The portal structure is simply a technique: it is neither necessary nor unnecessary, except as the writer and the story make it so. In the case of 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant,' it was absolutely necessary to my intentions.

Stephen R. Donaldson

Categorized in : Intentions Story Make Structure

It is wrong to ask for more than you give freely. In this way, we come to resemble what we hate.

Stephen R. Donaldson

hate giving way

"Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"

Stephen R. Donaldson

three sea two

I respect my limitations, but I don't use them as an excuse.

Stephen R. Donaldson

limitation excuse use

Despair and bitterness are not the only songs in the world

Stephen R. Donaldson

despair song world

This you have to understand. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken.

Stephen R. Donaldson

hurt giving men

It is the responsibility of the living to make meaningful the sacrifices of the dead.

Stephen R. Donaldson

sacrifice responsibility meaningful

I may not yet be as old as dirt, but dirt and I are starting to have an awful lot in common.

Stephen R. Donaldson

dirt awful may

Gradually, the night stumbled as if stunned and wandering aimlessly into an overcast day -- limped through the wilderland of transition as though there were no knowing where the waste of darkness ended and the ashes of light began. The low clouds seemed full of grief -- tense and uneasy with accumulated woe -- and yet affectless, unable to rain, as if the air clenched itself too hard for tears. And through the dawn, Atiaran and Covenant moved heavily, unevenly, like pieces of a broken lament.

Stephen R. Donaldson

grief rain night

Whatever the explanation, it's perfectly obvious that our educational system has nothing to do with education: it's a babysitting service designed to replicate the worst qualities of the parents.

Stephen R. Donaldson

educational parent school

However you look at it, in these books "power" tends to be an expression of the essential nature of the person or being whose power it is. On those occasions when we've seen Lord Foul act directly, he seems to exert the withering force of pure scorn. IMHO, that's pretty intense.

Stephen R. Donaldson

hate expression book

The story of Terisa and Geraden began very much like a fable. She was a princess in a high tower. He was a hero come to rescue her. She was the only daughter of wealth and power. He was the seventh son of the lord of the seventh Care. She was beautiful from the auburn hair that crowned her head to the tips of her white toes. He was handsome and courageous. She was held prisoner by enchantment. He was a fearless breaker of enchantments. As in all the fables, they were made for each other.

Stephen R. Donaldson

princess daughter beautiful

In accepting the Gift you Honor the Giver

Stephen R. Donaldson

giver accepting honor

Stone and sea are deep in life Two unalterable symbols of the world Permanence at rest And permanence in motion Participants in the power that remains

Stephen R. Donaldson

sea two world

We need metaphors of magic and monsters in order to understand the human condition.

Stephen R. Donaldson

magic monsters order

We didn't make the world. All we have to do is live in it.

Stephen R. Donaldson

world

Any belief that puts itself beyond doubt nurtures its own collapse.

Stephen R. Donaldson

nurture belief doubt

Are you a person—with volition and maybe some stubbornness and at least the capacity if not the actual determination to do something surprising—or are you a tool? A tool just serves its user. It’s only as good as the skill of its user, and it’s not good for anything else. So if you want to accomplish something special—something more than you can do for yourself—you can’t use a tool. You have to use a person and hope the surprises will work in your favor. You have to use something that’s free to not be what you had in mind.

Stephen R. Donaldson

skills determination mind

"And you require no answers", Foamfollower was laughing in his gladness, "You are sufficient to every question".

Stephen R. Donaldson

contentment answers laughing

There is no life which does not possess its own importance, no life which may not be touched by greatness at any time -- Yes, be touched by greatness and have a hand in it. (from The Mirror of Her Dreams)

Stephen R. Donaldson

greatness mirrors dream

Everything dies, from the smallest blade of grass to the biggest galaxy.

Stephen R. Donaldson

smallest blades grass