The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate Quotes

“Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity,”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything, and I understood that it could not have been otherwise. If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Coincidence and intention are two sides of a tapestry, my lord. You may find one more agreeable to look at, but you cannot say one is true and the other is false.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“men of experience say, "Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“it is a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough. It has long been said that air (which others call argon) is the source of life.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“I would be honored to relate everything I know of the future, if Your Majesty sees fit to ask, but for myself, the most precious knowledge I possess is this: Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“like infernal fire, grief burns but does not consume; instead, it makes the heart vulnerable to further suffering.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“The pleasure you give is returned in the pleasure you receive.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Fate laughs at men’s schemes.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Just as we grow to understand the purpose of customs that seemed pointless to us in our youth,”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“I spoke to a mullah about what I had done, and it was he who told me that repentance and atonement erase the past.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity,” and”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“It is said that repentance and atonement erase the past.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“O mighty Caliph and Commander of the Faithful, I am humbled to be in the splendor of your presence; a man can hope for no greater blessing as long as he lives.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Do you now understand why I say the future and the past are the same? We cannot change either, but we can know both more fully.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“He waved his hand. “I do not sell passage through the Gate,” he said. “Allah guides whom he wishes to my shop, and I am content to be an instrument of his will.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Hassan stared at the boy for a long moment, and then his anger faded, and he let him go. When next he saw his older self, Hassan asked him, “Why did you not warn me about the pickpocket?” “Did you not enjoy the experience?”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Raniya had been flush with anticipation for this moment, and so was surprised to find that Hassan’s movements were clumsy and awkward. She remembered their wedding night very clearly; he had been confident, and his touch had taken her breath away. She knew Hassan’s first meeting with the young Raniya was not far away, and for a moment did not understand how this fumbling boy could change so quickly. And then of course the answer was clear. So every afternoon for many days, Raniya met Hassan at her rented house and instructed him in the art of love, and in doing so she demonstrated that, as is often said, women are Allah’s most wondrous creation. She told him, “The pleasure you give is returned in the pleasure you receive,” and inwardly she smiled as she thought of how true her words really were.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Por un momento no tuve claro si estaba soñando o despierto, porque me sentía como si acabase de entrar en un cuento, y la idea de que podría hablar con sus protagonistas y participar en los acontecimientos me produjo vértigo”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Nada borra el pasado. Existe el arrepentimiento, existe la enmienda, y existe el perdón. No hay más, pero con eso basta.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

“Si nuestras vidas son cuentos que cuenta Alá, entonces somos la audiencia y los protagonistas al mismo tiempo, y es a fuerza de vivir esos cuentos como recibimos nuestras enseñanzas.”
― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate