Eragon is a novel written by Christopher Paolini in 2003 and is the first book of the Inheritance cycle.
Murtagh
- "You aren't the only enemies the Ra'zac have. I was tracking them."
- "My mind is the only sanctuary that has not been stolen from me. Men have tried to breach it before, but I've learned to defend it vigorously, for I am only safe with my innermost thoughts."
- "Do you think I enjoy this? My life has been threatened from the day I was born! All of my waking hours have been spent avoiding danger in one form or another. And sleep never comes easily because I always worry if I'll live to see the dawn. If there ever was a time I felt secure, it must have been in my mother's womb, though I wasn't safe even there! You don't understand - if you lived with this fear, you would have learned the same lesson I did: Do not take chances."
- Eragon: "Humor, Murtagh?" Murtagh: "Only on the gallows."
- "...Nothing you say or do will convince me to open my mind."
- I haven't done anything to deserve this treatment, though it would have been easier to atone for if I had. No... my only wrongdoing is existing in the first place."
Eragon and Saphira
- What wisdom can I give people that they haven’t already learned? What feats can I achieve that an army couldn’t do better? It’s insanity!
- If Murtagh will prove untrustworthy, Saphira can always chase him away. Join us if you wish.
- It’s overwhelming. I feel as if I am living in an illusion, a dream where all things are possible. Amazing things do happen, I know, but always to someone else, always in some far-off place and time. But I found your egg, was tutored by a Rider, and dueled a Shade — those can't be the actions of the farm boy I am, or was. Something is changing me.
- It is your wyrd that shapes you. Every age needs an icon— perhaps that lot has fallen to you. Farm boys are not named for the first Rider without cause. Your namesake was the beginning, and now you are the continuation. Or the end.
- A hatchling, that is what you are. A hatchling struggling into the world. I may be younger than you in years, but I am ancient in my thoughts. Do not worry about these things. Find peace in where and what you are. People often know what must be done. All you need to do is show them the way- that is wisdom. As for feats, no army could have given the blessing you did.
- Clear your mind of such thoughts. They cannot be answered and will make you no happier.
- After all, how can a mere dragon expect to tell a man like yourself what to do? In fact, everyone should stand in awe of your brilliance of finding the only dead end.
- That's the problem! I've been choosing male names. You are a she!
- Eragon to Saphira, while trying to choose her name.
- "Are you Saphira?" She looked at him with intelligent eyes. Deep in his mind he felt her satisfaction.Yes.
- Saphira : If anything happens, I'm going to pin you to my back and never let you off.
Eragon : I love you too.
Saphira :Then I will bind you all the tighter.
- Saphira : It's funny to see a hatchling like you beaten by the old one.
- After Brom beat Eragon in a practice duel.
- Saphira : Together we can cast spells that are beyond either of us.
- Saphira : No hunter of the sky should end his days as prey. Better to die on the wing than pinned to the ground.
- Eragon : Saphira, where are you? Let's have some fun!
- Eragon : My heart died a while back.
- Saphira : The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender the will to change and experience life
- Eragon : If I drank that much mead it would kill me!
Saphira : That's why you're not a dragon.
- Eragon : I will fight when needed, revel when there's an occasion, mourn when there is grief, and die if my time comes...but I won't let anybody use me against my will.
- Eragon : Should I kill him?
Brom
- “To know who you are without any delusions or sympathy is a moment of revelation that no one experiences unscathed.”
- "You don’t know what it is to reach my age, look back, and realize that you don’t remember much of it: then to look forward and know that many years still lie ahead of you..."
- "Well, then... if you do, come tell me. I am most interested in this trader who pretends to know so much about dragons."
- "Anyway, I'm not going to stay behind while some stripling gets to run around with a dragon."
- "Once upon a time that was true... but no more. When I was young... younger than you are now, I was chosen... chosen by the Riders to join their ranks. While they trained me, I became friends with another apprentice... Morzan, before he was a Forsworn. But then he betrayed us to Galbatorix... and in the fighting at Doru Areaba - Vroengard's city - my young dragon was killed. Her name... was Saphira."
- "May the coming years bring you great happiness."
- There's a reason why we're born with brains in our heads, not rocks.
- And now for the greatest adventure of all.
As he dies
- May your swords stay sharp.
- One part brave, three parts fool. [said of Eragon]
- "You can't argue with all the fools in the world. It's better to let them have their way, then trick them when they're not paying attention.
- Many people have died for their beliefs...The real courage is living and suffering for what you believe.
- People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn’t.
- The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can't.
- I didn't think I would ever meet a noble who wasn't corrupt. Now that I have, I find I prefer them when they're greedy bastards.
- [after Eragon states that he does not understand his training] Of course you don't. That's why I'm teaching you and not the other way around. Now stop talking, or we'll never get anywhere.
- "The sands of time cannot be stopped. Years pass whether we will them or not… but we can remember. What has been lost may yet live on in memories"
Other Quotes
- Orik: See you now? Humans and elvesh are the giants. The land's full of them, here, there, and everywhere, stomping about with their big feet and casting us in endless shadowses.
- Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.
- Eragon recoiled in shock. Standing in front of him, licking off the membrane that encased it, was a dragon.
- Durza : After her! She is the one I want!
- Eragon : Why are you here?
The Shade looked at him with contempt in his red eyes and smiled
Durza : To gloat, of course. What use is a victory if one cannot enjoy it?
- Solembum : Listen closely and I will tell you two things. When the time comes and you need a weapon, look under the roots of the Menoa tree. Then, when all seems lost and your power is insufficient, go to the rock of Kuthian and speak your name to open the Vault of Souls.
- Solembum : Knowing is independent of being. I did not know you existed before you bumbled in here and ruined my nap. Yet that doesn't mean you weren't real before you woke me.
- Ajihad : You are an enigma, Eragon, a quandary that no one knows how to solve.
- Nasuada : I met Murtagh earlier....he's anxious to speak with you. He seemed lonely; you should visit him.
- Arya : Farewell Eragon, rider of dragons...my life is in your hands.
Murtagh : Don't mention it.
- Uncle Garrow : Let no one rule your mind or body. Take special care that your thoughts remain unfettered, one may be a free man and yet be bound tighter than a slave. Give men your ear, but not your heart. Show respect for those in power, but don’t follow them blindly. Judge with logic and reason, but comment not. Consider none your superior in life. Treat all fairly or they will seek revenge. Be careful with your money. Hold fast to your beliefs and others will listen. Of the affairs of love, my only advice is to be honest. That’s yourmost powerful tool to unlock a heart or gain forgiveness.
- to Roran and Eragon as Roran is leaving to work at the mill
- Durza: Congratulations. You've just been promoted.
