d > d's Quotes

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
― Edgar Degas

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
― Robert Frost

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
― Steve Jobs

“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“You see, women are like fires, like flames. Some women are like candles, bright and friendly. Some are like single sparks, or embers, like fireflies for chasing on summer nights. Some are like campfires, all light and heat for a night and willing to be left after. Some women are like hearthfires, not much to look at but underneath they are all warm red coal that burns a long, long while.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“It gets tiresome being spoken to as if you are a child, even if you happen to be one.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“There are two sure ways to lose a friend, one is to borrow, the other is to lend.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“You do not know the first note of the music that moves me.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Fear tends to come from ignorance. Once I knew what the problem was, it was just a problem, nothing to fear.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“If you are going to impose your will on the world, you must have control over what you believe.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“He was giving me enough rope to hang myself with. Apparently he didn't realize that once a noose is tied it will fit one neck as easily as another.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“That was another lesson I had learned perhaps too well: people meant pain.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“I like your manly bravado," she said. "Do it some more.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Do you just want to get by? Or do you want to make me proud?”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“We all become what we pretend to be.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“All stories are true," Skarpi said. "But this one really happened, if that's what you mean.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“There were two sets of double doors leading out of the antechamber, one marked STACKS and the other TOMES. Not knowing the difference between the two, I headed to the ones labeled STACKS. That was what I wanted. Stacks of books. Great heaps of books. Shelf after endless shelf of books.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Do not mistake me for my mask. You see light dappling on the water and forget the deep, cold dark beneath.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“I guess I'm destined to be loveless”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.

"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.

My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“If I seem to wander, if I seem to stray, remember that true stories seldom take the straightest way”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“I learned to love the feel of good words.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Clean, quick, and easy as lying. We know how it ends practically before it starts. That's why stories appeal to us. They give is the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Feel free to call me by my first name: Master.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“What are the three most important rules of the chemist?"

This I knew from Ben. "Label clearly. Measure twice. Eat elsewhere.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“Words have to find a man's mind before they can touch his heart, and some men's minds are woefully small targets.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“No hard feelings about that time in the Crucible when you mixed my salts and I was nearly blind for a day. No. No, really, drink up!”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind