J.P. Ashman > J.P.'s Quotes

“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

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“Long has black powder been in the hands of dwarves alone.
Alas, winds ever change and nothing remains the same forever.

Lord Arrlo Salkeld”
― J.P. Ashman, Black Cross

“Children are dying."
Lull nodded. "That's a succinct summary of humankind, I'd say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words.”
― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates

“We die a little every day and by degrees we’re reborn into different men, older men in the same clothes, with the same scars.”
― Mark Lawrence, King of Thorns

“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.”
― Terry Pratchett

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

“They speak very well of you".
- "They speak very well of everybody."
- "That so bad?"
- "Yes. It means you can´t trust them.”
― Iain M. Banks

“Mallor reached into a pocket and tossed a pair of hazel eyeballs onto the table. They bounced softly and wobbled to a bloody stop next to the butcher's knife. "Go untie the man in my room, and see to it that he gets those back.”
― Shawn Wickersheim, The Penitent Assassin

“Sometimes the righteous path doesn’t take you where you need to go!”
― Shawn Wickersheim, The Penitent Assassin

“The moment froze. Soldiers passing by stopped and looked, confused. Zhou could taste the moment on his tongue. The wrong move by anyone, from soldier to magician, and the fear would give way to anger, anger to violence and then to death.”
― G.R. Matthews, The Blue Mountain

“Zhou,” Biyu said, when Sabaa paused, “before the Jade Emperor, humans were just like the beasts in the field. We ate, lived and reproduced, but we were going nowhere. The universe is order in all its perfection, stagnant and unchanging. The wars set us free. Free to change, to learn, to adapt, to become more than we were. To do that, we sacrificed order for a measure of chaos, of challenge. It let some people, men and women, do evil, but even that inspired many more to do good. Medicines, writing, music, architecture, all the accomplishments of your Empire came at a high price, but it was worth paying. Tonight we reaffirm that fact. Without the power we grant the Jade Emperor from the realms we represent, we would lose all that we have gained. The universe would reassert its control. Over the years, order would take charge once more and progress would end. Given time, our race would slide back into the beasts we were once. It is something we could not survive.”
― G.R. Matthews, The Red Plains

“The image of Jiao’s face when she was told he had been drowned with a half-naked woman tied to his body made him giggle and he realised he was close to panicking.”
― G.R. Matthews, The Red Plains

“The fear receded. It didn't disappear. It lurked in the shadows, its claws hooking into passing thoughts and twisting them, turning them from their purpose to its own. He held it back. It was the hardest fight of his life.”
― G.R. Matthews, The Red Plains

“Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

“When you do not recognize the wrongs of the past, the future takes its revenge. -Author forgotten”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Stonewielder

“She finally pushed and moved through the small doorway into the shadow of the narrow street beyond as she heard one last thing from her dying mama.
'I love you, Elleth.'
'Love you too, mamma.”
― J.P. Ashman, Black Cross

“We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And, indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again."
~Fiddler, pg. 558”
― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates

“First in , Last out.


Motto of the bridgeburners”
― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

“Thank ye, miss, I’d like that,’ Elleth said as they passed the green haired woman, who smiled at Elleth with what looked to her like pity. Well, she didn’t need pity now did she? She’d found a life, and a lady she would be. Mamma would be so proud.”
― J.P. Ashman, Black Cross

“This is madness, Sergeant! Let go of me – I can explain—’ ‘Save your explanations. I got some questions for you first and you’d better answer them!’ ‘With what?’ he sneered. ‘Explanations?’ ‘No. Answers. There’s a difference—’ ‘Really? How? What difference?’ ‘Explanations are what people use when they need to lie. Y’can always tell those, ’cause those explanations don’t explain nothing and then they look at you like they just cleared things up when really they did the opposite and they know it and you know it and they know you know and you know they know that you know and they know you and you know them and maybe you go out for a pitcher later but who picks up the tab? That’s what I want to know.’ ‘Right, and answers?’ ‘Answers is what I get when I ask questions. Answers is when you got no choice. I ask, you tell. I ask again, you tell some more. Then I break your fingers, ’cause I don’t like what you’re telling me, because those answers don’t explain nothing!’ ‘Ah! So you really want explanations!’ ‘Not till you give me the answers!’ ‘So what are your questions?’ ‘Who said I got questions? I already know what your answers are, anyway. No point in questions, really.’ ‘And”
― Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters

“It can’t be,” Udecht stammered. “Eadran the Vanquisher destroyed him near a millennium ago. Maelgrum is gone. Finished.”
“My dear bishop, he isn’t exactly alive, I grant you,” the hooded medusa teased. “But he is certainly a lot less dead than you would like.”
― T.O. Munro, Lady of the Helm

“Have faith, you miserable git," the Burned Man said. "Where there's a will there's a way, and all that. You have made a will, haven't you?”
― Peter McLean, Drake

“I believe in the magic and authority of words.”
― René Char

“Have a smile for breakfast, you'll be shitting joy by lunch.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

“Sauce grinned. 'Anytime, baby,' she said.
'We could make that our motto,' allowed the Captain.”
― Miles Cameron, The Fell Sword

“Stubborness isn't a choice, it's a way of life.”
― G.R. Matthews, Nothing Is Ever Simple

“If you choose not to fight against Asroth, then you have already chosen him. Doing nothing does not absolve you of choice. Doing nothing puts you firmly on Asroth’s side and makes you a coward, as well, for not having the stones to admit it.”
― John Gwynne, Wrath

“A victim who believes himself anticipated at every turn is not only crippled by uncertainty but also easier to predict.”
― Mark Lawrence, Emperor of Thorns

“They call me a monster and if it were untrue the weight of my crimes would pin me to the ground. I have maimed and I have murdered and if this mountain stood but a little higher I would cut the angels from their heaven. I care less for accusations than for the rain that soaks me, that runs down every limb. I spit both from my lips. Judgment has always left a sour taste.”
― Mark Lawrence, Road Brothers