Top 120 Michael J. Sullivan Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “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

52. “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

53. “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

54. “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

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

56. “Power doesn’t equal worth. Wisdom is a far greater virtue.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

58. “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

59. “Some things are simply unimaginable right up until you are looking at them, and even then, you might not believe. Love is that way; so is death.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

60. “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

61. “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

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

— 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. “You don’t win battles with hate. Anger and hate can make you brave, make you strong, but they also make you stupid.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

67. “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

68. “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

69. “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

70. “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

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

73. “I like any plan where I don’t die a horrible death.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

75. “No god, goddess, or spirit would ever inhabit or employ a chicken.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

76. “Are you – ” Hadrian began, but stopped. For the first time since their capture, he felt hopeful but thought better of it. He turned to Royce. “Is she being sarcastic? You can usually tell better than I.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

78. “Courageous hearts weren’t banned from the breast of women.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

79. “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

80. “Never say never on any endeavor; it sounds like a dare to gods that don’t care. If the likes of us prosper, fail or falter; it matters not while they roll with laughter on an alter, at our miserable, sad little lives.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

81. “Royce reached out and deliberately knocked Hadrian’s mug over, spilling the ale across the end of the table and onto the floor. Hadrian pushed away from the table and looked at Royce, surprised. “What’d you do that for?” “You didn’t get wet, did you?” He had a bemused look on his face. “No.” Royce watched the ale drip off the end of the table for a moment. “That’s because I knew where the ale would go. Besides, I need you sober, because if this fails, we might have to kill a lot of people.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

83. “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

84. “Just another game he played in a world where heroes were legends and honor was a myth.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

85. “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

86. “There always seemed to be a better way, except when it came to people. Once broken, people couldn’t be repaired.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

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

— Michael J. Sullivan

88. “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

89. “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

90. “That’s what stories are for, Brin realized. They are magic that aid people in times like this. They provide hope, a light to see by when all others are snuffed out.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

91. “Steep paths build muscles, know-how, and empathy, an easy one, only indifference.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

92. “So often I have heard that war is a noble and necessary thing, the answer to many problems. But I have found that when war becomes a reality, peace becomes the noble and necessary thing because there is no problem greater than war.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

93. “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

94. “Hadrian was not convinced but knew there was no reason to argue further. Gwen was not the type for debate. Most women he knew invited discussion and even enjoyed arguments, but not Gwen. There was clarity to her thinking that let you know she had already made her own journey to the inevitable conclusion and was just politely waiting there for you to join her. In her own way, she was much like Royce – except for the polite waiting.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

95. “Well, I did see The Crown Conspiracy while in Colnora. I found the sets pathetic and the orchestration horrible, but the story was good.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

96. “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

97. “The two slept most of the next day, waking only when a boy delivered what he thought might be breakfast, or perhaps lunch, but turned out to be the evening meal. The steaming bowls of vegetable stew and round loaf of brown rye arrived along with a note from Arcadius asking them to visit his office after eating and to do so while being seen by as few students as possible. There was a postscript for Royce explaining it was all right if some students saw them. This was underlined twice.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

98. “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

99. “That was why nights were so frightening. Without the distraction of light, the doors to other senses were unlocked.”

— Michael J. Sullivan

100. “Royce had the hearing of a bat. He could practically listen in on what was happening tomorrow.”

— Michael J. Sullivan