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Haggard, I Would Not Be You For All The World," He Declared. "you Have Let Your Doom In By The Front Door, Although It Will Not Depart That Way. (...) Farewell, Poor Haggard, Farewell!

-Peter S. Beagle

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Haggard, I Would Not

Peter S. Beagle

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Haggard, I Would Not Be You For All The World," He Declared. "you Have Let Your Doom In By The Front Door, Although It Will Not Depart That Way. (...) Farewell, Poor Haggard, Farewell!

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But I Must Go On," Said The Lady Amalthea, "for It Is Never Finished. Even When I Wake, I Cannot Tell What Is Real, And What I Am Dreaming As I Move And Speak And Eat My Dinner. I Remember What Cannot Have Happened, And Forget Something That Is Happening To Me Know. People Look At Me As Though I Should Know Them, And I Do Know Them In The Dream, And Always The Fire Draws Me Nearer, Though I Am Awake—

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There Never Is A Happy Ending Because Nothing Ever Ends.

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- And You Are Truly Human Now. You Can Love, And Fear, And Forbid Things To Be What They Are, And Overact.

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The Last Unicorn Lived In A Lilac Wood, And She Lived All Alone.

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What Do Men Know? Because They Have Seen No Unicorns For A While Does Not Mean We Have All Vanished.

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Unicorns Are Not To Be Forgiven." The Magician Felt Himself Growing Giddy With Jealousy, Not Only Of The Touch But Of Something Like A Secret That Was Moving Between Molly And The Unicorn. "unicorns Are For Beginnings," He Said, "for Innocence And Purity, For Newness. Unicorns Are For Young Girls." Molly Was Stroking The Unicorn's Throat As Timidly As Though She Were Blind. She Dried Her Grimy Tears On The White Mane. "you Don't Know Much About Unicorns," She Said.

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Wisdom Is Finding Joy In Bewilderment

Sparrows And Cats Will Live In My Shoe, Sooner Than I Will Live With You. Fish Will Come Walking Out Of The Sea, Sooner Than You Will Come Back To Me.

I Am Infected With Life And Will Die Of It In Time.

The Tune Was Wailing And Mournful, Almost Flagrantly So, And The Total Effect Was Of A Heartbroken Piccolo Being Parted Forever From Its Bagpipe Lover.

Sing To Me," She Said. "that Would Be Valiant, To Raise Your Voice In This Dark, Lonely Place, And It Will Be Useful As Well. Sing To Me, Sing Loudly-drown Out My Dreams, Keep Me From Remembering Whatever Wants Me To Remember It. Sing To Me, My Lord Prince, If It Please You. It May Not Seem A Hero's Task, But I Would Be Glad Of It.

I Love Whom I Love," Prince Lir Repeated Firmly. "you Have No Power Over Anything That Matters.

I Fear It, For Her Sake. It Would Mean That She Too Is A Wanderer Now, And That Is A Fate For Human Beings, Not For Unicorns. But I Hope, Of Course I Hope.

He Is A Great Enough Magician To Tap Our Most Common Nightmares, Daydreams And Twilight Fancies, But He Never Invented Them Either: He Found Them A Place To Live, A Green Alternative To Each Day's Madness Here In A Poisoned World. We Are Raised To Honor All The Wrong Explorers And Discoverers - Thieves Planting Flags, Murderers Carrying Crosses. Let Us At Last Praise The Colonizers Of Dreams.

Who Has Choices Need Not Choose. We Must, Who Have None. We Can Love But What We Lose-- What Is Gone Is Gone.

There's A Phrase, "sitzfleisch", Which Means Just Plain Sitting On Your Ass And Getting It Done. Just Showing Up For Work. My Uncle Raphael Was A Painter, And He Used To Say, "if The Muse Is Late For Work, Start Without Her". You Have To Be There. You Have To Be There, And Do It, And Grind It Out, Even When It Is Grinding And You Know You're Probably Going To Rewrite All This Tomorrow.

...but The Enchantment Of Error That You Put On Me I Must Wear Forever In Your Eyes.

...no Place Is More Enchanted Than Where A Unicorn Has Been Born.

I Have Been Mortal, And Some Part Of Me Is Mortal Yet. I Am Full Of Tears And Hunger And The Fear Of Death, Although I Cannot Weep, And I Want Nothing, And I Cannot Die. I Am Not Like The Others Now, For No Unicorn Was Ever Born Who Could Regret, But I Do. I Regret.

Then What Is Magic For?" Prince Lír Demanded Wildly. "what Use Is Wizardry If It Cannot Save A Unicorn?" He Gripped The Magician's Shoulder Hard, To Keep From Falling. Schmedrick Did Not Turn His Head. With A Touch Of Sad Mockery In His Voice, He Said, "that's What Heroes Are For.

If She Had Touched Me," He Said Very Softly, "i Would Have Been Hers And Not My Own, Not Ever Again. I Wanted Her To Touch Me But I Could Not Let Her. No Cat Will. We Let Human Beings Caress Us Because It Is Pleasant Enough And Calms Them - But Not Her. The Price Is More Than A Cat Can Pay.

Sitting Up All Night Would Be Pointless If Somebody You Loved Wasn't Sitting Up With You, Picking Out Music To Play And Helping You Kill The Bourbon. Walking By Yourself In The Rain Is For College Kids Who Think Loneliness Makes Poets.

I Am Afraid! It Is Not Starving I Fear, Or Talking To People, Or Even Being Alone. But I Cannot Bear To Be Useless And Ineffectual. There Must Be Some Meaning To Me, If Not To My Life; There Must Surely Be Some Purpose That Has My Name Written On It. If This Is Not So, If I Am Deceiving Myself About This Too, Then Why Should I Want To Become Real? What Reason Have I To Live Anywhere?

For A Moment She Turned In A Circle, Staring At Her Hands, Which She Held High And Useless, Close To Her Breast. She Bobbed And Shambled Like An Ape Doing A Trick, And Her Face Was The Silly, Bewildered Face Of A Joker's Victim. And Yet She Could Make No Move That Was Not Beautiful. Her Trapped Terror Was More Lovely Than Any Joy That Molly Had Ever Seen, And That Was The Most Terrible Thing About It.

I Am A King's Daughter, And If I Cared To Care, The Moon That Has No Mistress Would Flutter In My Hair. No One Dares To Cherish What I Choose To Crave. Never Have I Hungered, For That I Did Not Have I Am A Kings Daughter, And I Grow Old Within The Prison Of My Person, The Shackles Of My Skin. And I Would Run Away And Beg From Door To Door, Just To See Your Shadow Once, And Never More.

The True Secret In Being A Hero Lies In Knowing The Order Of Things...things Must Happen When It Is Time For Them To Happen.

As For You And Your Heart And The Things You Said And Didn't Say, She Will Remember Them All When Men Are Fairy Tales In Books Written By Rabbits.

Love Was Generous Precisely Because It Could Never Be Immortal.

Writing Has Nothing To Do With Publishing. Nothing. People Get Totally Confused About That. You Write Because You Have To - You Write Because You Can't Not Write. The Rest Is Show-business. I Can't State That Too Strongly. Just Write - Worry About The Rest Of It Later, If You Worry At All. What Matters Is What Happens To You While You're Writing The Story, The Poem, The Play. The Rest Is Show-business.

Whatever Can Die Is Beautiful — More Beautiful Than A Unicorn, Who Lives Forever, And Who Is The Most Beautiful Creature In The World. Do You Understand Me?

Men Have To Have Heroes, But No Man Can Ever Be As Big As The Need, And So A Legend Grows Around A Grain Of Truth, Like A Pearl.

Take Me With You. For Laughs, For Luck, For The Unknown. Take Me With You.

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