Terry goodkind quotes

Richard," Kahlan said, "what about Siddin? Weselan and Savidlin will be worried sick over him." Her green eyes gazed deep into his. She leaned closer, and whispered, "And we have unfinished business in the spirit house. I believe there is still an apple there we have yet to finish." Her arm tightened around his waist, and a little twist of a smile came to her lips. The shape of the smile caught his breath in his throat.

Emotion did not play a part in truth, only reality did.

Those who have come here to hate should leave now; for in their hate, they only betray themselves.

Knowledge comes as it will. Life's lessons come at the most surprising times.

But if used for retribution, magic is vengeance incarnate.

Wizard's Seventh Rule Life is the future, not the past.

Fools who won't see the truth are deadly.

When you're the leader, everything is your fault.

The worse you are at thinking, the better you are at drinking.

Cut the attacker down, to cut them down to their very soul

Why should I live my whole life where I don't want to be. [it's a good point - pretty hard to argue with that sort of logic really isn't it!

Wizard's Sixth Rule The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.

Everybody knows it. Wizards are supposed to have beards. It's common knowledge.

Truth has advocates who seek understanding," Richard said. "Corrupt ideas have miserable little fanatics who attempt to enforce their beliefs through intimidation and brutality... through faith. Savage force is faith's obedient servant. Violence on an apocalyptic scale can only be born of faith because reason, by its very nature, disarms senseless cruelty. Only faith thinks to justify it.

Once committed to fight, cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut the enemy as quickly and directly as possible. Cut decisively, resolutely. Cut into the enemy’s strength. Flow through the gaps in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don’t allow him a breath. Crush him. Cut him without mercy to the depths of his spirit." -Richard Rahl

...you'll find that being a friend is to like a person for who they are, even the parts you don't understand. You don't have to understand, or do the same, or live their lives for them. If you truly care for them, then you want them to be who they are; that was why you liked them in the first place.

Grrratch luuug Raaaach aaarg

Honor is honesty to what is, not blind duty to what you wish to be.

Sometimes that's all life is... One desperate act after another.

Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed.

many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves.

When the whole world is crazy, it doesn't pay to be sane.

Richard started to walk away. Zedd called his name. He stopped and turned. Just be glad she cares for you as much as she does. If she didn't, she might have touched you." Richard stared back at him a long moment. "I'm afraid, in a way, she already has.

Not everyone is willing to embrace liberty; liberty requires not just effort, but risk. Some people choose to delude themselves and see their chains as protective armor.

Every person's life is theirs by right. An individual's life can and must belong only to to himself, not to any society or community, or he is then but a slave.

There is no place so dangerous as a world without magic.

Reality is irrelevant; Perception is everything.

Others made you into who you were. You made yourself into what you have become.

I often hear people say that they read to escape reality, but I believe that what they’re really doing is reading to find reason for hope, to find strength. While a bad book leaves readers with a sense of hopelessness and despair, a good novel, through stories of values realized, of wrongs righted, can bring to readers a connection to the wonder of life. A good novel shows how life can and ought to be lived. It not only entertains but energizes and uplifts readers.

It does the sheep no good to preach the goodness of a diet of grass, if the wolves are of a different mind.

There is nothing that exists that has only one side. Even a piece of paper, thin as it is, has two sides.

She looked so beautiful in the moonlight, but it wasn't only the way she looked, it was what was inside her, everything from her intelligence and courage to her wit, and the special smile she gave only to him. He would slay a dragon, if there were such a thing, just to see that smile. He knew he would never want anyone else for as long as he lived. He would rather spend the rest of his life alone than with someone else. There could be no one else.

Being afraid something is true is accepting the possibility. Accepting the possibility is the first step to believing.

Love is a passion for life shared with another person. You fall in love with a person who you think is wonderful. It's your deepest appreciation of the value of that individual, and that individual is a reflection of what you value most in life. Love, for sound reasons, can be one of life's greatest rewards.

I felt like I'd been misplaced in the cosmos and I belonged in Maine.

...think of the solution, not the problem. If your mind was filled only with thoughts of why you were going to lose, then you couldn't think of how to win.

Cara burst into a hearty laugh. She clapped Richard on the back as he walked passed. "I like her, Lord Rahl. You may keep her.

Your life is yours and yours alone. Rise up and live it.

It isn't what kind of house you have that matters. This is not happiness. It's what kind of mind you have, and how you care for your fellow man -- what you can do to help others who can be helped by no one else.

I add my oath of protection to the bone,' he said in a whisper. 'To you now and to any child you may bear in the future. I would trade no day I spend with you for a life of safe slavery. I accepted the post of Seeker of my own free will. And if Darken Rahl takes the whole world into madness, then we will die with a sword in our hands, not chains on our wings. We will not allow it to be easy for them to kill us; they will pay a high price. We will fight with our last breath if need be, and in our death, let us inflict a wound on him that will fester until it claims him.

The only thing you can be is yourself nothing more nothing less

There is no such thing as pure good or pure evil, least of all in people. In the best of us there are thoughts or deeds that are wicked, and in the worst of us, at least some virtue. An adversary is not one who does loathsome acts for their own sake. He always has a reason that to him is justification. My cat eats mice. Does that make him bad? I don't think so, and the cat doesn't think so, but I would bet the mice have a different opinion.

Teasingly she took the apple from his mouth. Juice ran down his chin. Slowly, deliberately, she leaned over and licked the sweet juice from his chin. I will have to admit though, that I will never look at an apple in quite the same way.

Only those you trust can betray you" ~ Nathan

Dancing with death meant being committed to killing, committed with your heart and soul.

If you want to be a slave in life, then continue going around asking others to do for you. They will oblige, but you will find the price is your choices, your freedom, your life itself. They will do for you, and as a result you will be in bondage to them forever, having given your identity away for a paltry price. Then, and only then, you will be a nobody, a slave, because you yourself and nobody else made it so.

Wizard's Fourth Rule There is magic in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive.

It's only some rice and beans Captain. It's not like I'm giving you Cara's hand in marriage." - Richard

Wizard's Tenth Rule Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self.

Knowledge is a destination. Truth, the journey.

When you insist someone submit to your will, it is accomplished most easily if you give them a small victory so they can retain their dignity while they do as you insist. ~ Kahlan Mother Confessor

Fantasy allows you bend the world and the situation to more clearly focus on the moral aspects of what's happening. In fantasy you can distill life down to the essence of your story.

Right and wrong are not the product of census.

Never let a beautiful woman pick your path for you when there is a man in her line of sight

Books served to keep hard-won knowledge safe. They endured.

Dance with me, Death, I am ready.

Intent is guilt. Failure to successfully carry out the intent does not absolve the guilt.

I'm afraid that we all make mistakes. One of the things that defines our character is how we handle mistakes. If we lie about having made a mistake, then it can't be corrected and it festers. On the other hand, if we give up just because we made a mistake, even a big mistake, none of us would get far in life.

The mice think they are right, but my cat eats them anyways. This is the point, reality is nothing, perception is everything.

Nothing gained without cost is valued. Freedom has a cost, and all will bear it so all will value and preserve it.

Only a fool walks into the future backwards.

I wish people had half the honor of dragons.

Standing for truth is everything. Truth is power. Don't ever forget that.

Charity, if you have the means, is a personal choice, but charity which is expected or compelled is simply a polite word for slavery.

It is said that the greatest cruelty is drawn from those with the kindest hearts.

Laugh all you want. I know my own worth and don't need to prove it to someone who doesn't know theirs.

Everything is valuable under the right conditions. To a man dying of thirst, water be more precious than gold. To a drowning man, water be of little worth and great trouble.

Kahlan guide me. Kahlan teach me. Kahlan protect me. In your light I thrive. In your mercy I am sheltered. In your wisdom I am humbled. I live only to love you. My life is yours.

In the darkest hours we must believe in ourselves.

Love is not about what you want. It's about finding happiness for the one you love.

There is magic in sincere forgiveness - magic to heal.

You talk like a drunk man walks: in every direction but where he be headed.

We all can be only who we are, no more, no less.

Everyone has an effect on others. Some people inspire others to do great things. Some take people into crime with them. Those with the gift affect those around them even more.

...Wizard's Fifth Rule: Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.

Are we our bodies? Is a small person less than a big person, then? If we were our bodies, then when we lost an arm, or a leg, would we be less, would we begin to fade from existence? No. We are the same person. We are not our bodies; we are our thoughts. As they form, they define who we are, and create the reality of our existence.

Emotions are the end result, the sum, of things learned

If God is so powerful, can he create a rock which he cannot lift?

I am dead. Only vengeance can restore me! Only victory can return my life to me!

Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.

To exist in this vast universe for a speck of time is the great gift of life. Our tiny sliver of time is our gift of life. It is our only life. The universe will go on, indifferent to our brief existence, but while we are here we touch not just part of that vastness, but also the lives around us. Life is the gift each of us has been given. Each life is our own and no one else's. It is precious beyond all counting. It is the greatest value we can have. Cherish it for what it truly is..... Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it.

The Second Rule is that the greatest harm can result from the best intentions. It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought, and understanding the First Rule. Even then, that is not always enough.

Once you teach me something, it's mine to use.

People are stupid... They will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they're afraid it might be true.

Sometimes, it is necessary to step beyond what you have known and to reach for something more.

If the road is easy, you're likely going the wrong way.

Nothing marks a man's character better than his attraction to intelligence.

I'd rather look a fool than be right and fail to act.

Many people believe everything others say, even though what they see with their own eyes, should be enough to tell them otherwise.

The Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid; given proper motivation almost anyone will believe almost anything.

Celebrating faith over reason is merely a way of denying what is, in favor of embracing any whim that strikes your fancy.

Hesitation is a mistake that invites defeat. I would not be Mord-Sith had I not hesitated when I was young." - Cara

To the right person, the person who is truly born to it, duty is a form of love, through which all is possible. Duty is not always a denial of things, but an expansion of them to others. Duty is not always a chore, but is best carried out with love.

There were those who loved liberty, who cried out to live their own lives, to strive, to rise above, to achieve, and those bent on the mindless equality of stagnation brought about through the enforcement of an artificial, arbitrary, gray uniformity--those who wanted to transcend through their own effort, and those who wanted others to think for them and were willing to pay the ultimate price.

Fate occasionally touches us all in ways we don't always understand.

Knowing when to fight is just as important as knowing how.

If something is wrong, it matters not if a thousand men are for it; you must still oppose it. If something is just, no amount of popular outcry should stay you from your course.

Cara waggled a hand over the two of them. "It works better with your clothes off." Richard frowned. His voice came as a hoarse croak. "What?" She seemed mystified by the question. "I believe you will find such things work better without clothes." She put her hands to her hips. "I thought you would know at least that much.

Fate does not seek our consent.

We reap a reward merely in the act of helping others. We never know how, or if, that reward will come back to us. Helping is the reward; none other is needed nor better.

But in the end, we can’t live our lives by ‘what if’ and ‘if only.’ We can only do the best we can to the best of our ability based on what we know. That’s why the truth is so important.

We can't live our lives according to what might have been. We have to live by what is.

After that, I came back every year. Everyone said, 'Well, when you retire you can move there.' But I said, 'Why should I live my whole life where I don't want to be.'

Wizard's Eighth Rule Talga Vassternich. (Deserve Victory)

I never could understand why some writers treat women as helpless. Every woman I know is strong in her own unique way.

Enemies,' the wizard said, 'are the price of honour.

That's what friends are for-to be strong for you when you need a moment to find your own strength.

Wizard's Ninth Rule A contradiction can not exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole.

I love you," she whispered. Richard pulled her tight against him. His fingers traced a trail down the bumps of her spine. "I feel so frustrated that there aren't any better words than "I love you,"" he said. "It doesn't seem enough for the way I feel about you. I'm sorry there aren't any better words to tell you." "They are words enough for me." "Then, I love you, Kahlan. A thousand times, a million times, I love you. Forever.

You can't love anyone or anything until you love your own existence first. Love can only grow out of a respect for your own life.

His face set in grim determination, Richard slogged ahead, his fingers reaching up to touch the tooth under his shirt. Loneliness, deeper than he had never known, sagged his shoulders. All his friends were lost to him. He knew now that his life was not his own. It belonged to his duty, to his task. He was the Seeker. Nothing more. Nothing less. Not his own man, but a pawn to be used by others. A tool, same as his sword, to help others, that they might have the life he had only glimpsed for a twinkling. He was no different from the dark things in the boundary. A bringer of death.

If you are unwilling to defend your right to your own lives, then you are merely like mice trying to argue with owls. You think their ways are wrong. They think you are dinner.

Once you place that crown of liar on your head, you can take it off again, but it leaves a stain for all time.

Her green eyes came unafraid to his. The connection was so intense that it threatened to drain his sense of self. He felt that he had always known her, that she had always been a part of him, that her needs were his needs.

Faith and feelings are the warm marrow of evil. Unlike reason, faith and feelings provide no boundary to limit any delusion, any whim. They are virulent poison, giving the numbing illusion of moral sanction to every depravity ever hatched. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reason’s light. Reason is the very substance of truth itself. The glory that is life is wholly embraced through reason. In rejecting it, in rejecting reason, one embraces death.

Life is the future, not the past. The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew.

Sometimes, making the wrong choice is better than making no choice. You have the courage to go forward, that is rare. A person who stands at the fork, unable to pick, will never get anywhere.

I will have to admit, though, that I will never look at an apple in quite the same way.

One of the things that defines our character is how we handle mistakes.

Admitting that you do not know something is the first step to learning.

If you care about yourself, you should care about learning - even learning simple things. You come to have pride in yourself only by accomplishing things, even from fixing some old stairs...Others can't grant you self-respect, even others who care about you. You have to earn self-respect yourself.

You can destroy those who speak the truth, but you cannot destroy the truth itself

The only sovereign I can allow to rule me is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists exists; what is is. From this irreducible, bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. This is the foundation from which life is embraced. Reason is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts, nor are they a means to discovering them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality–it is our basic tool of survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid the penalty of the abyss we refuse to see." -Richard

The light of a new day always chases the shadows of the night away, and shows us that the shape of our fears is only the ghost of our own minds.

Think of the solution, not the problem