Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Oct 19, 2005 0:06:42 GMT -5
I threatened to do this months and months ago and I finally got through them all.....
I have really enjoyed the Scholastic Star Wars books, that are written by Jude Watson and center on the Jedi. They’re written for the 9-12 year-old reader, so you’re not going to find intricate plots or complex relationships and the further away from narrating technology that Watson stays, the better (fortunately, there are only a few cringe-worthy passages scattered among the various series and special editions). But they have the best characterizations of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker that I’ve seen in my admittedly limited sampling of the EU Star Wars Universe. But even better than that, the Jedi themselves, their world and wisdom are portrayed as close as I would think they are intended to be from their depiction in the movies.
These quotes from the Scholastic Jedi series capture the ambience of the Jedi (as well as the books themselves). The only criteria for selecting them is that I think they’re cool, very Jedi and are not plot-specific for the books they are from.
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #1: THE RISING FORCE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51922-0) Scholastic, Inc, June, 1999
* * * * *
Peace over anger.
Honor over hate.
Strength over fear. – back cover
* * * * *
“To defeat an enemy, you do not have to kill. Defeat the rage that burns in him, and he is your enemy no longer. Rage the true enemy is.” [Yoda] – page 7
* * * * *
Yoda had always told him that anger and fear drove him too hard, that if he didn’t learn to control them, they would lead him down a path he didn’t want to follow. “Befriend them, you should,” Yoda had advised. “Look them in the eye without blinking. Use faults as your teachers, you should. Then rule you, they will not. Rule them, you shall.”
Yoda’s wisdom was engraved in his heart. How could he have failed to follow it? – page 16-17
* * * * *
“We are not to know,” Bant said.
“We are to do,” Obi-Wan added softly. It was a phrase they had heard many times from the Masters, when they were asked to do tasks they could not understand the significance of. – page 19
* * * * *
Justice must be sought out. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 58
* * * * *
“A man who puts himself in the path of danger deserves to face it alone,” Qui-Gon said sternly. – page 81
* * * * *
“Anger is our enemy,” Qui-Gon said reasonably. He shot a glance across the room at Jemba. “Greed and fear are also our enemies. The Arconans can live without dactyl for awhile. You do not need to fight now. Haste is another enemy.” – page 109
* * * * *
“Yoda once told me that there are trillions of people in the galaxy, and only a few thousand Jedi Knights. He said that we cannot try to right every wrong. All creatures must learn to stand for what is right, and not always rely on the Jedi.” [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 123
* * * * *
Patience, he told himself over and over again. We must have patience. That was an unwritten part of the Jedi Code. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 134-135
* * * * *
“When your path is unsure, better to wait, it is,” Yoda had told him many times. – page 167
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #2: THE DARK RIVAL
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51925-5) Scholastic, Inc, June, 1999
* * * * *
Jedi are taught to value dreams, but not to trust them. Dreams can confuse as well as illuminate. A Jedi should test a dream much as he tests unstable ground. Only when he’s sure of his footing should he move on. Dreams can be random energy, nothing more. Some Jedi see things in dreams, and others do not. – page 2-3
* * * * *
Obi-Wan wanted to blurt out the question. But one of the Jedi’s most serious rules was not to cross-examine a Master. Truth can hold great power. Therefore the decision to share it must be weighed. Only the Master could decide on revelation or concealment, according to the greater good. – page 12
* * * * *
Master Yoda had told him that often anger wasn’t about another person, but about himself. “Close your mouth and open your ears, you must,” Yoda had said. “Then hear what your true heart is seeking, you will.” – page 16
* * * * *
“We are not saints, but seekers,” Obi-Wan said, repeating a Jedi saying. – page 95
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #3: THE HIDDEN PAST
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51933-6) Scholastic, Inc, August, 1999
* * * * *
...He knew that Qui-Gon was about to drill him on a classic Jedi exercise: Attention to the Moment Gives Knowledge. At the Temple, Obi-Wan had always done well with the exercise. But he’d been distracted this morning and could barely except his own birthday.
“What do you see?” Qui-Gon asked.
Eyes close, Obi-Wan gathered his thoughts as though the had been feathers in a windstorm. He plucked observations out of the air, remembering things his eyes had registered but his mind had not. – page 3
* * * * *
“For our first mission together, Yoda has chosen something he thinks will be routine, Qui-Gon told him. “Of course, Yoda also says, ‘If routine you count on, disappointed your hopes will be.’”
Obi-Wan grinned. “It is better to expect nothing, and let each moment surprise you,” he said. It is something he had been taught at the Temple. – page 9
* * * * *
“Make the decision, make another,” Yoda always said. “remake one past, you cannot” – page 87
* * * * *
Nothing is lost where the Force dwells, he remembered from the Temple. And the Force is everywhere. – page 89
* * * * *
One of the Jedi lessons Qui-Gon had impressed upon the boy again and again was the necessary activity of waiting. Activity can endanger, he had told him. To wait and to watch is the more difficult task, yet it is one we must master.
If only he had taught himself the lesson as well. – 114
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #4: THE MARK OF THE CROWN
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51934-4) Scholastic, Inc, October, 1999
* * * * *
Qui-Gon often told him reassuring news, only to contradict it in the next sentence. It was his way of telling Obi-Wan that situations were not fixed, but fluid. “Count on nothing. Only change,” Qui-Gon had told him several times. He was always right. – page 4-5
* * * * *
“Respect is the cornerstone of the Master-Padawan bond,” Obi-Wan said through his teeth. – page 30.
* * * * *
Doubt in battle, there cannot be.
Always, in times of trouble, Yoda’s teaching rose in his mind. Belief, there must be. Belief, in the Force. Reach for it, you will. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 112
* * * * *
“My Jedi training tells me that to absorb a blow is to begin to recover from it, “ Obi-Wan continued softly... – page 117
* * * * *
Always more questions than answers, there are, Yoda had said. – page 131
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #5: THE DEFENDERS OF THE DEAD
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51956-5) Scholastic, Inc, December, 1999
* * * * *
As a student at the Temple, he had been mystified by the Force. He knew he was Force-sensitive–it was why he had been chose to study at the Temple as a child. But throughout his training, he often found the Force elusive and unreliable. He was able to tap into it, but not every time he wanted to. When he did, he could not control it.
With Qui-Gon, he had learned that it was not his job to control it, but to join it. Now he could rely on it to guide him, give him strength and vision. He was beginning to understand how deeply it pulsed, how steady a presence it was. As a Jedi, he had constant access to it. It was the greatest gift he could imagine being given. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 11
* * * * *
“Justice is something to fight for. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be a Jedi.” [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 63
* * * * *
Whenever Yoda saw pride in a Jedi student, he found ways to expose it and put the student on the right path. Pride was often based in arrogance, and had no place in a Jedi. Part of the Jedi training was to eliminate pride and substitute sureness and humility. The Force only flourished in those who knew they were connected to all life-forms. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 63-64
* * * * *
Qui-Gon paused. He gathered himself to deliver the Jedi wisdom of the Master and Padawan relationship. How the rules had evolved over thousands of years. How the Padawan’s pledge of obedience had nothing to do with power, but everything to do with the gaining of wisdom and the humility of service. How he was not here to punish Obi-Wan, or even to teach him, but to aid Obi-Wan’s own journey and enlightenment until the day he grew to become a Jedi Knight. – page 127
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #6: THE UNCERTAIN PATH
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51969-7) Scholastic, Inc, February, 2000
* * * * *
Remember, Padawan, when you are outnumbered, surprise is your best ally. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 5
* * * * *
Leave you, the Force cannot. Constant, it is. If find it you cannot, look inside, not out, you must. [Yoda] – page 6
* * * * *
“You cannot prevent what you cannot see coming. You can only do what you think it right at each moment as you live it. We can plan, hope, and dread the future. What we cannot do is know it.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 114
* * * * *
“When you don’t know your own mind, you fill it with the beliefs of another.” – page 122
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #7: THE CAPTIVE TEMPLE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51970-0) Scholastic, Inc, April, 2000
* * * * *
A decision is your alone to make. Yet remember you should that you make it also for the silent ones who stand at your shoulder. [Yoda] – page 39
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #8: THE DAY OF RECKONING
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52079-2) Scholastic, Inc, June, 2000
* * * * *
“When you want to leave some place unobserved, pick the busiest spot.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 8 and page 97
* * * * *
One of Qui-Gon’s many lessons to Obi-Wan had been that if you looked busy in an unfamiliar environment, you were often ignored. – page 9
* * * * *
“Studying the map is not the same as knowing the area,” Qui-Gon said. “Do not trust it completely. Make sure your entrance can be your exit.” – page 80
* * * * *
“You are just beginning your journey, Obi-Wan,” he said at last. “Do not concern yourself with success or failure. If you act rightly, those words lose their meaning. There is only the good that you do.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 132
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #9: THE FIGHT FOR TRUTH
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52080-6) Scholastic, Inc, August, 2000
* * * * *
A Jedi always sought to avoid a conflict. Infinitely more ways there are to reach a goal, Yoda had said many times. Try them all, you should. – page 57
* * * * *
The future is not fixed, but fluid, he told himself. Visions did not have to come true. – page 138
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #10: THE SHATTERED PEACE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52084-9) Scholastic, Inc, October, 2000
* * * * *
He was learning how to be a Master as surely as Obi-Wan was learning how to be a Padawan.
Learn not to teach, you must, Yoda had told him. As surely as you must guide, you must also be led. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 57
* * * * *
“It is seldom matters resolve themselves so easily,” he said softly to Obi-Wan. “Let us hope it is so. Being a Jedi means we honor connections.” – page 65
* * * * *
“It’s hard not to feel so discouraged that I have so much more to learn.”
“It should not be cause for discouragement,” Qui-Gon said gently. “Life is both learning and relearning. You can confront the same issue over and over, and find a deeper meaning each time. The learning deepens and that is what nourishes us. You should take comfort in the fact that life will always surprises you. ” – page 129-130
* * * * *
“Even with sureness, there must be doubt. It is the Jedi way.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 130
I have really enjoyed the Scholastic Star Wars books, that are written by Jude Watson and center on the Jedi. They’re written for the 9-12 year-old reader, so you’re not going to find intricate plots or complex relationships and the further away from narrating technology that Watson stays, the better (fortunately, there are only a few cringe-worthy passages scattered among the various series and special editions). But they have the best characterizations of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker that I’ve seen in my admittedly limited sampling of the EU Star Wars Universe. But even better than that, the Jedi themselves, their world and wisdom are portrayed as close as I would think they are intended to be from their depiction in the movies.
These quotes from the Scholastic Jedi series capture the ambience of the Jedi (as well as the books themselves). The only criteria for selecting them is that I think they’re cool, very Jedi and are not plot-specific for the books they are from.
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #1: THE RISING FORCE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51922-0) Scholastic, Inc, June, 1999
* * * * *
Peace over anger.
Honor over hate.
Strength over fear. – back cover
* * * * *
“To defeat an enemy, you do not have to kill. Defeat the rage that burns in him, and he is your enemy no longer. Rage the true enemy is.” [Yoda] – page 7
* * * * *
Yoda had always told him that anger and fear drove him too hard, that if he didn’t learn to control them, they would lead him down a path he didn’t want to follow. “Befriend them, you should,” Yoda had advised. “Look them in the eye without blinking. Use faults as your teachers, you should. Then rule you, they will not. Rule them, you shall.”
Yoda’s wisdom was engraved in his heart. How could he have failed to follow it? – page 16-17
* * * * *
“We are not to know,” Bant said.
“We are to do,” Obi-Wan added softly. It was a phrase they had heard many times from the Masters, when they were asked to do tasks they could not understand the significance of. – page 19
* * * * *
Justice must be sought out. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 58
* * * * *
“A man who puts himself in the path of danger deserves to face it alone,” Qui-Gon said sternly. – page 81
* * * * *
“Anger is our enemy,” Qui-Gon said reasonably. He shot a glance across the room at Jemba. “Greed and fear are also our enemies. The Arconans can live without dactyl for awhile. You do not need to fight now. Haste is another enemy.” – page 109
* * * * *
“Yoda once told me that there are trillions of people in the galaxy, and only a few thousand Jedi Knights. He said that we cannot try to right every wrong. All creatures must learn to stand for what is right, and not always rely on the Jedi.” [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 123
* * * * *
Patience, he told himself over and over again. We must have patience. That was an unwritten part of the Jedi Code. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 134-135
* * * * *
“When your path is unsure, better to wait, it is,” Yoda had told him many times. – page 167
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #2: THE DARK RIVAL
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51925-5) Scholastic, Inc, June, 1999
* * * * *
Jedi are taught to value dreams, but not to trust them. Dreams can confuse as well as illuminate. A Jedi should test a dream much as he tests unstable ground. Only when he’s sure of his footing should he move on. Dreams can be random energy, nothing more. Some Jedi see things in dreams, and others do not. – page 2-3
* * * * *
Obi-Wan wanted to blurt out the question. But one of the Jedi’s most serious rules was not to cross-examine a Master. Truth can hold great power. Therefore the decision to share it must be weighed. Only the Master could decide on revelation or concealment, according to the greater good. – page 12
* * * * *
Master Yoda had told him that often anger wasn’t about another person, but about himself. “Close your mouth and open your ears, you must,” Yoda had said. “Then hear what your true heart is seeking, you will.” – page 16
* * * * *
“We are not saints, but seekers,” Obi-Wan said, repeating a Jedi saying. – page 95
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #3: THE HIDDEN PAST
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51933-6) Scholastic, Inc, August, 1999
* * * * *
...He knew that Qui-Gon was about to drill him on a classic Jedi exercise: Attention to the Moment Gives Knowledge. At the Temple, Obi-Wan had always done well with the exercise. But he’d been distracted this morning and could barely except his own birthday.
“What do you see?” Qui-Gon asked.
Eyes close, Obi-Wan gathered his thoughts as though the had been feathers in a windstorm. He plucked observations out of the air, remembering things his eyes had registered but his mind had not. – page 3
* * * * *
“For our first mission together, Yoda has chosen something he thinks will be routine, Qui-Gon told him. “Of course, Yoda also says, ‘If routine you count on, disappointed your hopes will be.’”
Obi-Wan grinned. “It is better to expect nothing, and let each moment surprise you,” he said. It is something he had been taught at the Temple. – page 9
* * * * *
“Make the decision, make another,” Yoda always said. “remake one past, you cannot” – page 87
* * * * *
Nothing is lost where the Force dwells, he remembered from the Temple. And the Force is everywhere. – page 89
* * * * *
One of the Jedi lessons Qui-Gon had impressed upon the boy again and again was the necessary activity of waiting. Activity can endanger, he had told him. To wait and to watch is the more difficult task, yet it is one we must master.
If only he had taught himself the lesson as well. – 114
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #4: THE MARK OF THE CROWN
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51934-4) Scholastic, Inc, October, 1999
* * * * *
Qui-Gon often told him reassuring news, only to contradict it in the next sentence. It was his way of telling Obi-Wan that situations were not fixed, but fluid. “Count on nothing. Only change,” Qui-Gon had told him several times. He was always right. – page 4-5
* * * * *
“Respect is the cornerstone of the Master-Padawan bond,” Obi-Wan said through his teeth. – page 30.
* * * * *
Doubt in battle, there cannot be.
Always, in times of trouble, Yoda’s teaching rose in his mind. Belief, there must be. Belief, in the Force. Reach for it, you will. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 112
* * * * *
“My Jedi training tells me that to absorb a blow is to begin to recover from it, “ Obi-Wan continued softly... – page 117
* * * * *
Always more questions than answers, there are, Yoda had said. – page 131
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #5: THE DEFENDERS OF THE DEAD
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51956-5) Scholastic, Inc, December, 1999
* * * * *
As a student at the Temple, he had been mystified by the Force. He knew he was Force-sensitive–it was why he had been chose to study at the Temple as a child. But throughout his training, he often found the Force elusive and unreliable. He was able to tap into it, but not every time he wanted to. When he did, he could not control it.
With Qui-Gon, he had learned that it was not his job to control it, but to join it. Now he could rely on it to guide him, give him strength and vision. He was beginning to understand how deeply it pulsed, how steady a presence it was. As a Jedi, he had constant access to it. It was the greatest gift he could imagine being given. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 11
* * * * *
“Justice is something to fight for. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be a Jedi.” [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 63
* * * * *
Whenever Yoda saw pride in a Jedi student, he found ways to expose it and put the student on the right path. Pride was often based in arrogance, and had no place in a Jedi. Part of the Jedi training was to eliminate pride and substitute sureness and humility. The Force only flourished in those who knew they were connected to all life-forms. [Obi-Wan Kenobi] – page 63-64
* * * * *
Qui-Gon paused. He gathered himself to deliver the Jedi wisdom of the Master and Padawan relationship. How the rules had evolved over thousands of years. How the Padawan’s pledge of obedience had nothing to do with power, but everything to do with the gaining of wisdom and the humility of service. How he was not here to punish Obi-Wan, or even to teach him, but to aid Obi-Wan’s own journey and enlightenment until the day he grew to become a Jedi Knight. – page 127
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #6: THE UNCERTAIN PATH
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51969-7) Scholastic, Inc, February, 2000
* * * * *
Remember, Padawan, when you are outnumbered, surprise is your best ally. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 5
* * * * *
Leave you, the Force cannot. Constant, it is. If find it you cannot, look inside, not out, you must. [Yoda] – page 6
* * * * *
“You cannot prevent what you cannot see coming. You can only do what you think it right at each moment as you live it. We can plan, hope, and dread the future. What we cannot do is know it.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 114
* * * * *
“When you don’t know your own mind, you fill it with the beliefs of another.” – page 122
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #7: THE CAPTIVE TEMPLE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-51970-0) Scholastic, Inc, April, 2000
* * * * *
A decision is your alone to make. Yet remember you should that you make it also for the silent ones who stand at your shoulder. [Yoda] – page 39
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #8: THE DAY OF RECKONING
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52079-2) Scholastic, Inc, June, 2000
* * * * *
“When you want to leave some place unobserved, pick the busiest spot.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 8 and page 97
* * * * *
One of Qui-Gon’s many lessons to Obi-Wan had been that if you looked busy in an unfamiliar environment, you were often ignored. – page 9
* * * * *
“Studying the map is not the same as knowing the area,” Qui-Gon said. “Do not trust it completely. Make sure your entrance can be your exit.” – page 80
* * * * *
“You are just beginning your journey, Obi-Wan,” he said at last. “Do not concern yourself with success or failure. If you act rightly, those words lose their meaning. There is only the good that you do.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 132
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #9: THE FIGHT FOR TRUTH
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52080-6) Scholastic, Inc, August, 2000
* * * * *
A Jedi always sought to avoid a conflict. Infinitely more ways there are to reach a goal, Yoda had said many times. Try them all, you should. – page 57
* * * * *
The future is not fixed, but fluid, he told himself. Visions did not have to come true. – page 138
====================================================
STAR WARS, JEDI APPRENTICE #10: THE SHATTERED PEACE
by Jude Watson (ISBN: 0-590-52084-9) Scholastic, Inc, October, 2000
* * * * *
He was learning how to be a Master as surely as Obi-Wan was learning how to be a Padawan.
Learn not to teach, you must, Yoda had told him. As surely as you must guide, you must also be led. [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 57
* * * * *
“It is seldom matters resolve themselves so easily,” he said softly to Obi-Wan. “Let us hope it is so. Being a Jedi means we honor connections.” – page 65
* * * * *
“It’s hard not to feel so discouraged that I have so much more to learn.”
“It should not be cause for discouragement,” Qui-Gon said gently. “Life is both learning and relearning. You can confront the same issue over and over, and find a deeper meaning each time. The learning deepens and that is what nourishes us. You should take comfort in the fact that life will always surprises you. ” – page 129-130
* * * * *
“Even with sureness, there must be doubt. It is the Jedi way.” [Qui-Gon Jinn] – page 130
I mostly skimmed them with small marker-sized post-its at hand. There would be more quotes if I went for all types of Jedi activities, but some of them could be long and plot specific. I tried to stick to things that were more like sayings that could go into frotune cookies -- if Jedi made fortune cookies. 
;D ;D
