American writer (1937-1995)
To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago."
ROGER ZELAZNY
Sign of the Unicorn
Good-bye, and hello, as always.
ROGER ZELAZNY
The Courts of Chaos
The day of battle dawned pink as the fresh-bitten thigh of a maiden.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Lord of Light
You must reconcile yourself to the fact that something is always hurt by any change. If you do this, you will not be hurt yourself.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming
If you ever loved anything in your life, try to remember it. If you ever betrayed anything, pretend for a moment that you have been forgiven. If you ever feared anything, pretend for an instant that those days are gone and will never return. Buy the lie and hold to it for as long as you can. Press your familiar, whatever its name, to your breast and stroke it till it purrs.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Creatures of Light and Darkness
I never plan ahead, with the exception of the Amber books which had to proceed in sequence. But I don't really like to know what I'm going to be working on a year in advance. So I just sign blank contracts for books and whatever strikes me as a good idea is what I write about.
ROGER ZELAZNY
"A Conversation with Roger Zelazny", Science Fiction, Apr. 8, 1978
To waste! You are unknown and unwanted, save by me. This, because you are fairly adept at the various embalming arts and you occasionally compose a clever epitaph.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Creatures of Light and Darkness
The power to hurt ... has evolved in a direct relationship to technological advancement.
ROGER ZELAZNY
He Who Shapes
Even the most heartening of philosophical vistas is no match for, say, a toothache, if it happens to be your own.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Home is the Hangman
Love is a negative form of hatred.
ROGER ZELAZNY
This Immortal
The death of an illusion tends to disconcert.
ROGER ZELAZNY
This Immortal
You who are dead ... tonight you will disport yourselves for my pleasure. Food and wine will pass between your dead lips, though you will not taste it. Your dead stomachs will hold it within you, while your dead feet take the measure of a dance. Your dead mouths will speak words that will have no meaning to you, and you will embrace one another without pleasure. You will sing for me if I wish it. You will lie down again when I will it.... Let the revelry begin.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Creatures of Light and Darkness
Don't wake me for the end of the world unless it has very good special effects.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Prince of Chaos
It is no shame to lose to me, mortal. Even among mythical creatures there are very few who can give a unicorn a good game.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Unicorn Variations
I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Nine Princes of Amber
Once a Buddha, always a Buddha.
ROGER ZELAZNY
Lord of Light