Lloyd Alexander Quotes

Do you not believe that animals know grief and fear and pain? The world of men is not an easy one for them.

When I was a child I dreamed of adventure, glory, honor in feats of arms. I think now that these things are shadows."
"If you see them as shadows then you see them for what they are," Annlaw agreed. "Many have pursued honor, and in the pursuit lost more of it than ever they could gain.

So you say, so you say," murmured Fflewddur, hurrying after him. "Look closer into your heart. You may find your opinion to be somewhat different.

All agreed that Quickset was the cleverest cat in the world. And, since Quickset had the same opinion, it was surely true.

"It may be," replied Coll, smiling, "we know least what we treasure most. But we will have more than enough to keep us busy when you come back, and you will learn, my boy, there is nothing like work to put the heart at rest."

Dealing with the impossible, fantasy can show us what may be really possible. If there is grief, there is the possibility of consolation; if hurt, the possibility of healing; and above all, the curative power of hope. If fantasy speaks to us as we are, it also speaks to us as we might be.

I see you for what you are, Lord of Death. And I fear you, as all men do. For all that, you are a weak and pitiful king. You can destroy, but never build. You are less than the humblest creature, the frailest blade of grass, for these live, and every moment of their lives is a triumph over you. Your kingdom is dust; only the silent ending of things, never the beginnings.

What civilization would be complete without a cat?" the Professor went on. "What greater blessing to the home than the kindly yet watchful eye of this tiger of the fireside?

But I'm Pharaoh," Neter-Khet said. "I'm supposed to give orders."
"That doesn't mean anything to a cat," said Jason. "Didn't anybody ever tell you?
"Nobody tells me," Neter-Khet said. "I tell them. Besides, they were my cats, weren't they?"
"In a way they were," Jason said, "and in a way they weren't. A cat can belong to you, but you can't own him. There's a difference.

Laws assure animals of protection – formally, officially, set down in black and white. But in the long run, the best protection is the human heart.

Indeed, the more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.

Children's literature as a literary aberration or at best a minor amusement is a notion held most strongly by people who read the fewest children's books. I think it was Ruth Hill Viguers who compared this attitude with asking a pediatrician when he's going to stop fooling around and get down to the serious business of treating adults.

A man's life weighs more then glory, and a price paid in blood is a heavy reckoning.

Story, finally, is humanity's autobiography.

"You have a point," said Fronto, "and even a poet must occasionally bow to logic."