If you look at any ancient civilization, they’ve all used fantasy stories to train the young.
It is easier with strangers, for they touch your life but for an instant. You will not disappoint them, for you owe them nothing; neither do they expect anything. Friends you can hurt, for they expect everything.
Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they’ll make you king.
Be at peace, my friend. One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.
What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?
All legends have a base in fact.
Hold on to your dreams, Kiall. They are more important than you realise.
I am a stranger. You do not need to lie to me or pretend. Only with friends do you need masks...
Death haunts everyone and never fails.
War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?
When your life has been spent in one war after another for forty-five years, you have to be pretty handy to survive.
A man should not risk his life for beauty alone, Kiall, for that fades. You might as well risk it for a rose. Think on it.
Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have.
In my experience all women deserve someone better.
Some people are born ugly. It’s not their fault, and I for one have never held it against a man that he is ugly. but others and I count myself among them are born with handsome features. That’s a gift that should not be lightly taken away.
In any broth, the scum always rises to the top.
Life is nothing unless death has been faced down.
This world has few redeeming features, and one is the capacity for people to love one another with great, enduring passion.
Each man has a breaking point, no matter how strong his spirit. Somewhere, deep inside him, there is a flaw that only the fickle cruelty of fate can find.
Bow to nothing, son. I make mistakes as well as any man. If you think me wrong, be so good as to damn well say so.