[Moody walks to Hermione's desk and places the spider in front of her] Professor Moody: Perhaps you'd like to give us the last curse, Miss Granger? [tears swimming in her eyes, Hermione shakes her head vigorously] Professor Moody: No? [pause] Profess...
Thranduil: Legolas said you fought well today. He's grown very fond of you. Tauriel: I assure you, my Lord, Legolas thinks of me as not more than a captain of the guard. Thranduil: Perhaps he did once. Now I'm not so sure. Tauriel: I do not think tha...
General: But of course warfare isn't all fun. Right, stop that! It's all very well to laugh at the military, but when one considers the meaning of life, it is a struggle between alternative viewpoints of life itself. And without the ability to defend...
Dr. Stephen Maturin: Mr Blakeney, it would appear that you have the makings of a naturalist. Blakeney: Well, sir, perhaps I could combine them to be a sort of... fighting naturalist, like you, sir. Dr. Stephen Maturin: They don't combine too well, I ...
Diane: You were saying about poltergeists. Dr. Lesh: Poltergeists are usually associated with an individual. Hauntings seem to be connected with an area. A house usually. Marty: Poltergeist disturbances are of a fairly short duration. Perhaps a coupl...
Nikola Tesla: Mr. Angier, have you considered the cost of such a machine? Robert Angier: Price is not an object. Nikola Tesla: Perhaps not, but have you considered the *cost*? Robert Angier: I'm not sure I follow. Nikola Tesla: Go home. Forget this t...
Lando: Lord Vader, what about Leia and the Wookiee? Darth Vader: They must never again leave this city. Lando: [outraged] That was never a condition of our agreement, nor was giving Han to this bounty hunter! Darth Vader: Perhaps you think you're bei...
Mrs. Dashwood: You must miss him, Elinor. Elinor Dashwood: We are not engaged, Mamma. Mrs. Dashwood: But he loves you, dearest, of that I am certain. Elinor Dashwood: I am by no means assured of his regard, and even were he to feel such a preference,...
Interviewer: HAL, you have an enormous responsibility on this mission, in many ways perhaps the greatest responsibility of any single mission element. You're the brain, and central nervous system of the ship, and your responsibilities include watchin...
Major Clipton: The fact is, what we're doing could be construed as - forgive me, sir - collaboration with the enemy. Perhaps even as treasonable activity. Must we work so well? Must we build them a better bridge than they could have built for themsel...
Yuri: There are a lot of alcoves in the Astridpark. You use this word, alcoves? Ken: Alcoves, yes. Sometimes. Yuri: There are not many people around in these alcoves at Christmas time. If I were to murder a man I would murder him here. Are you sure t...
We must know something about malevolence, about how to recognize it, and about how not to make excuses for it. We must know that we cannot expect fair play. That is, perhaps, most crucial of all. Those of us who practice in this field must face the i...
Consider how odd it would be if all we knew about elephants had been written by elephants. Would we recognize one? What elephant author would describe--or perhaps even perceive--the features which are common to all elephants? We would find ourselves ...
A thousand lips, a thousand eyes, a thousand hearts will read these words, as you read them, graze them, this moment. Thousands will utter them into the abyss, someday, perhaps for years to come; loudly, softly, repeatedly, again and again and again....
I began to understand that the most worthwhile obsession is an obsession that is actually independent of the object of fixation. The object is only borrowed as a pretext, a means, an environment, through which or in which the obsessed person can proj...
Creative exhaustion is first cousin to writer’s block. First off, I try to accept that when it hits, I am not wasting time, but preparing myself to return to work. I blog more. I do something different, like answering this question. If I can’t fo...
Life for both sexes - and I looked at them, shouldering their way along the pavement - is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion, it calls for confidenc...
So the conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical who proposes it -- perhaps as much more as the roots are more vital than grafts. It is good that new ideas should be heard, for the sake of the few that can be used; but it is also ...
This time it was the sentence opening the last part of a story I had worked on for months: a sentence as is often worked off paper first. The pace of narrative and interest in character do not readily help the writer's hand to set down a sentence of ...
Over the years I've found it much more helpful to follow the advice of Sister Liebert and seek to treat each young person as a teacher from God, someone God has placed in my life in order to help me grow in faith. When I encounter a young person, I f...
I have always been interested in witchcraft and superstition, but have never had much traffic with ghosts, so I began asking people everywhere what they thought about such things, and I began to find out that there was one common factor - most people...
