Stephen R. Donaldson

Stephen Reeder Donaldson (born May 13, 1947, in Cleveland) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist. His works are noted for their use of complicated and often obscure language, a strong focus on characterization, and epic themes tied to a humanist world view.

Sourced

• Foamfollower's question caught him wandering. "Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"

Absently, he replied, "I was, once."

"And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?"

[...] "I live."

"Another?" Foamfollower returned. "In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more—with one word you will make me weep."

• • Foamfollower and Thomas Covenant, Lord Foul's Bane, the first book of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

• When last comes to last,
  I have little power:
  I am merely an urn. I hold the bone-sap of myself,
  and watch the marrow burn.
  When last comes to last,
  I have little strength:
  I am only a tool. I work its work; and in its hands
  I am the fool.
  When last comes to last,
  I have little life.
  I am simply a deed: an action done while courage holds:
  a seed.
  • Healer, The Power that Preserves, the third book of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

• This you have to understand. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken.
  • The Wounded Land (1980)