This is how tyrants win the will of the people: with lies.
The mark of a wise person is being able to reach beyond for the truth, to admit they can learn more than they already know.
Moral compromise rejects the concept of right and wrong. It says that everyone is equal, all desires are equally valid, all action is equally valid, so everyone should compromise to get along.
Life is about change. Change has both good and bad elements to it. You can either deal with the way things have changed and move forward, or you can let bitterness about what’s lost in the past rob you of your future.
Because, Richard, 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.
Every murderer thinks the victim needed killing.
In a time of peace, you have the luxury of order, but in war you must act. Hesitation is death.
To Chase, a quad would be just a bit of fun. While he was taking care of them, he’d be telling you a story about some real trouble.
Darken Rahl, son of Panis Rahl, has put the three boxes of Orden in play,” Kahlan said simply. “I have come in search of the great wizard.
Zedd knelt beside her, his head bowed. “I pledge my life in the defense of the Seeker.” Richard stood gripping the Sword of Truth in his hand, eyes wide in breathless bewilderment. “Zedd,” he whispered, “what in the name of everything good is a Seeker?
Sometimes letting out the anger is an even more grievous mistake than holding it in.
Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, the great and honorable wizard, stood alone on the wizard’s rock his father had given him, and stared out into the night, thinking wizard’s thoughts. “Nothing is ever easy,” he whispered.
A Seeker is a person who answers to no one but himself; he is a law unto himself. The Sword of Truth is his to wield as he wishes, and within the limits of his own strength, he can hold anyone to answer for anything.
You saved my life. Thank you.” Gratch’s smile showed the full length of his bloody fangs. The sight made her gasp. Richard glanced up at the sinister-looking, grinning face. “Stop smiling, Gratch. You’re scaring her again.” His mouth turned down, his lips covering his prodigious, wickedly sharp fangs. His wrinkled features melted into a sulk. Gratch viewed himself as lovable, and seemed to think it only natural that everyone else would, too.
We are not our bodies; we are our thoughts. As they form, they define who we are, and create the reality of our existence. Between those thoughts, there is nothing, simply the body, waiting for our thoughts to make us who we are.
He took off the shredded remnants of his pants. “You look funny without your pants.” Richard spun around. Scarlet was watching him. “Those are not reassuring words for a man to hear from a female, even if the female is a dragon.
Strength to Confessor Kahlan,” he said. “Strength to Savidlin and the Mud People,” she answered in their language. Savidlin slapped her across the face, hard. She slapped him back just as hard. Instantly Kahlan heard the ringing sound of Richard’s sword being pulled free. She spun on her heels.
Zedd leaned forward eagerly, cutting him off. “Can you command the wind?” Richard leaned back a little. “Of course I can,” he said, playing along. He held both hands up to the sky. “Come to me, brother wind! Gather about! Blow a gale for me!” He spread his arms dramatically. Kahlan wrapped her cloak around herself expectantly. Zedd looked about. Nothing happened. The two of them seemed a little disappointed.
I could have hated Richard for his father’s crimes, but chose instead to love him for himself. He turned out to be quite a man, don’t you think? You have been defeated by the heir you wanted. An heir born with the gift. That is rare. Richard is the true Seeker. From the Rahl blood, he has the rage of the anger, the capacity for violence. But it’s balanced with Zorander blood, the capacity for love, understanding, and forgiveness.
Darken Rahl, as had his father before him, considered women merely vessels for the man’s seed, the dirt it grew in, unworthy of higher recognition.
Zedd stepped forward, his hands on his hips, his voice incredulous. “You would let a man fly upon you? A red dragon? You would take him where he wishes to go?” Scarlet puffed smoke at the wizard, forcing him to take a step back. “A man, no. This is the Seeker. He commands me. I would fly this one to the underworld and back.