Deftly > Deftly's Quotes

“Men's lives have meaning, not their deaths.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“Can I dwell on what I scarce remember? I held a castle on the Marches once, and there was a woman I was pledged to marry, but I could not find that castle today, nor tell you the color of that woman's hair. Who knighted me, old friend? What were my favorite foods? It all fades. Sometimes I think I was born on the bloody grass in that grove of ash, with the taste of fire in my mouth and a hole in my chest. Are you my mother, Thoros?”
― George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

“There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Perhaps we can fly. All of us. How will we ever know unless we leap from some tall tower? No man ever truly knows what he can do unless he dares to leap.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

“Read a lot of books and try a lot of recipes," Jia said. "When you learn enough about the world, even a blade of grass can be a weapon.”
― Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings

“Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don’t know, the world feels unlimited.”
― Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

“Thrones are won with swords, not quills. Spill blood, not ink.”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“After thirteen days of torment, Blood was at last allowed to die.”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“For both the blacks and the greens, blood called to blood for vengeance.”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“Such stories make for charming songs, but poor history.”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“Why be a lord when you can be a king?”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“but love and hate are two faces of the same coin,”
― George R.R. Martin, Fire & Blood

“All knights must bleed, Jaime," Ser Arthur Dayne had said, when he saw. "Blood is the seal of our devotion." With dawn he tapped him on the shoulder; the pale blade was so sharp that even that light touch cut through Jaime's tunic, so he bled anew. He never felt it. A boy knelt; a knight rose. The Young Lion, not the Kingslayer.
But that was long ago, and the boy was dead.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

“The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life—another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization. It’s the explanation for the Fermi Paradox.”
― Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

“Mere existence is already the result of incredible luck. Such was the case on Earth in the past, and such has always been the case in this cruel universe. But at some point, humanity began to develop the illusion that they’re entitled to life, that life can be taken for granted.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“Even Coca-Cola probably tasted medicinal the first time you tried it. Anything addictive is like that.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“And now we know that this is the journey that must be made by every civilization: awakening inside a cramped cradle, toddling out of it, taking flight, flying faster and farther, and, finally, merging with the fate of the universe as one. The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“Fundamentally, Tianming was not suited to live in society, nor out of it. He lacked the ability to thrive in society, but also the resources to ignore it. All he could do was hang on to the edge, suffering. He had no idea where he was headed in life.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“The whole universe is in darkness, but we remain lit. We're a tiny bird tied to a branch in the dark forest, with a spotlight trained on on us.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“No banquet was eternal. Everything had an end. Everything.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“Time is the cruelest force of all.”
― Cixin Liu, Death's End

“Death is the only lighthouse that is always lit. No matter where you sail, ultimately, you must turn toward it. Everything fades in the world, but Death endures.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“The child that was human civilization had opened the door to her home and glanced outside. The endless night terrified her so much that she shuddered against the expansive and profound darkness, and shut the door firmly.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“Lord Tywin Lannister did not, in the end, shit gold.”
― George R R Martin

“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“You can never have too many knives.”
― Joe Ambercrombie

“A choice between killing and dying is no choice at all. You have to be realistic about these things. b”
― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Advance science as far as you like, the human mind continued to place itself at the centre of the universe.”
― Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin

“Senkovi’s personal theory was that the pressure of being in the middle of the food chain was an essential prerequisite for complex intelligence. Like humans (and like Portiid spiders, had he only known), octopuses had developed in a world where they were both hunter and hunted. Top predators, in Senkovi’s assessment, were an intellectual dead end.”
― Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin