The Event Horizon

Defensive shields (Infinity, 101)

Protective shields–A great help and a hinderance.
An obligatory stage in the life of the warrior known as losing the human form (being without shields). (Fire, 22)

My benefactor said that when a man embarks on the paths of sorcery and he becomes aware, in a gradual manner, that ordinary life has been forever left behind; that knowledge is indeed a frightening affair; that the means of the ordinary word are no longer a buffer for him; and that he must adopt a new way of life if he is going to survive. (Reality, 149)

A warrior selects items that make his world. He selects deliberately, for every item that he chooses is a shield that protects him from the onslaughts of the forces he is striving to use. [A shield is] what people do. (Reality, 216)

…If any of those forces tap you and open your gap, you must deliberately strive to close it by yourself. For that purpose you must have selected a number of things that give you great peace and pleasure, things which you deliberately use to take your thoughts from your fright and close your gap and make you solid. (Reality, 217)

He said that writing was the best shield I had. (Power, 26)

What matter is, what can you use as a shield? A warrior must use everything available to him to close his mortal gap once it opens. (Power, 75)