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Find this quote?

Post by I'm Murrin »

I'm trying to find a quote, don't have the books with me and can't remember the exact wording...

It's in the first trilogy - Covenant is talking to someone, Foamfollower perhaps, and asks something along the lines of 'why not just kill yourself?'
I'm really stuck trying to work out what the quote is, and where.
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Post by ur-bane »

I don't have my books with me, they're packed away, but IIRC, that conversation took place between Covenant and Foamfollower in LFB during the trip to Revelstone on the Soulsease.
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Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want
to test a man's character, give him power.
--Abraham Lincoln

Excerpt from Animal Songs Never Written
"Hey, dad," croaked the vulture, "what are you eating?"
"Carrion, my wayward son."
"Will there be pieces when you are done?"
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Post by Fist and Faith »

The beggar asked Covenant, "Why not destroy yourself?"
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon

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Post by I'm Murrin »

That might be it, but I've still got this picture in my head of a similar exchange somewhere else in the first two books...
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Post by Fist and Faith »

He and Foamfollower definitely talk about death a lot. Covenant telling of the guy who slit his wrists on the plane; Covenant having a nightmare after he drinks some diamondraught; later when the quest for the SoL begins...
"But the power over death is a delusion. There cannot be life without death." -Saltheart Foamfollower
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon

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Post by Furls Fire »

Here's one from LFB, when Covenant first goes to the Leprosarium:
Then the patient moved his lips to speak, and Covenant looked up at his face. His dull, cataractal eyes sat in his face as if they were the center of an eruption. The skin of his cheeks was as white-pink as an albino's; it bulged and poured away from his eyes in waves, runnulets, as if it had been heated to the melting point; and these waves were edged with thick tubercular nodules.

"Kill yourself," he rasped terribly. "Better than this."

Covenant broke away from the doctor. He rushed out into the hall and the contents of his stomach spattered over the clean walls and floor like a stain of outrage.

In that way, he decided to survive.
And on the boat with Foamfollower:
He gaped wide -- eyed at his own narration. He would have been willing, eager, to weep for the man if he had been able to do so without sacrificing his own defenses. But he could not weep. Instead, he swallowed thickly, and let his momentum carry him on again.

"And I'll tell you something else about culture shock. Every world has its own ways of committing suicide, and it is a lot easier to kill yourself using methods that you're not accustomed to. I could never slit my wrists. I've read too much about it -- talked about it too much. It's too vivid. I would throw up. But I could go to that man's world and sip belladonna tea without nausea. Because I don't know enough about it. There's something vague about it, something obscure -- something not quite fatal.
When they reach Revelstone:
That smile touched Covenant's heart like a clasp of affection. Thickly, he replied, "Next time take it easier. I can't stand -- watching -- Do you always keep promises -- this way?"

"Your messages are urgent. How could I do otherwise?"

From his leper's perspective, Covenant countered, "Nothing's that urgent. What good does anything do you if you kill yourself in the process?"

For a moment, Foamfollower did not respond. He braced a heavy hand on Covenant's shoulder, and heaved himself, tottering, to his feet. Then he said as if he were answering Covenant's question, "Come. We must see Revelstone."
and of course, as Fisty said, the beggar says to him "Why not destroy yourself?"

:D
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.


~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~

~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~

...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.

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Post by I'm Murrin »

Okay, I'm fairly sure I must have been thinking of the beggar now, but they're all good moments.

There's also a scene in the Rock Gardens of the Maerl that I can't quite remember.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

Thanks, Furls. :D I loaned LFB to my gf, so I couldn't look anything up.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon

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Post by Furls Fire »

After Covenant tells the story about the woman in the leprosarium:
Troy took a deep breath, trying to shake off the effect of Covenant's tale, but he could think of nothing to say. When he looked over at Elena, he saw that she was melding with Mhoram and Amatin as if she needed their support to bear what she had heard. After a moment, Mhoram said aloud, "Ur-Lord Covenant is a prophet."

"Does he foretell the fate of the Land?" Amatin asked painfully.

"No!" Elena's denial was fierce, and Mhoram breathed also, "No" But Troy could hear that Mhoram meant something different.
I always thought this one passage to be very profound and...ummm...for lack of a better word...Prophetic. :D
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.


~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~

~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~

...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.

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Post by Furls Fire »

Fist and Faith wrote:Thanks, Furls. :D I loaned LFB to my gf, so I couldn't look anything up.
OH COOL...your getting Christy into the Chrons :D :D Get her to join the Watch too. Would LOVE to "meet" her. :D :D
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.


~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~

~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~

...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.

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Post by Fist and Faith »

I'm on her computer at the moment. When I got here this afternoon, she immediately started in about the difference between ethics and philosophy, because she had read the beggar's note. :D
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon

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