Conn Iggulden > Quotes

“Courage cannot be left like bones in a bag. It must be brought out and shown the light again and again, growing stronger each time. If you think it will keep for the times you need it, you are wrong. It is like any other part of your strength. If you ignore it, the bag will be empty when you need it most.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“Your brother beat him almost to death, Temujin. He held him and kicked him until he cried like a child. He is afraid of you, so he hates you. It would be wrong to hurt him again. It would be like beating a dog after it has loosed it's bladder. The spirit is already broken in him.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“When you’re older, you will realise the only thing that matters, the only thing, is that you had courage and honour. Lose those things and you won’t die any quicker, but you’ll be less than the dirt on our boots. You’ll still be dust, but you’ll have wasted your short time in the light.”
― Conn Iggulden, Conqueror

“Men respect the silent; they despise the garrulous. - Marius”
― Conn Iggulden, The Gates of Rome

“I am the land, the bones of the hills," he said fiercely, "I am the winter. When I am dead, I will come for you all in the coldest nights.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“No worthy goal should come easily, he told himself. Suffering created value.”
― Conn Iggulden, Conqueror

“If a man has gold, he lives with the terror that someone will take it away from him, so he builds walls around it. Then everyone knows where the gold is, so they come and take it. That’s the way it always goes, brother. Fools and gold, together.”
― Conn Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver

“It's all you can say, when the end comes: 'I did not waste my time.' I think that matters. I think it may be all that matters.”
― Conn Iggulden, Conqueror

“No man could be a khan to his mother.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“There was no justice in the world, but he had known that ever since the death of his father. The spirits took no part in the lives of men once they had been born. A man either endured what the world sent his way, or was crushed.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“When I am gone, I do not want men to say Look at his piles of wealth, his cities, his palaces and fine clothes.” Genghis paused for a moment. “Instead I want them to say Make sure he is truly dead. He is a vicious old man and he conquered half the world.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“We are nothing but the oath we give.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“Know the enemy and you will know how to kill him.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“We are not here to earn riches with a bow. The wolf does not think of fine things, only that his pack is strong and no other wolf dares to cross his path. That is enough.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“He was the khan of Wolves and he feared no man. They would pay dearly for his skin.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“The wisdom of age is bitter when those you have failed have gone.”
― Conn Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver

“We are all fools with our sons. We wipe them and suckle them and all we expect is for them to be grateful to the end of their days.”
― Conn Iggulden, Conqueror

“Winter is our time. They shut up their cities for the cold months. They put their horses in stables and sit around great fires in enormous houses of stone. If you want a bearskin, do you attack in summer when it is strong and fast, or cut its throat as it sleeps?”
― Conn Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver

“Be careful in your life, Tolui. I want you fit and strong for when I come for you.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“He had a vision of a nation. The incredible martial skills of the Mongol tribes had always been wasted against each other. From nothing, surrounded by enemies, Temujin rose to unite them all. What came next would shake the world.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“There is a price for all things, my son, for all men. I have merely to find his.”
― Conn Iggulden, Conqueror

“The point of war is to win, Kachiun. It does not matter how we do it, or how long it takes.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Bones of the Hills

“Genghis nodded drunkenly. "Writing," he replied, scornfully. "It traps words."
"It makes them real, lord. It makes them last.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Lords of the Bow

“Temujin snorted. "Never lose faith in me, little brother. My word is iron and I will always come home.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Birth of an Empire

“I have been distracted from my duty as a father to some extent, but there is no greater exercise to a man’s talents than the upbringing of his son.”
― Conn Iggulden, The Gates of Rome

“A man should always care about pleasing his wife.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“What we make can survive us.”
― Conn Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver

“A man must always have the final choice in life and in death. Anything else can be taken from him, but never that.”
― Conn Iggulden, Genghis: Lords of the Bow

“Be careful of raising me too high, brother. I have no special strength, unless it is in choosing good men to follow me. The great lie of cities is that we are all too weak to stand against those who oppress us. All I have done is see through that lie. I always fight, Kachiun. Kings and shahs depend on people remaining sheep, too afraid to rise up. All I ever did was realize I can be a wolf to them.”
― Conn Iggulden, Bones of the Hills

“Those who cannot conquer must bend the knee. They must find strength, or serve those of us who have. You are my generals. I will send you out: my hunting dogs, my wolves with iron teeth. When a city closes its gates in fear, you will destroy it. When they make roads and walls, you will cut them, pull down the stones. When a man raises a sword or bow against your men, you will hang him from a tree. Keep Karakorum in your minds as you go. This white city is the heart of the nation, but you are the right arm, the burning brand. Find me new lands, gentlemen. Cut a new path. Let their women weep a sea of tears and I will drink it all.”
― Conn Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver