Anne McCaffrey

“Die happy-I will," F'nor cried, cutting more fruit.”

“How much can a dragon carry?As much as it thinks it can”

“When bad fortune occurs, the unresourceful, unimaginative man looks about him to attach the blame to someone else; the resolute accepts misfortune and endeavors to survive, mature, and improve because of it.”

“Look around you, Lessa of Pern, look around the Weyr with unveiled eyes. Old and hallowed is the Weyr? Yes, but shabby and worn – and disregarded. Yes, you were elated to sit in the Weyrwoman’s great chair at the Council Table, but the padding is thin and the fabric dusty. Humbled to think your hands rest where Moreta’s and Torene’s had rested? Well, the stone is ingrained with dirt and needs a good scrubbing. And your rump may rest where theirs did – but that’s not where you have your brains.”

“Rider to your mate be trueFollow heart in deed and doAll the best your strength can findSo you will rest in heart and mind”

“(Meli, are you sure these "humans" are on our side?)(No ... but at least they are not Khieevi.)(That is beginning to seem less and less of a recommendation. Like us in form, perhaps, but hardly in ethics.)(That may not be entirely a bad thing. If they meet their friends with weapons in both hands, what do you suppose they do to their enemies?)”

“Old family motto: "The best revenge is revenge.”

“If he isn't clean now, I don't know what clean is!”

“Dragon kind was no less cruel than mankind. The Dragon, at least, acted from bestial need rather than bestial greed.”~ A thought by Lessa ~”

“Exchange information, learn to speak sensibly about any subject, learn to express your thoughts, accept new ones, examine them, analyze. Think objectively. Think toward the future.”

“My eyes are green, my hair is silver and I freckle; the rest is subject to change without notice.”

“There's something wrong in not appreciating one's own special abilities, my girl. Find your own limitations, yes, but don't limit yourself with false modesty.”

“My nightly craft is winged in white, a dragon of night dark sea.Swift born, dream bound and rudderless, her captain and crew are me.We've sailed a hundred sleeping tides where no seaman's ever beenAnd only my white-winged craft and I know the wonders we have seen.”

“Fire-lizard dance on wingTo the raucous song I sing.Fire-lizrad wheel and turn,Show me how the dragons learn.”

“A real scientist solves problems, not wails that they are unsolvable.”

“The blackest night must end in dawn, the light dispel the dreamer's fear.”

“Above us, outlined against the brilliant sky, dragons crowded every available perching space on the Rim. And the sun made a gold of every one of them.”

“To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.”

“Maybes never are.”

“Necessity breeds solution.”

“be you and not someone else”

“Step by stepMoment by momentWe live throughAnother day”

“Harper to your word be trueHolder, crafter you also hewTo honesty, integrity, and respectAll others without regard to intellect”

“Harper, treat your words with careFor they may cause joy or despairSing your songs of health and loveOf dragons flaming from above”

“Fight only in direst needNot for lust or petty greedHonor those that do give birthRespect them well for their full worth”

“Scuse me, lady, but I'm Wisp, 'cause that's all I am, a wisp of a thing, not much good for changing a thing in the world," said the boy for when he stepped inside, the light from the grimy window gave her a good view of his anxious, pointed little face.”

“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.”

“Don't leave me alone!A cry in the night,Of anguish heart-stiking,Of soul-killing fright.Live for my livingOr else I must dieDon't leave me alone.A world heard that cry.”

“The tears I feel todayI'll wait to shed tomorrow.Though I'll not sleep this nightNor find surcease from sorrow.My eyes must keep their sight:I dare not be tear-blinded.I must be free to talkNot choked with grief, clear-minded.My mouth cannot betrayThe anguish that I know.Yes, I'll keep my tears til later:But my grief will never go.”

“The little queen all goldenFlew hissing at the sea.To stop each waveHer clutch to saveShe ventured bravely.As she attacked the sea in rageA holderman came nighAlong the sandFishnet in handAnd saw the queen midsky.He stared at her in wonderFor often he'd been toldThat such as sheCould never beWho hovered there, bright gold.He saw her plight and quicklyHe looked up the cliff he facedAnd saw a caveAbove the waveIn which her eggs he placed.The little queen all goldenUpon his shoulder stoodHer eyes all blueGlowed of her trueUndying gratitude.”

“Harper, your song has a sorrowful sound,Though the tune was written as gay.Your voice is sad and your hands are slowAnd your eye meeting mine turns away.”

“Oh, Tongue, give sound to joy and singOf hope and promise on dragonwing”

“Drummer, beat, and piper, blowHarper, strike, and soldier, goFree the flame and sear the grassesTil the dawning Red Star passes”

“A good story is a good story no matter who wrote it.”

“Who wills, Can.Who tries, Does.Who loves, Lives.”