Anne McCaffrey > Quotes

“The tears I feel today
I'll wait to shed tomorrow.
Though I'll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.
My eyes must keep their sight:
I dare not be tear-blinded.
I must be free to talk
Not choked with grief, clear-minded.
My mouth cannot betray
The anguish that I know.
Yes, I'll keep my tears til later:
But my grief will never go.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger

“Who wills, Can.
Who tries, Does.
Who loves, Lives.”
― Anne McCaffrey

“A good story is a good story no matter who wrote it.”
― Anne McCaffrey

“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.”
― Anne McCaffrey

“To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Nerilka's Story

“A real scientist solves problems, not wails that they are unsolvable.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Acorna: The Unicorn Girl

“Step by step
Moment by moment
We live through
Another day”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Harper

“There's something wrong in not appreciating one's own special abilities, my girl. Find your own limitations, yes, but don't limit yourself with false modesty.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger

“Oh, Tongue, give sound to joy and sing
Of hope and promise on dragonwing”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong

“Don't leave me alone!
A cry in the night,
Of anguish heart-stiking,
Of soul-killing fright.

Live for my living
Or else I must die
Don't leave me alone.
A world heard that cry.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger

“The little queen all golden
Flew hissing at the sea.
To stop each wave
Her clutch to save
She ventured bravely.

As she attacked the sea in rage
A holderman came nigh
Along the sand
Fishnet in hand
And saw the queen midsky.

He stared at her in wonder
For often he'd been told
That such as she
Could never be
Who hovered there, bright gold.

He saw her plight and quickly
He looked up the cliff he faced
And saw a cave
Above the wave
In which her eggs he placed.

The little queen all golden
Upon his shoulder stood
Her eyes all blue
Glowed of her true
Undying gratitude.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger

“Necessity breeds solution.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger

“My nightly craft is winged in white, a dragon of night dark sea.
Swift born, dream bound and rudderless, her captain and crew are me.
We've sailed a hundred sleeping tides where no seaman's ever been
And only my white-winged craft and I know the wonders we have seen.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong

“Drummer, beat, and piper, blow
Harper, strike, and soldier, go
Free the flame and sear the grasses
Til the dawning Red Star passes”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong

“Dragon kind was no less cruel than mankind. The Dragon, at least, acted from bestial need rather than bestial greed.”
~ A thought by Lessa ~”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight

“The blackest night must end in dawn, the light dispel the dreamer's fear.”
― Anne McCaffrey

“be you and not someone else”
― Anne McCaffrey

“Harper, your song has a sorrowful sound,
Though the tune was written as gay.
Your voice is sad and your hands are slow
And your eye meeting mine turns away.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong

“Maybes never are.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong

“How much can a dragon carry?
As much as it thinks it can”
― Anne McCaffrey

“When bad fortune occurs, the unresourceful, unimaginative man looks about him to attach the blame to someone else; the resolute accepts misfortune and endeavors to survive, mature, and improve because of it.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern

“Fight only in direst need
Not for lust or petty greed
Honor those that do give birth
Respect them well for their full worth”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Harper

“He is crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase.”
― Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball, Acorna's Quest

“Exchange information, learn to speak sensibly about any subject, learn to express your thoughts, accept new ones, examine them, analyze. Think objectively. Think toward the future.”
― Anne McCaffrey, The White Dragon

“Old family motto: "The best revenge is revenge.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Acorna: The Unicorn Girl

“My eyes are green, my hair is silver and I freckle; the rest is subject to change without notice.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight

“I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens.”
― Anne McCaffrey

“Above us, outlined against the brilliant sky, dragons crowded every available perching space on the Rim. And the sun made a gold of every one of them.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Nerilka's Story

“Harper, treat your words with care
For they may cause joy or despair
Sing your songs of health and love
Of dragons flaming from above”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Harper

“Harper to your word be true
Holder, crafter you also hew
To honesty, integrity, and respect
All others without regard to intellect”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Harper