I tried to find a way to go on. I could see familiar traces of the path that was my life, but there was always the wall behind me. Do you know what I mean? First you try and climb, pretending it never happened, but it's too tall. Then you try to go around, thinking you can fix it, but it is too far. Then, in frustration, you beat on it with your hands, but it does nothing, so you tire and sit down and just stare at it. You stare because you can't bring yourself to walk away. Walking away means that you're giving up, abandoning them. "There is no way back. There is only forward. It's impossible to imagine there's any reason to move ahead, but that isn't the real reason you give up. The real fear--the terror that keeps you rooted--is that you might be wrong." --Myron, Monk of Maribor

— Michael J. Sullivan

It's easier to believe the most outlandish lie that confirms what you suspect than the most obvious truth that denies it.

— Michael J. Sullivan

It was a trap after all,” Alaric said. He turned to Royce. “My apologies for doubting your sound paranoia.

— Michael J. Sullivan

One truth doesn't refute another. Truth doesn't lie in the object, but in how we see it.

— Michael J. Sullivan

Power doesn't equal worth. Wisdom is a far greater virtue.

— Michael J. Sullivan

Rather enjoyed a good campfire. Something comforting about the dancing light, the smell of smoke, and the way his face and chest were hot but his backside cold. He sensed a profound meaning in this duality as well as in the enigma of flickering flames. The fire spirit spoke in spitting sparks and shifts of choking smoke, but the meaning of each remained a mystery. Everything in nature was that way. All of it spoke to him--to everyone--in a language few could understand. What secrets, what wisdom, and what horrors might he learn if only he knew what it all meant.

— Michael J. Sullivan

Revenge is a bittersweet fruit that leaves the foul aftertaste of regret.

— Michael J. Sullivan

Royce looked back down at the stream below. "She doesn't even know me. What if she doesn't like me? Few people do."" She might not at first. Maribor knows I didn't. But you have a way of growing on a person." He smiled. "You know, like lichen or mold.

— Michael J. Sullivan

See, that’s the difference,” Marvin said. “I suffer a loss and people console me. Royce suffers a loss and whole towns evacuate.

— Michael J. Sullivan

Sharks don’t eat seafood because they like it, but because chicken can’t swim.

— Michael J. Sullivan