“Two friends . . . there are stronger forces on earth, perhaps, but few as tenacious and enduring as the bond between true friends.”
“To friends! Life belongs to those who love, and where love reigns is man truly king!”
“And it came to me while I [Merlin] was singing - watching the ring of faces around the night's fire, their eyes glinting like dark sparks, gazing raptly as the song kindled and took light in their souls - it came to me that the way to men's souls was through their hearts, not through their minds. As much as a man might be convinced in his mind, as long as his heart remained unchanged all persuasion would fail. The surest way to the heart is through song and story: a single tale of high and noble deeds spoke to men more forcefully than all of blessed Dafyd's homilies.I do not know why this should be, but I believe it to be true. I have seen the humble folk crowd into the chapel in the wood to receive the mass. In all sincerity they kneel before the holy altar, mute, reverent, as they should be, but also uncomprehending.Yet, I have seen the eyes of their souls awaken when Dafyd reads out, "Listen, in a far country there lived a king who had two sons..."Perhaps it is how we are made; perhaps words of truth reach us best through the heart, and stories and songs are the language of the heart.”
“Perhaps it is how we are made; perhaps words of truth reach us best through the heart, and stories and songs are the language of the heart”
“Earth and sky, rock and wind, bear witness!By the power of the Swift Sure Hand, I claim this ground and sain it with a name: Bwgan Bwlch!Power of fire I have over it,Power of wind I have over it,Power of thunder I have over it,Power of wrath I have over it,Power of heavens I have over it,Power of earth I have over it,Power of worlds I have over it!As tramples the swan upon the lake,As tramples the horse upon the plain,As tramples the ox upon the meadow,As tramples the boar upon the track,As tramples the forest host of heart and hind,As tramples all quick things upon the earth,I do trample and subdue it,And drive all evil from it!In the name of the Secret One,In the name of the Living One,In the name of the All-Encircling One,In the name of the One True Word, it is Bwgan Bwlch,Let it so remain as long as men surviveTo breath the name.”
“Pray God our aim is straight and true and each arrow finds its mark.”
“..none of this surprised me; it was as if this meeting between us was foreordained by a force greater than either of us. I know I had the events wheeling swiftly over a well-traveled course to a destination long ago established. I felt as if I was merely saying the words I had been destined to say. If there was no surprise, neither was there fear or alarm. The circumstance seemed both right and natural--as if we had talked this way a thousand times, and knew well what the other would say... This is the only truth we can know in life. Nothing else in the world is certain--only this: that a man and woman should come together in love.”