Domnei quotes
The lines readers remember from Domnei, by James Branch Cabell.
10 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
No woman ever loved a man except, at bottom, as a mother loves her child
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“Yes, I have been eavesdropping for an instant, and through that instant I seemed to see the heart of every woman that ever lived; and they differed only as stars differ on a fair night in August.
No woman ever loved a man except, at bottom, as a mother loves her child
: let him elect to build a nation or to write imperishable verses or to take purses upon the highway, and she will only smile to note how breathlessly the boy goes about his playing;
For such as I am, to love is dangerous.
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“
For such as I am, to love is dangerous.
For such as I am, nor fire nor meteor hurls a mightier bolt than Aphrodite’s shaft, or marks its passage by more direful ruin. But you do not know Euripides?—a fidgety-footed liar, Messire the Comte, who occasionally blunders into the clumsiest truths.
I walk with ghosts, king’s daughter, and I am none the happier.
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I only know that a woman has usurped the voice of Mélusine, and that this woman’s eyes also are blue, and that this woman smiles as Mélusine was used to smile when I was young.
I walk with ghosts, king’s daughter, and I am none the happier.
”
Let him who would understand the mystery of the Crucifixion first become a lover!
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Said Melicent, “It is not unlikely that the Perion men know today has forgotten me and the service which I joyed to render Perion.
Let him who would understand the mystery of the Crucifixion first become a lover!
I pray for old sake’s sake that Perion and his lady may taste of every prosperity. Indeed, I do not envy her.
He who hunts with cats will catch mice.
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“She would have killed you, Melicent,” Orestes said, “though all Olympos had marshalled in interdiction. That would have been irreligious. Moreover, by Hercules! I have not time to choose sides between snarling women.
He who hunts with cats will catch mice.
I aim more highly. And besides, by an incredible forced march, this Comte de la Forêt and all his Free Companions are battering at the gates of Nacumera—”
I think that this was her high hour of triumph.
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I know that he knelt (incurious for once of victory) before this stranger who was not the Melicent whom he had sought so long, and that all consideration of a lost young Melicent departed from him, as mists leave our world when the sun rises.
I think that this was her high hour of triumph.
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V: How Melicent Wedded
No woman ever loved a man except, at bottom, as a mother loves her child
Show the passage
“Yes, I have been eavesdropping for an instant, and through that instant I seemed to see the heart of every woman that ever lived; and they differed only as stars differ on a fair night in August.
No woman ever loved a man except, at bottom, as a mother loves her child
: let him elect to build a nation or to write imperishable verses or to take purses upon the highway, and she will only smile to note how breathlessly the boy goes about his playing;
VII: How Perion Was Freed
Most people know Demetrios is not a merchant. He does not buy and sell. That which he has he keeps, and that which he desires he takes.
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That is an admirable colour. And yet I do not value it. I think I do not value anything. So I will make you a gift of this big coloured pebble, if you desire it, because your ignorance amuses me.
Most people know Demetrios is not a merchant. He does not buy and sell. That which he has he keeps, and that which he desires he takes.
”
He chuckled, saying, “Platitudes break no bones.”
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“It is as sure as Love and Death. I know that nothing is more sure than these, and I praise God for my sure knowledge.”
He chuckled, saying, “Platitudes break no bones.”
So on the next day the chains were filed from Perion de la Forêt and all his fellows, save the nine unfortunates whom Demetrios had appointed to fight with lions a month before this, when he had entertained the Sultan of Bacharia.
XI: How Time Sped with Perion
“I cannot permit these observations,” said Perion. So they fought, and Perion killed his opponent, and left Pseudopolis that afternoon.
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“Even so,” the lord replied, “a mole is a blemish.”
“I cannot permit these observations,” said Perion. So they fought, and Perion killed his opponent, and left Pseudopolis that afternoon.
He came unhurt to King Theodoret, who at once recognised in the famous Comte de la Forêt the former Vicomte de Puysange, but gave no sign of such recognition.
Such was Perion’s way.
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“I cannot permit these observations,” said Perion. So they fought, and Perion killed his opponent, and left Pseudopolis that afternoon.
Such was Perion’s way.
He came unhurt to King Theodoret, who at once recognised in the famous Comte de la Forêt the former Vicomte de Puysange, but gave no sign of such recognition.
XIX: How Flamberge Was Lost
For such as I am, to love is dangerous.
Show the passage
“
For such as I am, to love is dangerous.
For such as I am, nor fire nor meteor hurls a mightier bolt than Aphrodite’s shaft, or marks its passage by more direful ruin. But you do not know Euripides?—a fidgety-footed liar, Messire the Comte, who occasionally blunders into the clumsiest truths.
XX: How Perion Got Aid
I walk with ghosts, king’s daughter, and I am none the happier.
Show the passage
I only know that a woman has usurped the voice of Mélusine, and that this woman’s eyes also are blue, and that this woman smiles as Mélusine was used to smile when I was young.
I walk with ghosts, king’s daughter, and I am none the happier.
”
XXII: How Misery Held Nacumera
Let him who would understand the mystery of the Crucifixion first become a lover!
Show the passage
Said Melicent, “It is not unlikely that the Perion men know today has forgotten me and the service which I joyed to render Perion.
Let him who would understand the mystery of the Crucifixion first become a lover!
I pray for old sake’s sake that Perion and his lady may taste of every prosperity. Indeed, I do not envy her.
XXVI: How Men Ordered Matters
He who hunts with cats will catch mice.
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“She would have killed you, Melicent,” Orestes said, “though all Olympos had marshalled in interdiction. That would have been irreligious. Moreover, by Hercules! I have not time to choose sides between snarling women.
He who hunts with cats will catch mice.
I aim more highly. And besides, by an incredible forced march, this Comte de la Forêt and all his Free Companions are battering at the gates of Nacumera—”
XXX: How Melicent Conquered
I think that this was her high hour of triumph.
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I know that he knelt (incurious for once of victory) before this stranger who was not the Melicent whom he had sought so long, and that all consideration of a lost young Melicent departed from him, as mists leave our world when the sun rises.
I think that this was her high hour of triumph.
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