Diane Duane Quotations

Well, the rollout of new technology always affects how wizards do business.

I may have one more 'Star Trek' novel in me, but it would be in the old universe, not the new one.

My first generation of young readers now have not only children, but some of them have grandchildren to whom they're introducing their old passion.

It's always been the children who have saved the universe from the previous generation and remade the world in their own image. ---Carl

Blood in the water I sing, and one who shed it: deadliest hunger I sing, and one who fed it- weaving the ancient-most tale of the Sea's sending: singing the tragedy, singing the joy unending This is our shame- this is the whole Ocean's glory: this is the Song of the Twelve. Hark to the story! Hearken, and bring it to pass: swift lest the sorrow long ago laid to it's rest devour us tomarrow!

All the drawing lacks is the final touch: To add eyes to the dragon

A little science. A little magic. A little chicken soup.

How am I supposed to save the universe with all this noise?!

You do have the idea of being ‘just good friends?’” He gave her a sideways look. “For so high and honorable an estate,” Roshaun said, “ ‘just’ seems a poor modifier to choose.

(True,) the white hole said. (My name is Khairelikoblepharehglukumeilichephreidosd'enagouni-) and at the same time he went flickering through a pattern of colors that was evidently the visual translation.

But the trouble with sainthood these days is the robe-and-halo imagery that gets stuck onto it." Carl got that brooding look again. "People forget that robes were street clothes once... and still are, in a lot of places. And halos are to that fierce air of innocence what speech balloons in comics are to the sound of the voice itself. Shorthand. But most people just see an old symbol and don't bother looking behind it for the meaning. Sainthood starts to look old-fashioned, unattainable... even repellent. Actually, you can see it all around, once you learn to spot it.

It’d be a poor kind of world where there was just one explanation for things. ---Rhiow

Honey, have you seen your sister?” She’s on Jupiter, Mom.

The city breathing, burning, living the life thy had preserved. Ten million lives and more. If something should happen to all that life- how terrible! Nita gulped for control as she remembered Fred's word of just this morning, an eternity ago. And this was what being a wizard was about. Keeping terrible things from happening, even when it hurts. Not just power, or control of what ordinary people couldn't control, or delight in being able to make strange things happen. Those were the side effects- not the reason, the purpose.

Power," Nita heard her father say behind her. "Creation. Forces from before time. This is--this business is for saints, not children!" Even saints have to start somewhere," Carl said softly. "And it's always been the children who have saved the universe from the previous generation and remade the universe in their own image.

Virtue," he said. "The real thing. It's not some kind of cuddly teddy bear you can keep on the shelf until you need a hug. It's dangerous, which is why it makes people so nervous. Virtue has its own agenda, and believe me, it's not always yours. The word itself means strength, power. And when it gets loose, you'd better watch out." Something bad might happen..." Impossible. But possibly something painful" -A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane

You should know how terrible a power belief is, especially in the wrong hands -- and how do you tell which hands are wrong? Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you've changed, by believing. Once you've changed, other things start to follow.

And we will cause it to be well-made, this Sacrifice. You, young and never loving; I, old and never loved. Such a Song the Sea will never have seen.

Something always happens. You still have to promise stuff anyway. If you have to work to make the promises true... it's like a spell. You have to say the words every time you want the results.

Footsteps in the snow suggest where you have been, point to where you were going: but when they suddenly vanish, never dismiss the possibility of flight...

A legend can just as well be founded in the future as in the past." "It's called a 'prophecy,'" Urruah said. "You may have heard of the concept.

The issues of the choice between right and wrong has to be an ongoing concern for everybody, at every age. There is no magical point in a human life when anyone is or becomes immune to the second-by-second choice to do right instead of wrong.

What teens will realize is always a mystery to me. I'm still realizing so many things myself, very belatedly, that it seems unwise to think I have any right to be showing people things in hopes that they'll realize them.

What I try to do for my readers is to pass on some of the things that I found out about being thirteen after doing it for forty years.

The Spear in the Other’s heart is the spear in your own: you are he.

Belief made no difference to the truth.

If death is truly a curse,' Spock said, as soberly as some power pronouncing a hundred years of sleep, but with a glint of private, serene humor in his eyes. 'There is little logic in condemning something one has not experienced...or does not remember experiencing.

You walk on water, and complain that you can't find anything to drink!

Those who don't know the mistakes of the past won't be able to enjoy it when they make them again in the future.

So rage, proud Power: fail again! And see my blood teach Death to die!

Do it now and avoid the June rush! Fear death by water!

A warp," Nita whispered. "A tunnel through space-time. Are you a white hole?" It stopped bobbing, stared at her as if she had said something derogatory. (Do I look like a hole?)

Doctors couldn't be everywhere, so the Lord invented Vulcans. I thought you knew.

She tried to walk softly and wished the trees wouldn't stare at her so.

Dear Artificer, I’ve blown my quanta and gone to the Good Place!

Sometimes we do not hear the Whisperer even at her loudest because she speaks in our own voice, the one we most often discount.

Don't be afraid to make corrections," Picchu said. "Don't be afraid to lend a hand." She fell silent, seeming to think for a moment. "And don't look down.

But even in your world it’s a byword. Men will fight bravely and be heroes, but for last-ditch defense against any odds… get a Mother.

There is a rule for fantasy writers: The more truth you mix in with a lie, the stronger it gets.

Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.

Yes, limits can be self-imposed. But, as regards space, especially, they're starting to dwindle. It can be the same way for people.