Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to have ignored the circumfusion of those mean dwellings that swarmed like an epidemic around its outer walls. They sprawled over the sloping arch, each one half way over its neighbour until, held back by the castle ramparts, the innermost of these hovels laid hold on the great walls, clamping themselves thereto like limpets to a rock. These dwellings, by ancient law, were granted this chill intimacy with the stronghold that loomed above them. Over their irregular roofs would fall throughout the seasons, the shadows of time-eaten buttresses, of broken and lofty turrets, and, most enormous of all, the shadow of the Tower of Flints. This tower, patched unevenly with black ivy, arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of knuckled masonry and pointed blasphemously at heaven. At night the owls made of it an echoing throat; by day it stood voiceless and cast its long shadow.
Mervyn Peake
Related This tower, patched unevenly with black ivy, arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of k... MERVYN PEAKE I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES I don't know if I have a favorite color. KATE MIDDLETON It's very special having a new little girl. KATE MIDDLETON She said 'Over my dead body!' so I took her at her word. DIANA WYNNE JONES The end of the world is a strange concept. The world is always ending, and the end is always being a... NEIL GAIMAN What is the Other?" they ask. The Other is the one who taught me whatI should be like, but not ... PAULO COELHO You must save what you can of your life; you musn't lose it all simply because you've lost a part. HENRY JAMES In a world in which the common rule which binds and regulates what the general masses feel is underm... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Look, my friends!' he called. 'Here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an elven princeling in! If it wer... J.R.R. TOLKIEN The unfortunate thing is that, sometimes, we slip, but, fortunately, consciously or unconsciously, w... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained. QUEEN ELIZABETH II Like all best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and... QUEEN ELIZABETH II My husband has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years, and I owe him a debt greater ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have to be seen to be believed. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughou... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The British constitution has always been puzzling and always will be. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have behind me not only the splendid traditions and the annals of more than a thousand years but t... QUEEN ELIZABETH II To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in th... QUEEN ELIZABETH II What were once only hopes for the future have now come to pass; it is almost exactly 13 years since ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something e... QUEEN ELIZABETH II To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts an... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Grief is the price we pay for love. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II At its heart, engineering is about using science to find creative, practical solutions. It is a nobl... QUEEN ELIZABETH II At Christmas, I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Chr... QUEEN ELIZABETH II For many, Christmas is also a time for coming together. But for others, service will come first. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses w... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your s... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Therefore I am sure that this, my Coronation, is not the symbol of a power and a splendor that are g... QUEEN ELIZABETH II We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the man... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as... QUEEN ELIZABETH II These wretched babies don't come until they are ready. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II The events that I have attended to mark my Diamond Jubilee have been a humbling experience. It has t... QUEEN ELIZABETH II In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters... QUEEN ELIZABETH II No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have been aware all the time that my peoples, spread far and wide throughout every continent and o... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than... NEIL GAIMAN Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet ... J.R.R. TOLKIEN We'll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids. But obviously we want... PRINCE WILLIAM Family is the most important thing in the world. PRINCESS DIANA You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I ... CATHERINE THE GREAT With the right help, children have a good chance of overcoming their issues while they are still you... KATE MIDDLETON As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. KING SOLOMON I don't mind a big fascinator. I think there is more scope for artwork in a fascinator rather th... ZARA PHILLIPS I was always told from the hat-makers that you should have your hair up because it shows the hat mor... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't think I'll still be riding at 40. There are a couple of people who are still riding ... ZARA PHILLIPS My dad's not a big talker. ZARA PHILLIPS My dad can be pretty critical sometimes. ZARA PHILLIPS I'd love to have kids, but not at the moment. ZARA PHILLIPS You cannot make horses 'safe.' ZARA PHILLIPS Virtually everything that gets printed about me is wrong anyway, so it doesn't really matter wha... ZARA PHILLIPS It's stupid to say that I don't like being in the public eye, but I don't like doing stu... ZARA PHILLIPS I'm an affectionate person. ZARA PHILLIPS People still text me to say that there is something about me in the paper, and what really annoys me... ZARA PHILLIPS Sometimes people will come up in the street and say: 'My daughter loves you, will you sign an au... ZARA PHILLIPS Taking part in an Olympics on home ground is something you dream about. ZARA PHILLIPS My brother and I have been able to get on and have been very lucky to do things with our family that... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't think about the media. ZARA PHILLIPS I love the sport and being competitive. ZARA PHILLIPS The horses are all characters, all personalities. Some you get along with, some you don't, some ... ZARA PHILLIPS I hate having my picture taken. ZARA PHILLIPS Unfortunately in sport it's either good or bad. You've got to take the highs and the lows. ZARA PHILLIPS My mother is massively into sailing, so we always had Musto clothes, and it went on from there, real... ZARA PHILLIPS The senior members of the royal family work very hard and I don't think people quite realise tha... ZARA PHILLIPS In our sport you're very lucky to find a horse of a lifetime and I found mine relatively early. ... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't have a stylist, and I do most of my shopping online, just because it's easier. I don... ZARA PHILLIPS I think Facebook's dangerous. So many people I know get into trouble with Facebook... I'd ra... ZARA PHILLIPS I'm not a princess anyway so I find that quite weird to be labelled as one. ZARA PHILLIPS Smoking is hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs. KING JAMES I My dear mamma is quite right when she says that we must lay down principles and not depart from them... MARIE ANTOINETTE I never make a trip to the United States without visiting a supermarket. To me they are more fascina... WALLIS SIMPSON PS: It's all gossip about the prince. I'm not in the habit of taking my girlfriends' bea... WALLIS SIMPSON I am so anxious for you not to abdicate and I think the fact that you do is going to put me in the w... WALLIS SIMPSON I hate this place. I shall hate it to my grave. WALLIS SIMPSON I look a hundred and weigh 110 - you won't love me when you see the wreck England has made me. WALLIS SIMPSON A woman's life can really be a succession of lives, each revolving around some emotionally compe... WALLIS SIMPSON Never explain, never complain. WALLIS SIMPSON You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance. WALLIS SIMPSON I have always had the courage for the new things that life sometimes offers. WALLIS SIMPSON For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat. WALLIS SIMPSON Forgive me for not writing but this man is exhausting. WALLIS SIMPSON You can never be too rich or too thin. WALLIS SIMPSON A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. KING SOLOMON It seems to me that man is made to act rather than to know: the principles of things escape our most... FREDERICK THE GREAT Addiction is a hugely complex and destructive disease, and its impact can be simply devastating. All... KATE MIDDLETON There is nothing new except what has been forgotten. MARIE ANTOINETTE I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all. MARIE ANTOINETTE I think change needs to be egoless. It's not about my leaving my fingerprints or a legacy. It... QUEEN RANIA OF JORDAN We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist. QUEEN VICTORIA I can make a lord, but only God can make a gentleman. KING JAMES I I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse. CHARLES V I feel very, very lucky that George has got a little sister. KATE MIDDLETON It would be doing me great injustice to think that I have any feeling of indifference to my country;... MARIE ANTOINETTE
More Mervyn Peake
Life is too fleet for onomatopoeia. MERVYN PEAKE There is a kind of laughter that sickens the soul. Laughter when it is out of control: when it screa... MERVYN PEAKE Each day I live in a glass room unless I break it with the thrusting of my senses and pass through t... MERVYN PEAKE I am clever enough to know that I am clever. MERVYN PEAKE Take him away. Prepare a feast. Forget nothing. My crown: the golden cutlery. The poison bottles; an... MERVYN PEAKE This tower, patched unevenly with black ivy, arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of k... MERVYN PEAKE What is Time... That you speak of it so subserviently? Are we to be the slaves of the sun, that seco... MERVYN PEAKE In great thick dusty books he read And hardly ever went to bed Before it was eleven. ... MERVYN PEAKE If seeing her an hour before her last Weak cough into all blackness I could yet Be held by... MERVYN PEAKE She had expressed herself, as women will, in a smug broadside of pastel shades. Nothing clashed beca... MERVYN PEAKE Civilized people don't feel . MERVYN PEAKE And now, my poor old woman, why are you crying so bitterly? It is autumn. The leaves are falling fro... MERVYN PEAKE So limp of brain that for them to conceive an idea is to risk a haemorrhage. So limp of body that th... MERVYN PEAKE I am too rich already, for my eyes mint gold. - Coloured Money MERVYN PEAKE The crags of the mountain were ruthless in the moon; cold, deadly and shining. Distance had no meani... MERVYN PEAKE He saw in happiness the seeds of independence, and in independence the seeds of revolt. MERVYN PEAKE And a ton came down on a coloured road, And a ton came down on a gaol, And a ton came down... MERVYN PEAKE As I see it, life is an effort to grip before they slip through one's fingers and slide into oblivio... MERVYN PEAKE Bellgrove, eminently lovable, because of his individual weakness, his incompetence, his failure as a... MERVYN PEAKE To live at all is miracle enough. MERVYN PEAKE Hold fast To the law Of the last Cold tome, Where the earth Of the truth MERVYN PEAKE ...she stepped outwards into the dim atmosphere, and falling, was most fabulously lit by the moon an... MERVYN PEAKE It was a long head. It was a wedge, a sliver, a grotesque slice in which it seemed the fe... MERVYN PEAKE But Fuchsia might as well have been carved from dark marble. Only her tears moved. MERVYN PEAKE Gormenghast. Withdrawn and ruinous it broods in umbra: the immemorial masonry: the towers, the... MERVYN PEAKE He had no longer any need for home, for he carried his Gormenghast within him. All that he sought wa... MERVYN PEAKE She could feel the blood flowing within her and she felt that she must die or break forth into leave... MERVYN PEAKE Are you lishening, my pretty vermin, are you lishening? MERVYN PEAKE Years on end, and swords on end - where will it end, if our ears unbend - what shall I spend on a wr... MERVYN PEAKE Linger now with me, thou Beauty, On the sharp archaic shore. Surely 'tis a wastrel's dut... MERVYN PEAKE I shall live alone. Always alone. In a house or a tree.' Fuchsia started to chew at a fre... MERVYN PEAKE The moon slid inexorably into its zenith, the shadows shrivelling to the feet of all that cast them,... MERVYN PEAKE The crumbling castle, looming among the mists, exhaled the season, and every cold stone breathed it ... MERVYN PEAKE And there shall be a flame-green daybreak soon. And love itself will cry for insurrection! For tomor... MERVYN PEAKE Mount and begone. The world awaits you. MERVYN PEAKE Seeing an Earl as an owl on a mantelpiece, and having part of one's face removed by a cat, both on t... MERVYN PEAKE Swelter's eyes meet those of his enemy, and never has there held between four globes of gristle so s... MERVYN PEAKE Yet not with all of me am I in love. Too much of my own quietness is with me. MERVYN PEAKE For what use are books to anyone whose days are like a rook's nest with every twig a duty. MERVYN PEAKE It was not certain what significance the ceremony held... but the formality was no less sacred for i... MERVYN PEAKE In the presence of real tragedy you feel neither pain nor joy nor hatred, only a sense of enormous s... MERVYN PEAKE When he at least reached the door the handle had cease to vibrate. Lowering himself suddenly to his ... MERVYN PEAKE His was not the hatred that arises suddenly like a storm and as suddenly abates. It was, once the in... MERVYN PEAKE There is a love that equals in its power the love of man for woman and reaches inwards as deeply. It... MERVYN PEAKE Something to remember, that: cats for missiles. MERVYN PEAKE For death is life. It is only living that is lifeless. MERVYN PEAKE Oh how I hate people! MERVYN PEAKE Why break the heart that never beat from love? MERVYN PEAKE We are all imprisoned by the dictionary. We choose out of that vast, paper-walled prison our convict... MERVYN PEAKE I sometimes think about old tombs and weeds That interwreathe among the bones of kings Wit... MERVYN PEAKE That night, I hated father. He smelt of cabbage. There was cigarette ash all over his trousers. His ... MERVYN PEAKE my memories are made of scars and tattoos,they will last forever MERVYN We wanted to wear them down because we knew they had a long bus ride up here and I think that defini... ROY PEAKE Everybody goes through it. He carried us earlier in the season, and it's a good thing that he did. W... ROY PEAKE Would you approve of your young sons, young daughters -- because girls can read as well as boys -- r... MERVYN GRIFFITH-JONES A psychiatrist is a man who goes to the Folies-Berg?re and looks at the audience. BISHOP MERVYN STOCKWOOD When I was a graduate student at Harvard, I learned about showers and central heating. Ten years lat... MERVYN A. KING