Wizard's Ninth Rule
The Wizard's Ninth Rule, revealed in Chainfire, is:
A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. —Chapter 48, p. 489, U.S. hardcover editionIt is explained in the novel as follows: "To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy - to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life. In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake."
Read more about this topic: Chainfire
Famous quotes containing the words wizard, ninth and/or rule:
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
—Bible: Hebrew Exodus, 20:16.
The ninth commandment.
“All you people don’t know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for, and he fought for them once, for the only reason that any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain, simple rule—Love Thy Neighbor. And in this world today, full of hatred, a man who knows that one rule has a great trust.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)