Jan 10 2009
Saturday Quote-a-thon! Magic and Dragons
OK, folks, finding good dragon quotes is not so easy. So, I expanded it a bit to cover both magic and dragons and this is what I came up with. Sadly, I had to go searching for some. I didn’t have them already in my collection.
I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?
-John LennonAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-Arthur C. ClarkeMake no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.
-Daniel BurnhamFirst rule of magic: Don’t let anyone know your real name. Names have power.
-Neil GaimanNo magic can change something into something that it is not; the imaginative transformation at the heart magic is recognition, not creation.
-Susan PalwickLove and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.
-Nora Roberts, as quoted in Rainbow Bridge Farm (2003) by Lynn Roberson, p. 127If we are to have magical bodies, we must have magical minds.
-Dr Wayne DyerPoetry is a kind of magic that very few can create and even fewer can truly understand and appreciate in all its glory.
-Dennis GaborUntil one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans.
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.
-Johann Wolfgang von GoetheA well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.
-Caroline GordonThink of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It’s a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.
-Martha GrahamOne man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word.
-Robert A. HeinleinWhen you start writing the magic comes when the characters seem to take on a life of their own and write the words for themselves.
-Alice HoffmanBooks are a uniquely portable magic.
-Stephen KingThe great leaders are like the best conductors - they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.
-Blaine LeeThat’s the thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.
-Charles de LintI suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws. They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print.
-John MortimerA great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.
-Earl NightingaleThe metaphor is perhaps one of man’s most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.
-José Ortega y GassetThere is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment
-Norman Vincent PealeIt’s only in innocence you find any kind of magic, any kind of courage.
-Sean PennThe first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?
-J. B. PriestleyThere’s a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out.
-Lou ReedDisbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
-Tom RobbinsHere we have a game that combines the charm of a Pentagon briefing with the excitement of double-entry bookkeeping.
– Cecil Adams (On Dungeons & Dragons)
Then, because I’m easily amused, I included some bumper sticker/T-shirt dragon slogans.
If you can’t stand the heat, don’t tickle the dragon.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
When you find yourself in the company of a halfling and a Dragon, remember, you do not have to outrun the Dragon, you just have to outrun the halfling.
If you have any others you think I should add to the collection, don’t hesitate to share. I always like to add to my collection. And don’t forget to vote for next week. Vote well and vote often! Cheating encouraged!










“For fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and even trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.”
–Ursula K. Le Guin, “Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?”
“Make these stories dragons. Dragons can’t fly with unnecessary scales crusting them down, or with a hundred yards of tail dragging behind them. Make them strong instead, sleek, fast, aggressive, and filled with enough fire to toast the reader’s ass.”
–Limyaael, “Keeping Those Dragons Alive”
Essays on fantasy writing with dragon metaphors–one can never have too many.