Will Treaty Quotes

“The young gentleman is correct," he said.
Halt raised an eyebrow. "He may be correct, and he is undoubtedly young. But he's no gentleman."

~Halt and General Sapristi speaking of Will”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“It has to be admitted that, in a sneaking way, although he hated the discomfort of seasickness, once he was over it, he enjoyed the attention and sympathy that it created among attractive young women like Evanlyn and Alyss. And he liked the fact that Will tended to walk on eggshells around him when the problem was mentioned. Keeping Will off balance was always desirable.

~Halt”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“Bear with me on this, Evanlyn. I know you're anxious about Horace."
WIll was a little puzzled by Halt's words. "No more anxious than the rest of us, surely," he said.
Halt turned away and raised his eyebrows as his gaze met Selethen's. Sometimes, he thought, his former apprentice could be remarkably slow on the uptake. He saw the Arridi's slow nod of understanding.

~Halt & Will about Evanlyn and Horace”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“She shook her head in admiration. "You've thought of everything," she said. But Will looked up at her and shook his head solemnly.
"I doubt it," he said. "No matter how thoroughly you plan, no matter how much you think you know, you've never thought of everything.”
― John Flanagan, The Royal Ranger

“Very well," he said now. "Fighting positions, please, ladies..."
"That's debatable," Halt said in an undertone to Will as they stood watchingn. A number of the off-duty crew had gathered to watch as well. There was a certain enjoyment to be had in watching two extremely attractive girls trying to split each other's skulls open with wooden swords.
"The 'fighting' part or the 'ladies' part?" Will replied with a grin. Halt looked at him and shook his head. "Definitely the 'ladies,'" he said. "There's no debate about the fighting.'"

~Halt & Will about Evanlyn and Alyss”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“As the old Ranger adage went "If a person doesn't expect to see someone, odds are he won't.”
― John Flanagan, The Kings of Clonmel

“Greybeard Halt is a friend of mine
He lives on Redmont hill
Greybeard Halt never took a bath
And they say he never will!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way


Greybeard Halt, he lost a bet
He lost his winter cloak
When winter comes, Halt stays warm
By sleeping 'mongst the goats.


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I'll see you on your way.


Greybeard Halt, he lives with goats
That's what I’ve heard tell
He hasn’t changed his socks for years
But the goats don't mind the smell!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way


Greybeard Halt is a fighting man
I’ve heard common talk
That Greybeard Halt, he cuts his hair
With his saxe knife and fork!


Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I’ll see you on your way”
― John Flanagan, The Sorcerer of the North

“And there she was, framed against the bright sunlight reflecting from the snow outside and as breathtakingly beautiful as he knew he would always remember her to be, no matter how long he lived or how old they might become.”
― John Flanagan, The Icebound Land

“Most of our time is spent waiting. A Ranger's best asset is patience.”
― John Flanagan, The Red Fox Clan

“I picked this up again because every time I enter a really old building with a spiral staircase I remember this quote from this exact book about why spiral staircases spiral clockwise, and I don't know if it's true or apocryphal or just plain fiction -- I suppose I could look it up -- but I just love that it's permanently engrained in my memory at this point:

"That stairway would be a narrow spiral, set to the left-hand side and twisting the right as it ascended. In that way, a right-handed swordsman climbing the stairs would be at a disadvantage to a right-handed defender. An attacker would have to expose all of his body in order to use his sword, while the defender could strike with only his right side exposed. It was standard design for the castle tower.”
― John Flanagan, The Siege of Macindaw

“That stairway would be a narrow spiral, set to the left-hand side and twisting the right as it ascended. In that way, a right-handed swordsman climbing the stairs would be at a disadvantage to a right-handed defender. An attacker would have to expose all of his body in order to use his sword, while the defender could strike with only his right side exposed. It was standard design for the castle tower.”
― John Flanagan, The Siege of Macindaw