Top 120 Michael J. Sullivan Quotes (2026 Update)
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51. “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

52. “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

53. “The God Killer is the Coppersword’s favorite son. His secret treasure.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

54. “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

55. “That’s what a good wife does, keeps your dreams alive even when you don’t believe anymore.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

56. “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

57. “I swear, the reason for full moons is so the gods can more clearly see the mischief they create.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

58. “This isn’t over,” Merrick replied. “DeLancy is dead. You have no idea what that means. The scales are balanced. The demon is unleashed.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

59. “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

60. “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

61. “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

62. “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

63. “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

64. “The smallest of the children fascinated Myron, and he watched them in amazement. They were like short drunk people, loud and usually dirty, but all were surprisingly cute and looked at him in much the same way that he looked at them.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

66. “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

67. “From a nearby doorway, a sweaty, shirtless man with a bald head emerged carrying a large copper pot. He unceremoniously cast the pot’s contents, the bony remains of several stewed animals, into the street.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

68. “More valuable than gold, more precious than life, is mercy bestowed upon he who hast not known its soft kiss.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

69. “It’s only nice not being wanted for murder if you’ve actually killed someone. Otherwise, what’s the point? Besides, what makes you think I’m not wanted for murder?”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

71. “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

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

73. “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

74. “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

75. “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

76. “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

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

78. “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

79. “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

80. “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

81. “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

82. “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

83. “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

84. “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

85. “When something sounds like a giant vomiting up a dwarf, you should not expect sunshine and daisies.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

86. “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

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

88. “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

89. “A lot can be determined by the choices we make, even if the action is initiated by self-preservation. Many... no, most... of our choices are driven by fear: fear of death, fear of humiliation, fear of loneliness. But it’s how we respond to fear that matters. It’s what defines us. What makes us who we are. So maybe in your mind you acted selfishly, but I’m alive because of the choice you made. So I’ll remember it as an act of kindness and yes, even bravery.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

90. “You can’t kill Myron, Royce,” Hadrian said, rapidly pulling the monk away as if he had found a child playing with a wild bear. “It would be like killing a puppy.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

91. “I hope you’re planning on heading to the kitchens. I’m starved – practically eating my fingers here.” He chuckled.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

92. “Accept that you‘re going to get hurt, that you‘re going to die; embrace it, and you‘ll find the freedom to live.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

94. “Freedom, he discovered, had built a greater prison than his family or clan had.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

95. “Their business was profitable but ugly. Just another game he played in a world where heroes were legends and honor was a myth.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

97. “I just never noticed how little of me existed before. I was a shadow without a person.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

98. “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

99. “Plotting was the antithesis of doing. The man who sits and schemes continues to sit while others achieve.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan