Top 200 John Flanagan Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “Who’s Ikbar?” Ulf said. His brother turned away to hide a smirk. Gilan glanced at Hal curiously, saw he wasn’t planning to answer, so spoke in his place. “He was an Arridan demigod, I believe.” “Oh, don’t,” Hal said quietly. But it was too late. “And what did he do?” “Well, Ulf, I’m not sure that he did too much of anything,” Gilan said. “Just paraded round being a demigod.”

— John Flanagan

52. “Better to suspect something and find nothing than to suspect nothing and find something.”

— John Flanagan

53. “I give you warning. You and your false god cannot stand against the power of Alseiass! Leave now or suffer the consequences! If I call on Alseiass, you will know pain such as you have never felt.” “Well, priest, if I take my blade to your fat hide, you’ll know some pain yourself!”

— John Flanagan

54. “Hangovers had a way of teaching people that drinking alcohol was not a good idea.”

— John Flanagan

55. “Maddie thrust her jaw out pugnaciously. “You mean to tell me you’re scared of my mother?” she challenged. Will met her gaze very evenly. “You’d better believe it,” he told her.”

— John Flanagan

56. “Then, driven by the same impulse, they kissed him – Aylss on the let cheek, Evanlyn on the right. And then they glared daggers at each other. -pg 372.”

— John Flanagan

57. “Gilan threw back his head and laughed. ‘A mistake? One mistake? You should be so lucky. You’ll make dozens! I made four or five on my first day! Of course you’ll make mistakes. Just don’t make any of them twice. If you do mess things up, don’t try to hide it. Don’t try to rationalise it. Recognise it and admit it and learn from it. We never stop learning, none of us. Not even Halt,’ he added, seriously.”

— John Flanagan

58. “Gilan saw his face set in determined lines as he clenched his teeth tightly. The fact that the interruption coincided with a larger than usual lurch from Wolfwind was lost on the younger Ranger. He cast a worried look at his old teacher. Halt had loomed large in his life for years. He was indefatigable. He was all-knowing. He was the most capable man Gilan had ever known. He was also seasick. It was something that always.”

— John Flanagan

59. “Halt sighed in exasperation. “What is it with you Araluens? Are you all afraid of a little fall?” He began hauling the rope up, coiling it over his shoulder as it came. “It’s not the fall that bothers me,” said Duncan. “It’s the sudden stop at the end.”

— John Flanagan

60. “Gilan took a deep breath and looked them both in the eye, one after the other. “Jump off the cliff. It’ll be less messy that way.”

— John Flanagan

61. “Neither boy ever intended to speak about the events at the cliff that day. But of course their mothers eventually worked the truth out of them. Mothers always do.”

— John Flanagan

62. “Master Chubb?′ Malcolm asked. Halt grinned at the memory of that day. ‘He’s the chef at Castle Redmont. A formidable man, wouldn’t you say, Horace?’ Horace grinned in his turn. ‘He’s deadly with his wooden ladle,’ he said. ‘Fast and accurate. And very painful. I once suggested that he should give ladle-whacking lessons to Battleschool students.’ ‘You were joking, of course?’ Malcolm said. Horace looked thoughtful before he replied. ‘You know, not entirely.”

— John Flanagan

63. “Never take your eyes off them,” Horace said to Gilan, in an admonishing tone. “Didn’t MacNeil ever tell you that?”

— John Flanagan

64. “Several of them were discussing this in low tones as they waited for Halt to arrive – until they realized that he was already among them. They weren’t used to this. Kings were supposed to sweep into a room majestically – not suddenly appear without anyone seeing their arrival.”

— John Flanagan

65. “Pi’ o’ the li’er,′ he said and for a moment Will frowned, trying to decipher the words. Then he had it. When he had left Shadow with Trobar, he had told the giant, ‘If she ever has pups, I want the pick of the litter.’ ‘Pick of the litter?’ he translated now and Trobar beamed, holding the little, squirming shape out to him. ‘For you, Wi’ Trea’y.”

— John Flanagan

66. “What have you packed for? A twelve-month grand tour around the country?”

— John Flanagan

67. “He hesitated a moment, shifted the load to his left arm and mimed a sword stroke in the air. Crowley looked over his shoulder at the serving boy with some concern. “Planning on beheading me, are you?” he asked. Rafe smiled at him. “No sir, Ranger. Just getting the right side, like. Just shift yourself over while I put these down, before I forget which side is which, now.” Crowley.”

— John Flanagan

68. “The King was stretched unconscious on the floor, an overturned chair beside him. Horace was shaking his right hand, nursing his obviously bruised knuckles. “Horace Altman,” Halt said, “what on earth have you done?” Horace gestured to the wardrobe full of official garments. “I’ve just elected you King,” he said. “Start getting dressed.”

— John Flanagan

69. “What did he do? Your friend, I mean?” he asked. “He puked into his helmet,” Will said. “Extensively,” Horace added. The.”

— John Flanagan

70. “He rose, offering his hand to Evanlyn to assist her. Even though she was lithe and athletic as a cat, she took it, enjoying the contact. She saw Horace’s slight frown as she did so and smiled to herself. A girl can never have too many admirers, she thought. Will seemed unperturbed by the fact that she retained hold of Selethen’s hand a little longer than politeness dictated. But then, Ranger’s were trained to look imperturbable. He was probably seething with jealousy, she thought.”

— John Flanagan

71. “The soldiers chuckled. One of them, a grizzled veteran, rose and walked over to where Duncan and his two senior officers were standing. He made a show of inspecting the ground, brushing aside a few twigs and rocks, then spread out a none-too-clean neckerchief and gestured for the King to sit. “There you go, my lord. Your royal bum should be comfortable there.” The.”

— John Flanagan

72. “Kloof barked excitedly and Stig hurried to grab her collar before she could go after Wulf and fetch him.”

— John Flanagan

73. “People always find it amusing when they see a friend suffering, Stig thought.”

— John Flanagan

74. “They are. I’m pretty sure you’ll like them. They’re Skandians.”

— John Flanagan

75. “There was a small screened-off space in one corner. Will poked his nose into it and saw a bucket. “What’s this for?” he asked. Horace smiled. “It’s a privy,” he said. “In case I need a nervous wee.”

— John Flanagan

76. “Got to keep losing horses,” he said drowsily. “Bad habit.”

— John Flanagan

77. “Evanlyn opened her mouth to scream. But the horror of the moment froze the sound in her throat and she crouched, openmouthed, as death approached her. It was odd, she thought, that they had dragged her here, left her overnight and then decided to kill her. It seem such a pointless way to die.”

— John Flanagan

78. “He shook his head. He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell when he had woken fully. He walked to the horses. They definitely seemed alarmed. But then, they would. After all, he had just leapt to his feet unexpectedly, waving his saxe knife around like a lunatic.”

— John Flanagan

79. “Doesn’t matter which is which,” he said cheerfully. “They’re both idiots.”

— John Flanagan

80. “Halt regarded him. He loved Horace like a younger brother. Even like a second son, after Will. He admired his skill with a sword and his courage in battle. But sometimes, just sometimes, he felt an overwhelming desire to ram the young warrior’s head against a convenient tree. “You have no sense of drama or symbolism, do you?” he asked. “Huh?” replied Horace, not quite understanding. Halt looked around for a convenient tree. Luckily for Horace, there were none in sight.”

— John Flanagan

81. “What is this?′ he asked. ‘Are you all conspiring against me? Even my horse?’ It was the last three words that made Will smile. ‘We figured you mightn’t listen to a healer, a Ranger or a knight of the realm,’ he said. ‘But if your horse agreed with them, you’d have no choice but to pay attention.”

— John Flanagan

82. “Hello, Hal,” she said. He took a deep breath. “Lotte. How are you?” he said, trying to make sure his voice didn’t crack. His throat felt dry all of a sudden.”

— John Flanagan

83. “So there I was, lying on the ground, totally concealed from the Temujai, when a nanny goat started to chew my hair.”

— John Flanagan

84. “Of course you love her!” he’d replied. “She’s been your best friend since you both could walk, and now she’s grown up to be beautiful, talented, intelligent and witty. What’s not to love about all that?”

— John Flanagan

85. “You know, one of these days, I’m acctually going to take offense if people keep throwing out these slurs. And then things are going to get rather ugly. When we Skandians do take offense, we do it with a battleax.”

— John Flanagan

86. “You’d be surprised what people will believe. Usually, the bigger and the more improbable the lie, the more willing they are to believe it.”

— John Flanagan

87. “Problems postponed have a habit of solving themselves.”

— John Flanagan

88. “A wise man once told me, don’t believe anything you hear until you’ve seen it with your own eyes,” Halt said. Crowley looked up at him. “Who said that? Pritchard?” It sounded like the sort of thing their old mentor might say. Halt affected to think for a few seconds, then gave a slight smile. “No. I think it was me, actually. I can be very wise at times.”

— John Flanagan

89. “Self-doubt is a disease. And if it gets out of control, it becomes self-fulfilling.”

— John Flanagan

90. “People will think what they want to,” he said quietly. Never take too much notice of it.”

— John Flanagan

91. “So I’m an ace?? Will grinned. ‘I’m flattered Halt, flattered. I had no idea you regarded me so highly.’ Halt gave him a long-suffering look. ‘I might have been more accurate to say a joker.’ Whatever you say.”

— John Flanagan

92. “Success tended to make the unorthodox acceptable.”

— John Flanagan

93. “She didn’t like the fact that she had reduced a man – no matter how evil he might be – to a drooling idiot.”

— John Flanagan

94. “The sun was trembling on the brink of the world, the shadows at their longest, and they still had several kilometers to go.”

— John Flanagan

95. “Morgarath watched, appalled, as twenty Rangers shot his attack to pieces.”

— John Flanagan

96. “My freind is the man who gives me a book I aint read.“Abraham Linclion.”

— John Flanagan

97. “So, you’ll be heading back to Castle Araluen tomorrow?” Halt asked. Gilan regarded him, head cocked to one side. “That’s what it says here,” he said, tapping the dispatch. “But how could you have known that?” Halt smiled. “Just a lucky guess,” he said.”

— John Flanagan

98. “Horace normally didn’t need anyone else to save his life. He was pretty skilled at doing it for himself.”

— John Flanagan

99. “He had lost control over his own body, he realized dully.”

— John Flanagan

100. “Don’t concentrate on the obvious. They might want you to miss something else.”

— John Flanagan