Christian Cameron > Quotes

“...there is no such thing as a ferocious charge uphill.”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“A dead war horse is the single most expensive corpse you’ll ever see.”
― Christian Cameron, The Ill-Made Knight

“The older men nodded agreement. The Iliad was a fine story for children, but Boeotian farmers know just what war brings – burned crops, raped daughters and death. The glory is fleeting, the expense immense and the effect permanent.”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“—Alejandro, la excelencia reside en ser mejor que los demás hombres, no en que otros hombres sean peores que tú.”
― Christian Cameron, El Dios de la guerra

“War is something a man should want to be late for.”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“But on the day after a defeat, the men who matter are the leaders. Anyone can lead men after a victory. Only the best can lead after a defeat.”
― Christian Cameron, Marathon

“...[Strive to be]... silent and cheerful. Grown men always tell you that this is the way of excellence, but they neglect to tell you that it is easier to be silent and dignified and cheerful when you are forty and have won ten battles. It's like getting women - much easier when you are too old to enjoy them - Killer of Men”
― Christian Cameron

“Sometimes, the gods are kind. And hubris is the worst of sins.”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“Proper job”
― Christian Cameron, The Green Count

“I pretend I'm not afraid all the time,' he said.

'We have a name for that ... we call that courage.”
― Christian Cameron, Funeral Games

“Today, no one cares how you lived. All that men will ever say of you is how you fought here, and how you died. Are you in debt? Desperate? The gods hate you?’ His voice rose to fill the air, as if a god was speaking - the voice of Ares come to earth. ‘Stand your ground today and die if you must, and all men will ever say of you is that you served the city. You will go with the heroes - your name will adorn a shrine. Be better than you were. Serve the city. Stand in your ranks and push when I call you. Remember that you will have no mercy at the hands of the men across the sand. Not a one of you will be spared.”
― Christian Cameron, Funeral Games

“Even among the Spartans, the king is only first among equals, and the “Peers” can comment, even disobey – read your Herodotus! An officer can only lead by the consent of the led, like any government. The only place where a commander’s authority is absolute is on the battlefield, like the powers of a Strategos granted by an emergency session of the League parliament.’ He looked back at Dinaeos. ‘Even then, that trust must be earned.”
― Christian Cameron, The New Achilles

“[Men say they were like gods], but men say a great many things when an event is safely in the past - they tell a lot of lies.”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“It is better to be feared than loved,”
― Christian Cameron, Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade: Part Five

“Boys torment each other when there’s nothing else to do and no Frenchmen to fight.”
― Christian Cameron, The Ill-Made Knight

“It is a hard thing, to reach this point on this long road, and know that I am not the hero. I am the villain. I have killed a thousand men, taken a thousand women, enslaved ten thousand.' He raised his hands. 'What does that make me?”
― Christian Cameron, God of War

“Courtly lover is a dangerous game, and those who play for lust rather than love are often richly rewarded in scorn.”
― Christian Cameron, Hawkwood's Sword

“There’s good things about wearing armour. One is that if your horse bounces you through deep brush, all that happens is that you get pine-needles in your visor.”
― Christian Cameron, The Ill-Made Knight

“If we win today, we will win the right to fight again tomorrow!’ I said. ‘That is all we will win today. And if we win tomorrow . . .’ I smiled. ‘Then we win the right to fight again the next day – and the next and the next until the Great King wearies of the contest or he runs out of slaves or we run out of free men to face him. And if we win? If we defeat the Great King?’ I held up my wounded hand. Some men cheered. ‘Then we win the right to fight him again the next time he comes against us. This is what freedom is. The Great King has no idea how poor we are, or what we have in herds or in olive trees. He seeks only to own us.’ I smiled to think of Xerxes in his hall in Susa, who was attacking us mostly to satisfy Mardonius. And for pride. ‘We must win today, and tomorrow, and again the day after, and then we must go home and train our sons to win again,”
― Christian Cameron, The Great King

“There is room in the world for many kinds of wisdom”
― Christian Cameron, Killer of Men

“Seguin made his decision. He raised his lance, held it over his head –no mean feat –and called out. ‘To hell!’ he shouted.
In terms of pre-battle speeches, it was the best I’ve ever heard.”
― Christian Cameron, The Ill-Made Knight

“The sun was hot, and the horses required more water than ever, and wearing a bronze breastplate over a wool chiton led to a particular smell. Sweat corroded the bronze, and stained the chiton green, and insects and the salt of sweat both tended to get into every abrasion.”
― Christian Cameron, The Last Greek

“I have delivered my message. If you are so craven and so greedy that you intend to surrender your possessions without a fight, I swear to you, messires, that should the Christian fleet triumph, I’ll make sure that every one of you loses everything– as traitors to the religion, and heretics.”
― Christian Cameron, Chios

“If any of you would like to fight me. I am completely at your service– now, or at any hour you would prefer.”
― Christian Cameron, Venice

“Those who obey will be obeyed”
― Christian Cameron, Tyrant

“I provoked you by walking into your measure. I forced you to act. You acted as I expected, with pressure to my blade. I left your blade to have a picnic by itself, and I kill you, thus. That was a proper provocazione.”
― Christian Cameron, Venice

“I knocked on Nerio's door.
'Your saffron,' I said.
'Go away,' he said.
'Open the door,' I said.
'No,' he said.
'I spent all my money and I need yours,' I said.”
― Christian Cameron, The Green Count

“He was never his own best friend, Alexander. On the battlefield, he was solid, calm, and brave, but afterwards, he was like a boy after his first girl-all bragging and no substance. How could the god become so very human?”
― Christian Cameron, God of War

“It’s harder to teach in Italy, which is rich, and has no Turks.”
― Christian Cameron, The Green Count

“But remember, when you pray to the gods, that men stood like the heroes of old at Marathon, and were better. And that they are still no better than the women who bear them.”
― Christian Cameron, Marathon: Freedom or Death