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Naomi Mitchison QUOTES

Naomi Mitchison QUOTES

1 " If he could sleep, she thought, sleep through the unhappy months, the heart's hunger, the months of death and cold and not having what you most want, and wake with time gone past and blurred and a new year coming. But perhaps it is too early in the year, she thought after that, and besides, he is not a bear. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

2 " Occasionally, and for everyone's good, mankind were instructed to offer a fresh and juicy princess to their own particular dragon. It was said that the princesses enjoyed the experience.
Certainly the dragons did. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

3 " VICTRIX CAVSA DIIS PLACVIT SED VICTA PVELLIS "

― Naomi Mitchison , The Conquered

4 " As between Marob and Sparta or Alexandria, it is very doubtful whether, at a distance of more than two thousand years, one can ever get near to the minds of, or even to the details of the actions, of the people one is writing about, although they are in a way nearer to one than one's living friends; it is scarcely possible that Kleomenes of Sparta was really at all like the Kleomenes I have made, though I doubt whether, in the present state of knowledge, anyone else's idea is inherently more probable -- it is all a game of hide-and-seek in the dark and if, in the game, one touches a hand or a face, it is all chance; so Marob is just as likely, or as unlikely, as the rest of the world. "

― Naomi Mitchison , The Corn King and the Spring Queen (The Hera Series)

5 " Travel light my child, as the Wanderer travels light, and his love will be with you. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

6 " It could be verified that no princess was ever asked whether she wanted to be rescued and carried off by a dragon-slayer to a fate (no doubt) worse than death. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

7 " Heroes prided themselves on a thing called generosity. And what was generosity? It was the giving away of something to those that had not earned it, and it was usually done by those that had not earned it. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

8 " Men went by ways of old Gods or not of any Gods, but by the violent wills of kings who were their own law. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

9 " Perhaps she did not die,” said Halla, “perhaps her nurse turned into a bear and carried her away into the forest. Perhaps she was brought up by bears and dragons. Perhaps it was better for her in the end than being a king’s child.”
“That was never the story,” said Modolf.
“Forget the story,” said Halla. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

10 " But Uggi was shocked and told her that lady dragons, who are in any case rare, stay at home and guard the treasure. Now this is
an ancient dragon fallacy, since in fact the lady dragons are very much fiercer than any other, especially when they have a nest full of eggs. And, although this is always denied, lady dragons have been known to kill and cat other dragons and, what is worse, to take their treasures. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

11 " The baby girl was quite still except for her cheeks and lips sucking at her finger, and a rhythmical curving and straightening of her toes, as if some current of thick air were passing over them. "

― Naomi Mitchison , The Corn King and the Spring Queen (The Hera Series)

12 " Forget the story. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

13 " In this place—one can never see from one end of a street to the other, let alone men’s hearts. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

14 " He was telling her of the great good that might be done, say, to a nunnery, by this gift of prediction, and perhaps she should become a nun and give not only her cloak but all her other gifts to God.
Indeed, if she did not do that, it might appear that her prediction was from Satan, and that would indeed be a serious thing for her. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

15 " Worse things have been done than that. Yes, much worse. Yet perhaps the death of the very innocent always carries a curse. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

16 " The Corn King and the Spring Queen, The Conquered, and Memoirs of a Spacewoman. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

17 " Naomi Mitchison, "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light

18 " There's liberty in the other scale. It's heavy". "

― Naomi Mitchison , The Conquered

19 " It may be better not to be afraid, and it may be that One and Two were truly not afraid. In the time before knowledge, in the time of dancing, none wasted thought or life in being afraid-not until the Wolf was on them, not till his teeth broke sucking into their neck-veins and the song broke into screechings. Three was afraid, but yet he thought he had the cure to fear; he thought the time would come when no pig need fear the wolf. But I-I know I am afraid, and afraid almost all the time, even when I am singing the song; the noise of ourselves singing it doesn't keep the fear out of the back of my head any longer. I can smell the Wolf's breath above all the sweet smells of spring and the rich smells of Autumn. I can hear the padding of the Wolf's feet a very long way off in the forest, coming nearer. And I know there is no way of stopping him. Even if I could help being afraid. But I cannot help it. I am afraid now. "

― Naomi Mitchison , The Fourth Pig

20 " Those who live in caves, die in caves," said All-Father, "and the love of the Wanderer is to wanderers. "

― Naomi Mitchison , Travel Light