Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.
Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.
He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.
Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."
On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.
He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.
Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.
“Only a battle lost is sadder than a battle won.”
“Victory settles a lot of arguments in most men's heads.”
“In Shinear, a woman [is] safe anywhere, any time-except from Trollocs and Myrddraal, of course-and any man [will] die to see it so.”
“Keep your mind out of the pigsty, man!”
“Juilin," she asked hesitantly, "what were you going to do with the salt and cooking oil? Not exactly," she added more quickly. "Just a general idea." He looked at her for a moment. "I do not know. But they did not, either. That is the trick of it; their minds made up worse then I ever could. I have seen a tough man break when I sent for a basket of figs and some mice.”
“Give me your trust, said the Aes Sedai.On my shoulders I support the sky.Trust me to know and to do what is best,And I will take care of the rest.But trust is the color of a dark seed growing.Trust is the color of a heart's blood flowing.Trust is the color of a soul's last breath.Trust is the color of death.Give me your trust said the queen on her throne,for I must bear the burden alone.Trust me to lead and to judge and to rule, and no man will think you a fool.But trust is the sound of the grave-dog's bark.Trust is the sound of betrayal in the dark.Trust is the sound of a soul's last breath.Trust is the sound of death.”
“Bound by the Oath against lying, Aes Sedai [carry] the half-truth, the quarter-truth and the implication to arts.”
“Let most men have a finger and they will have the whole hand before you know. Let a clan cheif have a finger and he will have the entire arm.”
“Women do not become exhausted they only exhaust others.”
“Some said Delana was sucessful as a mediator because both sides would agree just to make her stop staring at them.”
“What is too absurd to be believed is believed because it is too absurd to be a lie.”
“A man falling off a cliff to certain death will stretch out a hand even to his worst enemy.”
“A woman's eyes cut deeper than a knife.”
“The rose petal floats on water. The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death.”
“A woman forgives but never forgets, A man forgets but never forgives”
“Facing them (men) with knives and spears was much easier than loving them, much easier.”
“I'm a gambler, a farmboy, and I'm here to take command of your bloody army!--Mat Cauthon”
“Blood and Bloody Ashes! - Mat in a Wheel of Time”
“hope is like a piece of string when you’re drowning; it just isn’t enough to get you out by itself.”
“Hammer the iron that lies on your anvil instead of daydreaming about working silver.”
“Rand, maybe that's the answer they give to everybody. Those snake people, I mean. Got to Rhuidean. Maybe we don't have to be here at all.' He did not believe it, but with that fog staring him in the face. ...Rand turned his head to look at him, not speaking. Finally he said, 'They never mentioned Rhuidean to me, Mat.''Oh, burn me,' he muttered.”
“I've seen men die because they were sure that what should not happen,would not.-Robert Jordan(The eye of the world,Wheel of time)”
“Should and would build no bridges.-Lini”
“A pig painted gold is still a pig.”
“The end is near," Moridin said. "The Wheel has groaned its final rotation, the clock has lost its spring, the serpent heaves its final gasps.”
“May Your Swords Stay Sharp!" - Lan Pendragon”
“Anyone who claimed that old age had brought them patience was either lying or senile.”
“He was swimming in a sea of other people’s expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that.”
“It is every man's right to choose when to Sheathe the Sword." --- Ingtar Shinowa ---”
“Death comes to us all; we can only choose how to face it when it comes.”
“He is born again! I feel him! The Dragon takes his first breath on the slope of Dragonmount! He is coming! He is coming! Light help us! Light help the world! He lies in the snow and cries like the thunder! He burns like the sun!”
“Hardness shatters; strength endures.”
“Execution is everything. Even if you start a business with the wrong idea or too many competitors, you can out-execute all the better ideas in the right market.”
“Image perception makes a big difference. That's one of the things I tell entrepreneurs today. Fine, focus on products, focus on customers and all that good stuff - that's necessary. But the image that you project is also key. Don't forget that.”
“The only way was forward, whatever lay at the end.”
“Taren Ferry folk had a reputation for slyness and trickery. If you shook hands with a Taren Ferry man, people said, you counted your fingers afterwards.”
“Often you don't know whether a woman is friend, enemy or lover until it is too late. Sometimes, she is all three.”
“If you don't know everything, you must go on with what you do know.”
“Sometimes, pain is all that lets you know you're alive.”
“There is some delight in ale and wineAnd some in girls with ankles fineBut my delight, yes always mineIs to dance with Jak O’ the ShadowsWe will toss the dice however they fallAnd snuggle the girls be they short or tallThen follow Lord Mat whenever he callsTo dance with Jak O’ the Shadows.”
“I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement”
“I don't know. They could put up a warning sign or something. Hello. Welcome to Hindstrap. We will murder you in the night and eat your bloody face if you stay past sunset. Try the pies. Martna Maily makes them fresh daily.”
“Belief and order give strength. Have to clear rubble before you can build.”
“All was shattered, and all but memory lost, and one memory above all others, of him who brought the Shadow and the Breaking of the World. And him they named Dragon.”
“The lions sing and the hills take flight. The moon by day, and the sun by night. Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool. Let the Lord of Chaos rule. -chant from a children's game heard in Great Arvalon, the Fourth Age”
“Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made. Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades. What was asked is given; the price is paid.”
“Strange clothes you wear, Child of the Dragon. Has the Wheel turned so far? Do the People of the Dragon return to the first Covenant? But you wear a sword. That is neither now nor then.”
“Taking responsibility takes all the joy out of life, and drains a man to dust.”
“How do you fight someone smarter than yourself?" Rand whispered. "The anser is simple. You make her think that you are sitting down across the table from her, ready to play her game. Then you punch her in the face as hard as you can.”
“Advice!Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are." "That is probably why you make such a bad job of it.- Perrin and Egwene”