The Time Traders quotes
The lines readers remember from The Time Traders, by Andre Norton.
15 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
History is sentimental about that type—when he is safely dead—but the present finds him difficult to live with.
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“The men we send out from here to explore the past are not only given the best training we can possibly supply for them, but they are all of the type once heralded as the frontiersman.
History is sentimental about that type—when he is safely dead—but the present finds him difficult to live with.
Our time agents are misfits in the modern world because their inherited abilities are born out of season now. They must be young enough and possess a certain brand of intelligence to take the stiff training and to adapt, and they must pass our tests.
He had always had a kind of pride in his record; now he had begun to wish sometimes that it was a record of a different type.
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Ross did not try to breach the barrier between them mainly because he was sure that the reason for it was the fact that he was a “volunteer.” It gave him an odd new feeling he avoided trying to analyze.
He had always had a kind of pride in his record; now he had begun to wish sometimes that it was a record of a different type.
Men came and went. Hodaki and his partner disappeared, as did Jansen and his. One lost track of time within that underground warren which was the base.
Charred posts still stood like lone teeth in a skull to mark what must have once been one of the stockade walls of a post.
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The black patch left by the fire, which had come from a ruin above, had spread downhill on the opposite side of the valley.
Charred posts still stood like lone teeth in a skull to mark what must have once been one of the stockade walls of a post.
But all they now guarded was a desolation from which came that overpowering stench.
Fear, he realized with a clear thrust of consciousness such as he had seldom experienced before, had always stalked beside him, slept in his bed.
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Groggily Ross blinked up. Fear? Sure, he was afraid.
Fear, he realized with a clear thrust of consciousness such as he had seldom experienced before, had always stalked beside him, slept in his bed.
But he had never surrendered to it, and he would not now if he could help it.
It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
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“When the fire bites …” That sang in Ross’s head. There was something else—if he could only remember! Up to that moment he had kept a poor little shadow of hope.
It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
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There was something else—if he could only remember! Up to that moment he had kept a poor little shadow of hope. It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
The men led the horse to the mound of fagots which was now crowned with Foscar’s bier. The stallion went quietly, until a tall tribesman struck true with an ax, and the animal fell.
All quotes
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Chapter I
Facts were very useful things.
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All the wealth of a big city library had been his to explore, and he had spent much time there, soaking up facts in many odd branches of learning.
Facts were very useful things.
On at least three occasions assorted scraps of knowledge had preserved Ross’s freedom, once, perhaps his life.
Chapter III
“Time is what you do not have, boy. Tomorrow they will tape you. Then—no over the wall for you.”
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“I’ll take some time to chew it over—”
“Time is what you do not have, boy. Tomorrow they will tape you. Then—no over the wall for you.”
“Suppose you tell me your trick for fooling the tape,” Ross countered.
Chapter IV
History is sentimental about that type—when he is safely dead—but the present finds him difficult to live with.
Show the passage
“The men we send out from here to explore the past are not only given the best training we can possibly supply for them, but they are all of the type once heralded as the frontiersman.
History is sentimental about that type—when he is safely dead—but the present finds him difficult to live with.
Our time agents are misfits in the modern world because their inherited abilities are born out of season now. They must be young enough and possess a certain brand of intelligence to take the stiff training and to adapt, and they must pass our tests.
He had always had a kind of pride in his record; now he had begun to wish sometimes that it was a record of a different type.
Show the passage
Ross did not try to breach the barrier between them mainly because he was sure that the reason for it was the fact that he was a “volunteer.” It gave him an odd new feeling he avoided trying to analyze.
He had always had a kind of pride in his record; now he had begun to wish sometimes that it was a record of a different type.
Men came and went. Hodaki and his partner disappeared, as did Jansen and his. One lost track of time within that underground warren which was the base.
Chapter V
Charred posts still stood like lone teeth in a skull to mark what must have once been one of the stockade walls of a post.
Show the passage
The black patch left by the fire, which had come from a ruin above, had spread downhill on the opposite side of the valley.
Charred posts still stood like lone teeth in a skull to mark what must have once been one of the stockade walls of a post.
But all they now guarded was a desolation from which came that overpowering stench.
Chapter VII
We don’t know what could result from a leak of real knowledge in this or any primitive time … how it might change history—
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Our sub is a whale to all appearances. Possibly their plane is a bird, but neither can bear too close an examination.
We don’t know what could result from a leak of real knowledge in this or any primitive time … how it might change history—
”
But back in time we have to be careful, both of us, or perhaps destroy the world we do live in.
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“The Reds have made new discoveries which we have to match, or we will go under.
But back in time we have to be careful, both of us, or perhaps destroy the world we do live in.
”
Chapter IX
Ross Murdock had indeed died under that blow which had left him unconscious beside the river.
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There was one change of which Ross was not aware but which might have startled both Ashe and McNeil.
Ross Murdock had indeed died under that blow which had left him unconscious beside the river.
The young man whom Frigga had drawn back to sense and a slow recovery was Rossa of the Beaker people.
Chapter XII
But there was no reason, he decided, to lie down and roll over dead to please the Reds.
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He had only to reach the river and follow it down to the sea where the sub was to make rendezvous at intervals. The odds were overwhelmingly against him, and Ross knew it.
But there was no reason, he decided, to lie down and roll over dead to please the Reds.
As they approached the post Ross realized how much skill had gone into its construction. It looked as if they were merely coming up to the outer edge of a glacier tongue.
Chapter XIV
What do you think this planet was, a flypaper to attract them?
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Certainly there couldn’t be too many such wrecks to be found.
What do you think this planet was, a flypaper to attract them?
”
No ship’s officers ever thought gently of pirates.
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“
No ship’s officers ever thought gently of pirates.
” Ashe’s eyes closed.
Chapter XVII
Fear, he realized with a clear thrust of consciousness such as he had seldom experienced before, had always stalked beside him, slept in his bed.
Show the passage
Groggily Ross blinked up. Fear? Sure, he was afraid.
Fear, he realized with a clear thrust of consciousness such as he had seldom experienced before, had always stalked beside him, slept in his bed.
But he had never surrendered to it, and he would not now if he could help it.
It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
Show the passage
“When the fire bites …” That sang in Ross’s head. There was something else—if he could only remember! Up to that moment he had kept a poor little shadow of hope.
It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
Show the passage
There was something else—if he could only remember! Up to that moment he had kept a poor little shadow of hope. It is always impossible—he was conscious again with that strange clarity of mind—for a man to face his own death honestly.
A man always continues to believe to the last moment of his life that something will intervene to save him.
The men led the horse to the mound of fagots which was now crowned with Foscar’s bier. The stallion went quietly, until a tall tribesman struck true with an ax, and the animal fell.
Chapter XVIII
Having discovered that for him pain was a defense weapon, he had that one resource.
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The beach was still empty, except for the piles of driftwood, the rocks, and the other things he had originally found there. Yet he knew that something was waiting to pounce.
Having discovered that for him pain was a defense weapon, he had that one resource.
If they took him, it would be after besting him in a fight.
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