second her thoughts flickered to Skywalker. He'd been lost in deep space, too, awhile back. But she'd had a reason to find him. No one had a similar reason to find her.

A more accurate statement would be that I was the first person since Jedi who was permitted to stick a fork into the piecrust to see if there was still any steam underneath.

I did not refer to the legends themselves," Thrawn said, turning his glowing eyes on her. "But what is remembered says a great deal about those doing the remembering.

Alliances are useful in some situations. In others, they are absolutely vital. But

History is on the move, Captain. Those who cannot keep up will be left behind, to watch from a distance.

...But we will succeed. I've seen the future, Jorj. We will succeed, because we have no other choice."

-Thrawn

It isn't my job to win . . . my job is simply to take the stand I think right, no matter how unpopular or hopeless or even ridiculous the cause looks, and to have the courage to act on my beliefs. No matter what the consequences turn out to be.

But Imperial stormtroopers were something else entirely. He and the others had survived a couple of brief encounters with them aboard the Death Star, but even at the time he'd had the feeling the Imperials had been taken by surprise and weren't operating at full efficiency. Now, of course, he knew that Tarkin and Vader had deliberately allowed the Falcon and its crew to escape so they could track it to Yavin 4.

Uncertainties are often useful in paralyzing an opponent's plans and actions

I have no vision of any future, maitrakh. Not yours; not even mine. I was just thinking about children. Trying to imagine what it's like to try to raise them. Wondering how much of their character a family can mold, and how much is innate in the children themselves." She hesitated. "Wondering if the evil in a family's history can be erased, or whether it always passes itself on to each new generation.

I said no," Jimmy said. His voice quavered slightly under the blazing heat of her glare, but his words were as solid as a sealant weld. "Captain Smith says it's wrong."
"And I say it's right," Kulasawa snapped. "Why listen to him instead of me?"
"Because he's my boss." Jimmy looked at me. "And because I trust him."
He turned back to Kulasawa. "And because he's never needed a gun to tell me what to do.

Of his. The same earnestness that had stopped her from killing that insane Joruus C'baoth back on Jomark.

All beings begin their lives with hope and aspirations. Among these aspirations is the desire that there will be a straight path to those goals. It is seldom so. Perhaps never.
Sometimes the turns are of one's own volition, as one's thoughts and goals change over time. But more often the turns are mandated by outside forces.
It was so with me. The memory is vivid, unsullied by age: the five admirals rising from their chairs as I am escorted into the chamber. The decision of the Ascendancy has been made, and they are here to deliver it.
None of them is happy with the decision. I can read that in their faces. But they are officers and servants of the Chiss, and they will carry out their orders. Protocol alone demands that.
The word is as I expected.
Exile.
The planet has already been chosen. The Aristocra will assemble the equipment necessary to endure that solitude does not quickly become Death from predators or the elements.
I am led away. Once again, my path has turned.
Where it will lead, I cannot say.

Hesitated; swooped again; hesitated again; swooped once more

As he joined them, Lando felt a frown crease his forehead. It had been hard to tell through all the rest of their murmurings. But he could have sworn Winter had just said--

'Winter?' he asked.
'Yes?' she said, looking at him
Lando felt his lip twitch. 'Nothing, he said, and kept walking.

Because, really, no one said 'May the Force be with us' anymore. No one but Rebels and religious nuts.

And if Winter was one of either group, he really didn't want to know about it.

One spoke to him in person, or one did not speak to him at all.

For a long minute he gazed at her, his eyes searching the features of that face he'd grown to love so deeply over the years, his memory bringing up images of the past as he did so. The young determination in her face as, in the middle of a blazing firefight, she'd grabbed Luke's blaster rifle away from him and shot them an escape route into the Death Star's detention-level garbage chute. The sound of her voice in the middle of deadly danger at Jabba's, helping him through the blindness and tremor and disorientation of hibernation sickness. The wiser, more mature determination visible through the pain in her eyes as, lying wounded outside the Endor bunker, she had nevertheless summoned the skill and control to coolly shoot two stormtroopers off Han's back.

And he remembered, too, the wrenching realization he'd had at that same time: that no matter how much he tried, he would never be able to totally protect her from the dangers and risks of the universe. Because no matter how much he might love her--no matter how much he might give of himself to her--she could never be content with that alone. Her vision extended beyond him, just as it extended beyond herself, to all the beings of the galaxy.

And to take that away from her, whether by force or even by persuasion, would be to diminish her soul. And to take away part of what he'd fallen in love with in the first place.

The fear of the violent and the lawless is no less a tyranny than the edicts that come from the Emperor's throne.

But there's a school of thought that says if you're going to go down in flames anyway, you might as well be the one lighting the matches.

This was one of those odd thoughts that came out of the blue and struck me as both clever and logical. Hot chocolate wouldn't be something desert people would naturally gravitate toward. (There are cold deserts, of course, but with two suns I always assumed Tatooine is mostly pretty warm. Now, of course, the Star Wars Essential Atlas and other official material backs up that assumption.) I also caught way more grief for this than I ever expected. Quite a few people took me to task for putting an Earth-based drink into the Star Wars universe. Of course, those same people apparently weren't bothered by the Millennium Falcon, or lightsabers. It was, though, a reminder that you never know what word or image might jolt someone out of their suspension of disbelief. Anyway, why would anyone want to live in that Galaxy Far, Far Away if they don't have chocolate? Inconceivable ...

How many black holes have we been up close and personal with?" Kosta countered. "All sorts of odd things happen near the event horizon, from huge tidal forces to variations in time. Personally, I'm voting on it having to do with gravity, either a polarization of the fields themselves or else something related to the time differential."
I didn't know physics had become a democracy," Hanan murmered.

Know your territory was the first rule that had been drilled into her...and the first thing she'd done after establishing herself in Karrde's organization had been to do precisely that. She'd studied the aeriel maps of the forest and surrounding territory; had taken long walks, in both daylight and at night, to familiarize herself with the sights and sounds; had sought out and killed several vornskrs and other predators to learn the fastest ways of taking them down; had even talked one of Karrde's people into running bio tests on a crateload of native plants to find out which were edible and which weren't. Outside the forest, she knew something about the settlers, understood the local politics, and had stashed a small but adequate part of her earnings out where she could get hold of it. [p] More than anyone in Karrde's organization, she was equipped to survive outside the confines of his encampment. So why was she trying so hard to get back there?" - Heir to the Empire p 270-271 re: Mara Jade

Firmly, Luke put the thought out of his mind. Mourning the loss of a friend and teacher was both fitting and honorable, but to dwell unnecessarily on that loss was to give the past too much power over the present. The

If you accept the position of governor, part of your job is to make sure all your people have a decent shot at making something good out of their lives.

Once you make a decision, you can never go back and change it. Sometimes, farther down the line, you have a chance to alter its effects. But the original decision is there forever.

Courage wasn't a matter of taking the whole mountain in a single massive leap. Courage was taking it one step at a time, doing what was necessary now, preparing for the next step, and refusing to worry about whether some step in the future would be the one that would break him.

When you understand a species' art, you understand that species.

But Lando was a gambler. A true gambler never folded when he still had cards left to play.

one may need to undergo several regimens of training and sample several different professions before determining where one's strongest talents lie. This is the driving force behind many life-path alterations. There are few sets of skills that match only one specific job. More often they are adaptable to many different professions. Sometimes, one can plan such a change. Other times, the change appears without warning. In both instances, one must be alert and carefully consider all options. Not every change is a step forward. -

Fine," Vanto said. The musculature of his throat relaxes partially, but not fully. "Personally, I'd be a lot more concerned about him, but that's up to you. But I'm still the bottom man on the roster. Why do you even care about me?" "You are my translator. You hold my words in your hand, and their meanings. A misjudged translation will confuse or anger. A deliberate error could lead to death.

Which meant he was alone here. Even more alone than he'd realized. He took a deep breath. He wasn't alone. The Force was with him.

Thrawn smiled - a smile that sent a shiver up Pellaeon's back. "Why, the only puzzle worth solving, of course," the Grand Admiral said softly. "The complete, total, and utter destruction of the Rebellion.

the need to create is a drive that lies deep within each of us. We all strive to build empires, whether of stone or people or words. Empires we hope will survive us. In the end, though, each of us must necessarily leave our creations behind. All we can hope for is to also leave behind a worthy successor to continue our work. Or who can at least maintain it for a season.

Multiple species, with multiple viewpoints and racial philosophies, simply cannot hold power together for long. The dominant voice must certainly be wise enough to adopt ideas and methods from its allies and member peoples. But there must be a dominant voice, or there is only chaos. In this part of the galaxy, that voice is the Empire.
-Thrawn

You served too long under Lord Vader, Captain. I Have no qualms about accepting a useful idea merely because it wasn't my own. My position and ego are not at stake here.

I know something about a lot of things," she countered evenly. "That's why you're grooming me to be your lieutenant, remember?" - Mara Jade

Failure to act always brings consequences. But sometimes, those consequences can be turned to one's advantage.

My point is that true leaders ... understand the possible consequences of their decisions, and are willing to bear that weight. The question is whether that's a step you're willing to take.
-Carlist Rieekan

Without trust, there can be no genuine peace. Neither in politics, nor in the quiet individuality of the heart and spirit.

You're not the last of the old Jedi, Luke, you're the first of the new

The way an Ugnaught gets to be an old Ugnaught is by being smart.

I rule the Empire now. Not some long-dead Emperor; certainly not you. the only treason is defiance of my orders.

Leave it to the Alderaanians to slap a cheery end on a nice little grisly children's morality tale.

Where there's life, there's the hope of change.

But Mount Tantiss was gone, destroyed by agents of the New Republic and C'baoth's own madness and treason. And Grand Admiral Thrawn was dead.

And the Empire was dying.

The choices of one shape the futures of all.

The Lady Vader has come. We would hear her words.'

'Then you will hear them in prison.' The dynast gestured, and two more of the official guard left their line, heading purposefully toward the steps.

It was, Leia judged, the right moment. Glancing down at her belt, she reached out through the Force with all the power and control she could manage--

And her lightsaber leaped from her belt, breaking free from its quick-release and jumping up in front of her. Her eyes and mind found the switch, and with a snap-hiss the brilliant green-white blade flashed into existence, carving out a vertical line between her and the line of dynasts.

There was a sound like a hissing gasp from the crowd. The two Noghri who had been moving toward the maitrakh froze in mid stride...and as the gasp vanished into utter silence, Leia knew that she'd finally gotten their complete attention. 'I am not merely the daughter of the Lord Vader,' she said, putting an edge of controlled anger into her voice. 'I am the Mal'ary'ush: heir to his authority and his power. I have come through many dangers to reveal the treachery that has been done to the Noghri people.'

She withdrew as much of her concentration as she could risk from the floating lightsaber to look slowly down the line of dynasts. 'Will you hear me? Or will you instead choose death?

A Jedi can't get so caught up in matters of galactic importance that it interferes with his concern for individual people.

One may learn a great deal about a people by the stories they tell of others.

The scene that made me furious was watching Padme, a woman who just gave birth to two beautiful children, just giving up the will to live.

The past is the past," Vader said. "The present and future are all that matter.