Top 120 Michael J. Sullivan Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “I swear, the reason for full moons is so the gods can more clearly see the mischief they create.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

52. “Rivers age as they go downstream,” Suri told Raithe while they looked at the disagreeable gorge. “That’s what Tura once told me. They start out as tiny trickles, then in their youth and adolescence are like this, boundless energy throwing themselves heedless against unmovable rocks. Then they usually fall. Sometimes it’s a series of tumbles and sometimes one great plummet, but hitting bottom usually takes the fight out of most rivers.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

53. “If there is one thing I have learned, it is that people will astound you. But the moment they do, or shortly after, you will realize you should not have been surprised. Ultimately, the problem was you, not them.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

54. “So,” Royce said, “you want us to escape from this prison, kidnap the king, cross the countryside with him in tow while dodging soldiers who I assume might not accept our side of the story, and go to another secret prison so that he can visit an inmate?”

— Michael J. Sullivan

55. “Myron took the moment to sit down on the stone bench behind him and whispered to Hadrian, “You were right. Life outside the abbey is much more exciting than books.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

56. “There are no honorable causes. There is no good or evil. Evil is only what we call those who oppose us.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

57. “How many tears must we weep? How loud must we cry? How many farewells must we say, for the dead to hear goodbye?”

— Michael J. Sullivan

58. “Fear made all the difference between rational and insane and could even masquerade one for the other.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

59. “And if you can’t trust an ancient talking tree, what was the point of having one?”

— Michael J. Sullivan

60. “Fulfillment comes from striving to succeed, to survive by your own wits and strength.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

61. “Magic is a little like playing the fiddle. It’s damn hard to do without hands.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

62. “We don’t want anyone suspecting us of stacking the deck the way we are.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

63. “I knew him, you know, your beloved Novron. Ah, but yes, you already discovered that little fact. Here’s something the books won’t tell you. He was an ass.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

64. “How terrible it must be to give up your life when you’ve never taken the chance to live it. How cheated you must feel, like losing a coin before spending it. To what can you hang on to and feel pride? Nothing. – Mauvin on lack of Nobility.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

65. “Life is full of risk, Nolyn, but you should never let that hold you back. You can’t let fear stop you from living. Just make certain the chances you take are worth the risk.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

66. “A beautiful day might bring disaster, while a day that begins trapped inside an ancient tomb might be the best one of your life.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

67. “Spring had let go of Winter’s hand and was reaching out to Summer.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

68. “Royce hated keeping secrets from Hadrian, and it weighed heavily on his conscience, which was amazing, because he had never known he had one. Royce defined right and wrong by the moment. Right was what was best for him – wrong was everything else.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

69. “At first I thought it was a dragon, savage and fierce. I wish that had been true. Dragons only kill you; Gilarabrywns break your heart.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

70. “My father says that fires are only dangerous if they get bored. Left alone they get frustrated and resort to evil. Best way to keep a fire happy is to let it lick food and hear stories.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

71. “Once an idea is learned, once it settles in, it becomes comfortable and hard to discard, like an old hat. And trust me, I have many old hats. Some I haven’t worn in years, but I still keep them. Emotion gets in the way of practicality. By virtue of time spent, even ideas become old friends, and if you can’t bear to lose an old hat that you never wear, imagine how much harder it is to abandon ideas you grew up with.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

72. “Hadrian took the opportunity to move over and join Royce, who sat with his back to the hearth and his sight on the windows. “I’d say you’re being awfully quiet, but then I might as well follow with ‘Oh look, you’re breathing.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

73. “Caught early enough, the waking forest had no time to disguise itself into something mundane. This was a place of enchantments, a place where anything could happen.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

74. “Hadrian had always felt that cats were picky, untrusting things. Being fragile, they had to be. Whenever a cat sat on him, Hadrian felt special, as if the animal approved, and their acceptance was some sort of gift. Makes a body feel worthy of something to have a cat trust you that much.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

75. “Noble or commoner, people all lie, cheat, and pay me to do their dirty work. Regardless of who rules, the sun still shines, the seasons still change, and people still conspire.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

76. “You ready?” Royce asked. “For what?” “Turn around. Let’s go back-to-back and link arms.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

77. “You were a mistake, you know,” Flood told Frost as they plodded up the hill. “Mother didn’t want you.” Frost shook his head. “We’re twins, you idiot.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

78. “The two of them just sort of clicked, like old friends who’d just met. Friends-at-first-sight, if there was such a thing.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

79. “Arista was tortured with thoughts of roasted pig dripping with fruit glaze, beef served in a thick, dark gravy, and mountains of chicken, quail, and duck.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

80. “A fault is only leveled when something bad happens. Success is free of such a burden.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

81. “It has taken a long time to find, but there is a pattern to the world. Wobble it and it corrects, which should be impossible; chaos should beget chaos. Order should be only one possibility and drowned by all the other permutations. But if it corrects again, if order prevails, then there can be only one answer. There is another force at work – an invisible hand – and I think I know what that force is.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

82. “That’s – why, that’s wonderful!” Hadrian burst out as he leapt to his feet and hugged her. “Congratulations! He didn’t even say anything. We’ll be like family! It’s about time he got around to this. I would have asked for your hand myself years ago, except I knew if I did, I’d wake up dead the next morning.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

83. “If anyone had asked Royce Melborn what he hated most at that moment, he would’ve said dogs. Dogs and dwarves topped his list, both equally despised for having so much in common – each was short, vicious, and inexcusably hairy.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

84. “In my day, those who could weave the Art, and summon the natural powers of the world to their bidding, were considered agents of the gods – sacrosanct. Today they burn you if you accidentally guess tomorrow’s weather.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

85. “Royce smiled. “See, you can always count on people doing what is best for themselves.” “Like I did?” Hadrian said. The smile left Royce’s lips. “You’re a freak of nature or the world’s greatest fool. I’m still trying to figure that out.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

86. “We humans have one advantage: We’re more experienced at loss.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

87. “There were times Hadrian wondered if Royce was actually a cat that some mischievous witch had turned into a man and then lost track of. The similarities were too numerous to be coincidental. An irritatingly-superior aloof nature, fastidiousness, a habit of roaming at night, and his general propensity for solitude were all evidence.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

88. “The more you know about the past, the easier it is to divine the future.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

89. “They smiled too much, were quick to compliment and support, but behind the stretched lips and soft words was a judgment. No one was ever good enough – at least not until they were dead. The dead were exemplary.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

90. “Royce’s tone shifted between amazed and angry but finally settled on a nice restrained tempest.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

91. “Desire can be painful, but so can regret.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

92. “That night there was more than one killer in the forest, the next day a lot more ghosts. – The Book of Brin.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

93. “Royce is a survivor. You’ve never seen the beast, and he’s lived his whole life in its stomach, yet managed not to be digested.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

94. “I had always worshiped heroes in stories. I had no idea I was surrounded by them.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

95. “Wars don’t end by deaths,” Malcom added, “but because someone stops killing.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

96. “Mouse?” Royce muttered. “I just can’t seem to get rid of this horse, can I?”

— Michael J. Sullivan

97. “Okay, let’s say you’re a cat and Hadrian’s a dog and you want to make him happy. You give him a dead mouse and are surprised when he isn’t thrilled. The problem is that you need to see the world through the eyes of a dog to understand what’s best for him. If you did, you would see that a nice juicy bone would be a better choice, even though to a cat it’s not very appealing.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

98. “It’s never good when a tree screams.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

99. “You sacrificed yourself to save us; good for you, but you only had to do it once.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

100. “Wouldn’t matter,” Suri said. “Regardless where you’re born, the world has a way of finding you and ruining everything.”

— Michael J. Sullivan