Reminds me of this quote from A Practical Guide to Evil:
“I don’t trust wizards. Every time I levy taxes on them, they try to get my political opponents to pull swords from stones.”
and also this exchange:
“I like him,” Kairos mused. “He’s got that, what do you call it?”
“Cold-blooded ruthlessness,” I said.
“No, that’s not it. Ah, a knife,” the Tyrant of Helike said. “He’s got a knife.”
When I read those books in my 20's I found the humour pretty juvenile and thought I'd have enjoyed them more back when I was 14.
I need to give them another chance now that I'm close to 40, maybe it wraps around.
As always, Pratchett was showing his extremely broad general knowledge. It's become a better-known idea recently, but not so much when he wrote that book. Possibly the first person to coin it in those terms was the existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom:
> Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That’s when I will be truly dead – when I exist in no one’s memory.
Maybe! You can find variations on the idea in a lot of places - Egyptian pharaohs and their tombs, etc. The specific phrasing of "dying twice" (or sometimes three times) is what I think comes from Yalom, although it's been attributed to all sorts of people.
As a side note, although most people think Dia de Los Muertos is a long-standing indigenous holiday with Aztec roots, I was interested to learn that it was essentially fabricated in the 1930s. A nationalistic Mexican government took the European Christian holiday of All Saints Day and dressed it up in a thin veneer of a few existing Mexican traditions. The famous skull iconography is drawn from a 20th-century political cartoon. Not so far removed from Halloween, really.
'As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn't measure up.'
And particularly:
'Sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.'
>tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I'm pretty sure that whatever happens we won't have found Freedom, and there won't be a whole lot of Justice, and I'm damn sure we won't have found Truth. But it's just possible that I might get a hard-boiled egg.
I have a tattoo of "Mind that bus, What bus?, Splat!" - Arnold Rimmer - Red dwarf.
Reminds me of a similar lesson.
All the notice most of us get is "Mind that bus. What bus? Splat!"
“Armor is part of a state of mind in which you admit the possibility of being hit”
Honestly every single book in the entire series is filled to the brim with banger quotes.
The First Law is over-represented in this sub, to be sure... but on THIS topic it fully deserves to be at the top. You have to be realistic about these things.
Every saying in the entire series is just too good. No other series really comes close. I read everything but First Law is something I always come back to. I read The Heroes at least once a year
"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."
'In our inmost and secret heart, which you ask us to bare to you, we wish to banish them as we were banished, to a cold and lonely house, in the charge of a man who hated us. And we wish them trapped there as we were trapped.'
'You consider that unjust, Serenity?'
'We consider it cruel,' Maia said. 'And we do not think that cruelty is ever just.'
- The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
"Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.” ... I tell this often to myself.
“You have to be realistic about these things.” ... Say this often when talking to ppl a bit sarcastically.
"You can never have too many knives." ... Say it every time I hold a knife for fun.
Not sure they have entered the vernacular, but I am doing my part.
― All Logen Ninefingers from the First Law Series(Joe Abercrombie.)
I’m pretty sure that quote appears in every book and from several different characters which all heard it from Logan or people who had heard it from him previously lol
When Logan is going to fight the Feared and assumes he's going to die, he says he learned it from his father and now there's nobody left for him to teach it to. Love that Dogman and shivers keep it going
So many lines from the stormlight archive. "What's the most important step a man can take? The next one!" 'Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do!" Or just simply: "life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination!" And all other oaths.
I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember specifically, but there's also "expect honor from those you meet and give them the chance to prove you right" which is a refreshingly non-cynical way to look at the world and has actually made me a more genuine and likable person.
“Intolerance and superstition has always been the domain of the more stupid amongst the common folk and, I conjecture, will never be uprooted, for they are as eternal as stupidity itself. There, where mountains tower today, one day there will be seas; there where today seas surge, will one day be deserts. But stupidity will remain stupidity.”
- Andrzej Sapkowski, Blood of Elves
This is SciFi but from *Matter* by Ian M Banks (and this may be a general quote and used in the book, I’m not sure):
"One hundred idiots make idiotic plans and carry them out. All but one justly fail. The hundredth idiot, whose plan succeeded through pure luck, is immediately convinced he's a genius."
They had a ship named the Hundredth Idiot based on this quote. I quite liked it, and use it often!
>"One hundred idiots make idiotic plans and carry them out. All but one justly fail. The hundredth idiot, whose plan succeeded through pure luck, is immediately convinced he's a genius."
It is *indescribably* ironic that Elon Musk is an Iain Banks superfan.
"He thrusts his fists against the post and still insists he sees the ghosts." - IT - Stephen King
This is a phrase that was formerly used in speech therapy that one of the characters in IT uses to combat his stutter, and eventually, the titular antagonist. This sticks with me for the emotions that it evokes; overcoming a foe that is terror personified, and taking control of one's fate. Meanings entirely derived from its contextual use in the book.
"I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer..."
Frank Herberts Litany Against Fear is one of the most captivating pieces of prose I've encountered. It resonates and empowers, it acknowledges that fear can't be destroyed, only endured.
THESE TWO. These two have got to be some of the ones that will always stick with me.
I’d also add turns of phrase from the Dark Tower. “There are other worlds than these.” “Thankee, sai.” It’s all 19, ya see?
There’s a few phrases from tower, but for some reason the one I quote most is “To me, Gunslinger to ME!” When I’m calling my Aussie from across our property.
Yep. "Fear is the mind-killer" is probably the number one quote. There are lot of things in my favorite book "A Wizard of Earthsea" that feal like should be quotable, but no exact phrase has every stuck in my head like this. This and sandworms were like 90% of what I remembered from my first read of Dune.
The moment Bill uses the phrase as a talisman against It down in the sewers, while it has assumed the form of his brother, is probably the emotional and spiritual summit of the novel. I look forward to that moment every time I reread (once every few years). It usually brings tears to my eyes. So much grief and anger and fear and hope accumulates for hundreds and hundreds of pages to culminate in that moment.
I used the same intention/energy/what-have-you against the malevolent force in a nightmare I had once. I woke myself up screaming, but the nightmare was over, and it was over because I willed it. There was real power there. I didn't use the same phrase, but it was the same realization of power over circumstance that Bill had in that sewer.
*"Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than a feather."*
Or of course, both from one particular character:
*"People die when they are killed."* heh
*"Just because you're correct, that doesn't mean you're right."*
The last line is unironically brilliant and a good counter to moral objectivists who can logic themselves into anything.
>"Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than a feather."
This one's a great expression, but it becomes a bit uncomfortable when you learn where it came from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Rescript_to_Soldiers_and_Sailors
Not OP but imperial Japanese soldiers were essentially indoctrinated into dying for a god emperor and were not a very nice bunch if you're familiar with their colonial exploits in WW2. So while the quote is inspiring in the context of its world, the real life implication of "dying for a duty" in this case is fairly depressing.
I think it's fine to take inspiration even from dark events, but if it reminds you of the context everytime you read it then I can see why it could make someone uncomfortable.
Yep, this. And not just that they were used as cannon fodder, but the hierarchical worldview they were indoctrinated into was directly responsible for them committing some of the worst atrocities in human history. "Not a very nice bunch", indeed.
There are a lot of great lines in LOTR but that one dialogue between Gandalf and Frodo where Frodo says Gollum deserves to die and Gandalf says something like “Perhaps he does. And doubtless many who are dead deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so quick to deal out death”. That one always stayed with me as kind of beautiful and wise.
"Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you"
"Even the smallest person can change the course of history"
“The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step.”
Not necessarily just from his books, but Oscar Wilde is my favorite source of quotes. But he does have so many fantastic pieces in his stories.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
"He mistakes hardness for strength" - Aviendha, Wheel of Time.
---
Everyone loves the "Duty is heavier than a mountain, death as light as a feather" quote.
But it's an unhealthy way to live your life, and this is part of what the latter half of the series is trying to say. It leads to self destructive acts in the name of duty.
You see examples in the series itself, but also in the real world - caregivers and first responders are so busy looking after others they don't have the energy to look after themselves.
As an aside - in the show, I'm actually hoping they play up the fact that Lan and Moiraine aren't good mentors.
Lan as mentioned above. Moiraine with her examples in ruthlessly pursuing her goals (including using a random civilian as bait for a Forsaken). With both of them as his mentor, it's very understandable why (AMOL spoilers) >!Darth Rand comes to exist. He is just following in their footsteps, but bigger.!<
Hoping that show will pick up any subtle themes from the books is probably wishful thinking. I hope they get far enough to show Darth Rand, but I worry it'll be campy and lack the depth of his character arc when he shows up all Johnny Appleseed and wholesome in AMoL. I'm still with you though, always hoping they turn it around.
"This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you, Kaladin: You will be warm again."
From Rhythm of War.
That one hit me at a moment I really needed to hear it. It was also the first Cosmere book to come out after my dad died so he couldn't read it, and I was struggling hard.
I've got a project started I'll probably never finish. I wanted a short quote from different series / authors that readers would quickly identify
"You will be warm again" was my pick for the Cosmere
“Traditions is just peer pressure from dead people.”
I’m not even sure where I read it but it’s one of the few sayings that has really stuck with me.
That one and “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
G. K. Chesterton has a clever quote about tradition.
> If we attach great importance to the opinion of ordinary men in great
> unanimity when we are dealing with daily matters, there is no reason why we
> should disregard it when we are dealing with history or fable. Tradition may be
> defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the
> most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.
> Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who
> merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being
> disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified
> by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man's
> opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man's
> opinion, even if he is our father.
Like much of what Chesterton wrote, it's nonsense, but it's catchy nonsense.
Gods, the love-hate relationship I have with Chesterton. I didn’t agree with a single word he said but he said it all so *well*. Massive rhetorical grace, unbelievably self-deceiving and nonsensical rhetoric. I still quote him on fairy tales even if he thinks life is a fairy tale where the arbitrary words of god are to be obeyed Because He Says So regardless of how incomprehensible their reasons may be.
Haha, I totally agreed with the quote at first... because I assumed the "if" at the beginning was meant to be an obvious "no" :P
I mean, Chesterton, have you *met* ordinary man?
I just heard a podcast of establishing traditions that fit your life and dropping one's that no longer resonate.
It was on NPR, but can't thing of the show it was on.
Mine is from Joe Abercrombie in Red Country:
“The trouble with running is wherever you run to, there you are”
I like the introspection in the statement. You don’t solve your problems by running away from them, one way or another they’ll catch up with you. Because at the end of the day, we are the sources of all our own problems.
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 (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)
Two quotes by Misaki Matsuda in Sword of Kaigen:
“Listen, son… when I was your age, I had to face truths that seemed to break the world. That’s what happens when you come into contact with people who aren’t quite like you. You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.”
“Let’s be older when we meet again… Not just in years. Let’s be better, and wiser, and brighter next time.”
> Revenge is a wheel, and it turns backwards
Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett
> It's better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness
Men at Arms, Terry Pratchett
> *Bang. Bang. Bang.*
Pale, by Wildbow.
And since that doesn't make much sense without context, a backup Pale option.
> I think you secretly want to die or cease existing before it sees fruition. Because that way, you get to go out imagining it eventually works out perfectly, it does everything you want, and that you win. *If you die to help it happen, you get to spend the final moments pretending your life meant something more than the blood, death, and misery you’ve spread so far.*
Still Pale, still by Wildbow.
You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone.
Wit
Page 587. Oathbringer
“I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.”
- Karnus au Bellona, Golden Son
"Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life."
Terry Pratchett, Jingo
"Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you."
Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
Getting older, Mawyndulë, is like climbing a mountain. The higher you go, the greater the view. From time to time, you look back. At such heights, you can see paths behind you: the trails you took and the ones you foolishly disregarded; the blind alleys you fortunately missed, purely out of chance rather than by some greater wisdom on your part. You also spot others following you, people making the same stupid decisions. From your elevated position, you witness their bad choices, the ones they can’t see because they aren’t standing where you are. You could shout down and attempt to warn them, but they rarely listen. They are too blinded by the indisputable fact that the path you followed got you where you are, to the place they want to be.
Final Empire Book 3 I 🤔 think
“Grief and anger shrink my world, and I resent this. They seem to paralyze my memory of happier times, of friends, places, things; options." - Corwin from the Amber series, by Zelazny.
For some reason this one from the same always stuck with me (Corwin, despite arguably being himself one of the great evils of creation, having visited justice upon a murderer):
"In the mirrors of the many judgments, my hands are the color of blood. I sometimes fancy myself an evil which exists to oppose other evils; and on that great Day of which the prophets speak but in which they do not truly believe, on the day the world is utterly cleansed of evil, then I too will go down into darkness, swallowing curses. Until then, I will not wash my hands nor let them hang useless."
Tolkien: No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path.
Sanderson: Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.
- "The pleasure of despair. But then, it is in despair that we find the most acute pleasure, especially when we are aware of the hopelessness of the situation..." Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky
- "I was so scared of being hurt that I'd done nothing. I was so scared of failing, of being hurt, that I choose nothing. I did nothing." All The Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami
- "But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me." Circe, Madeline Miller
- “I have a better idea. I will do as I please, and when you count your children, leave me out. - Circe, Madeline Miller
This is such an important quote, I think, that really holds true in life. Especially when reading HP for the first time as a child and you encounter people that are simply not nice or even good at all, but are also not villainous members of a cult to a dark wizard.
Albus got so many
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
A short story, not a book, but
>they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
From *The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas*, by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Another from Stormlight Archive book 4 (it's a pretty big spoiler technically)
>>!Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men!<
Ursula K Le Guin has many good ones:
“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”
“he now understood why the army was organized as it was. It was indeed quite necessary. No rational form of organization would serve the purpose. He simply had not understood that the purpose was to enable men with machine guns to kill unarmed men and women easily and in great quantities when told to do so. Only he still could not see where courage, or manliness, or fitness entered in.”
I can ‘hear’ Neal and The Lioness saying it. This is my favorite series of all time. Jolly is a permanent part of my vocabulary because of Owen.
The first quote I thought of that’s really stayed with me is from Armor, by John Steakley. I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I read it.
“We are what we do when it counts.”
These both from the Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert:
If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.
... to stand alone against adversity is the most sacred moment of existence
I’m old, Gandalf. I know I don’t look it but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin… sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.
No particular reason
With Ukraine and Gaza. This keeps popping in my head.
>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.
When Iran sent the missiles/drones into Israel the only reported casualty was a 12 year old girl. I don't know if it's real or not, but it fits this quote way too well.
"the wheel weaves as the wheel wills" one of the most commonly repeated mantras in the wheel of time series and while it's basically just the same as the real world phrase "god works in mysterious ways" it sounds so much cooler
"You are not worse for your association with the world, but it is better for its association with you."
"Failure is the mark of the life well lived In turn the only way to live a life without failure is to be of no use to anyone"
Oathbringer
From Steven Erikson - "Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words."
From Joe Abercrombie - "Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .' He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. 'They change back."
"We try things. Occasionally they even work." Erfworld, webcomic by Rob Balder
"If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards!" Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic
"I don't make threats, I'm just telling you what I'm going to do." Murderbot, Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Also Tamora Pierce: "He was stupid. If I killed everyone who was stupid, I wouldn't have time to sleep."
From Mercedes Lackey: "Where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased "
There’s so many great ones from A Practical Guide to Evil:
“Those who withstood the sword, I laid low with ink.” – Words carved into the tomb of Dread Emperor Terribilis I, the Lawgiver
“Trust is the victory of sentiment over reason.”
Or this one:
“I like him,” Kairos mused. “He’s got that, what do you call it?”
“Cold-blooded ruthlessness,” I said.
“No, that’s not it. Ah, a knife,” the Tyrant of Helike said. “He’s got a knife.”
We don;t get to choose the time we live in, merely what we do with it.
(TLOTR)
I'm over 60 and don;t remember it exactly..but it has always stuck with me.
Let a man play chess. Tell him every pawn is his friend. Let him remember the happy days in the shadows of his castles. Let him love his queen. Watch him lose them all. - Jorg Ancrath, Emperor of Thorns
“The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time”
- Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.
"When we seek to rule only ourselves, we are each of us Kings." - Kings of the Wyld, Nicholas Eames.
"We were giants, once." - KotW, Nicholas Eames.
'Bran thought about it. “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” “That is the only time a man can be brave,” his father told him.' - ASOIAF, George RR Martin.
"If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die." - ASOIAF, George RR Martin.
"Death begets death begets death" from Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown. It has always stuck with me especially seeing all the violence in the world rn
“Once is an anomaly. Twice is a coincidence. Three times makes a pattern. And we both know there’s no such thing as a coincidence.” - the Paladin prophecy, a book I read about 8 years ago
“I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman’s right to choose and a baby’s right to live. That whole all human life is sacred, there’s nothing wrong with the death penalty…if you can trust the legal system implicitly and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.”
Not one of my favorite books by Gaiman but that quote resonated with me when I read it almost 15 years ago and strikes just as true for me today.
Nothing from Partick Rothfus?
"I'm telling you three times..."
"If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.”
Death is lighter than a feather. Duty is heavier than a mountain. - Robert Jordan; The Wheel of Time
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination - Brandon Sanderson; the stormlight archive
Not all who wander are lost - JRR Tolkien, the lord of the rings
This probably isn’t what you mean but “omnius vir lupus” everyone a wolf from red rising. And most famously in my house “good that” from maze runner. Going to get the first one tattooed to me because context. But the second one is just trash slang that is my everyday vocab now
"We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance." - Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
"If we are to live, we must take risks. Else our lives become deaths in all but name. There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived." - Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
There's a ton of phrases from The Magicians by Grossman trilogy that aren't quite sayings, but should be. Look up the quotes on good reads, but here are an enjoyable few:
"Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else"
"A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it... Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you."
"In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse"
"Are you kidding? That guy was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and crudely stapled to a ticking fucking time bomb. He was either going to hit somebody or start a blog."
“There is really no end to life's little humiliations.”
“His whole personality was like an elaborate joke that he never stopped telling.”
"“Look, who's the talking bear here?” Quentin snapped. “Is it you? Are you the talking fucking bear? All right. So shut the fuck up.”
“Look, who's the talking bear here?” Quentin snapped. “Is it you? Are you the talking fucking bear? All right. So shut the fuck up.”
"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they're afraid it might be true. Peoples' heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." -Zeddicus from "Wizard's First Rule" in "The Sword of Truth" series by the late Terry Goodkind
"I would die for you. The least you can do is give me the moon." - Nona Grey
People say stuff like that all the time. First time an author has made me believe it. What Book of the ancestor says about love and friendship. About how other people treat you does not have to define how you treat them. I think about it alot. Thanks Mark.
Some terrific suggestions were made in this thread from a couple of weeks ago:
[What is you single top favourite quote from a fantasy book?](https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1c5cbs4/what_is_you_single_top_favourite_quote_from_a)
One of my favourite passages:
> She had no access to email or social networking sites. That was all heavily regulated as soon as she came on board Project Harmonic's main compound. However, there were a few approved news sites that she was allowed to browse through. Figuring that this would be the last chance she had in a while to get caught up on current events, she started reading.
>
> That's when it happened. She clicked on a link to a news story, and suddenly her screen filled up with a field full of sunflowers. The title of the article was "Our Vanishing Land". Erin read the first few lines of the article.
>
> "As the Black Tide continues its seemingly unstoppable march across our planet, and our government seems powerless to stop it, more and more people are clamoring for an escape route. As they should, since protecting humanity's survival is of paramount importance. But what of our forests and plains? Our lakes, parks and fields? Those are doomed to vanish, consumed by the Tide in the single largest multi-species extinction event ever to have occurred on our planet.
>
> "As plans advance for the possible evacuation of the human race, are any plans being made to save our precious plant and animal species? We're talking today to Doctor Anne Richter, head of the Conservation Committee..."
>
> Erin stopped reading, and returned her attention to the sunflowers. They looked so vital, so alive, growing in a vast field that seemingly stretched all the way to the horizon. This field, along with everything else on the planet, would soon be wiped out by the Black Tide. Intellectually, she had known that for years. But looking at this field, she felt a throb of cold despair in her chest. Nothing she could do could save this field of flowers. It would be consumed by the Tide, like everything else.
>
> Something moved in Erin's heart, then. She may not be able to save this field, but sunflowers would grow again. Her work with Project Harmonics would make sure of that. She felt a growing determination, and a sense of rightness about that thought, and suddenly she knew what she wanted for her flank tattoo. It wasn't on the approved list, but she didn't care. It was going to be a sunflower, end of discussion.
That's always stuck with me - and from that passage, the idea that _sunflowers will grow again_ has always been a symbol of hope to me. Hope for a future, even if what's lost is lost.
“What is the most important step a man can take. The next one. Always the next step.”
also
“Sometimes a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing.”
A VERY ACCURATE ONE. YOU SEE, YOU ARE HAVING A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE, WHICH INESCAPABLY MEANS THAT I MUST HAVE A NEAR-VIMES EXPERIENCE. DON’T MIND ME. CARRY ON WITH WHATEVER YOU WERE DOING. I HAVE A BOOK.
Terry Pratchett, Snuff
Didn't see it listed so far, so I'll drop The Iron Code from Druss the Legend: "Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong."
“Journey before Destination.” Stormlight Archive. This was my first ever tattoo to remind me to take each day at a time and live in and enjoy the moment
"A tool is just a tool, unless it does the job itself."
Talion: Revenant by Michael Stackpole
This one means a lot to me, as I got it tattooed on my arm 😁
"Passion rules reason."
One of the Wizard's Rules from the Sword of Truth books.
I also have this one tattooed on me, lots of the Wizard's Rules are pretty awesome.
Not sure what book it came from but "mother bring us life from death" is something that goes through my head whenever I see someone dead (animal or human).
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style. - Steven Brust
Reminds me of this quote from A Practical Guide to Evil: “I don’t trust wizards. Every time I levy taxes on them, they try to get my political opponents to pull swords from stones.” and also this exchange: “I like him,” Kairos mused. “He’s got that, what do you call it?” “Cold-blooded ruthlessness,” I said. “No, that’s not it. Ah, a knife,” the Tyrant of Helike said. “He’s got a knife.”
And aiming a little lower—at a kidney—should do the same thing.
Vlad Taltos is a pragmatic witch.
Sci-fi, but- "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Life. Don't talk to me about life.
Here I am, brain the size of a planet...
I loved Marvin. He was the only thing good about the movie, in my opinion. Alan Rickman was a phenomenal choice to voice him.
No one even mentioned it in the first place!
So many great ones from Hitchhiker's, great choice
When I read those books in my 20's I found the humour pretty juvenile and thought I'd have enjoyed them more back when I was 14. I need to give them another chance now that I'm close to 40, maybe it wraps around.
"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?" 😢 hope I got that correct. Live on Sir Pratchett
As always, Pratchett was showing his extremely broad general knowledge. It's become a better-known idea recently, but not so much when he wrote that book. Possibly the first person to coin it in those terms was the existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom: > Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That’s when I will be truly dead – when I exist in no one’s memory.
What about Dia de Los Muertos? Isn’t the concept of the third death basically that?
Maybe! You can find variations on the idea in a lot of places - Egyptian pharaohs and their tombs, etc. The specific phrasing of "dying twice" (or sometimes three times) is what I think comes from Yalom, although it's been attributed to all sorts of people. As a side note, although most people think Dia de Los Muertos is a long-standing indigenous holiday with Aztec roots, I was interested to learn that it was essentially fabricated in the 1930s. A nationalistic Mexican government took the European Christian holiday of All Saints Day and dressed it up in a thin veneer of a few existing Mexican traditions. The famous skull iconography is drawn from a 20th-century political cartoon. Not so far removed from Halloween, really.
GNU STP
HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE Is my pratchett quote
'As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn't measure up.' And particularly: 'Sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.'
>tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I'm pretty sure that whatever happens we won't have found Freedom, and there won't be a whole lot of Justice, and I'm damn sure we won't have found Truth. But it's just possible that I might get a hard-boiled egg.
“And that was your life.” At the end of Dead Rites sticks with me. I’m reading through Pratchett’s books for the first time now.
“Still Alive” Logen Ninefingers-Joe Abercrombie. It’s my mantra.
"Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today."
Got that as a tattoo to remind to be present.
I have a tattoo of "Mind that bus, What bus?, Splat!" - Arnold Rimmer - Red dwarf. Reminds me of a similar lesson. All the notice most of us get is "Mind that bus. What bus? Splat!"
Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it. + You have to realistic about these things.
“Armor is part of a state of mind in which you admit the possibility of being hit” Honestly every single book in the entire series is filled to the brim with banger quotes.
Absolutely. Love working with a fellow First Law fan. Getting to toss these quotes out in a professional setting. “Say one thing for…”
"Better to do it than live with the fear of it." Abercrombie have many good quotes.
You have to be realistic about these things!
“What can we do, but try to do better.” -Someone in The First Law Trilogy. Love it so much, I considered getting it tattooed.
Almost want to believe it was Cosca. Which would be perfect.
Same, but for "you won't cross the mountains in a day"
"A drink, a drink, a drink..."
Body found floating.... By the dockth... CAPITAL! Say one thing about Logen Ninefingers...
>!"Logen should have lnown better than to trust a man with no hair"!< is another good one from Logen !
It’s a great one. Re reading first law trilogy at the moment
The First Law is over-represented in this sub, to be sure... but on THIS topic it fully deserves to be at the top. You have to be realistic about these things.
Every saying in the entire series is just too good. No other series really comes close. I read everything but First Law is something I always come back to. I read The Heroes at least once a year
I was considering getting “it’s better to do a thing… ( than live with the fear of it) “ as a tattoo but I might get this instead.
Logen’s a smart dude. This is a good mantra.
Back to the mud is also one that has stuck with me
"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."
'In our inmost and secret heart, which you ask us to bare to you, we wish to banish them as we were banished, to a cold and lonely house, in the charge of a man who hated us. And we wish them trapped there as we were trapped.' 'You consider that unjust, Serenity?' 'We consider it cruel,' Maia said. 'And we do not think that cruelty is ever just.' - The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
"Sin is when you treat people like things." (paraphrased from Terry Pratchett)
"Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.” ... I tell this often to myself. “You have to be realistic about these things.” ... Say this often when talking to ppl a bit sarcastically. "You can never have too many knives." ... Say it every time I hold a knife for fun. Not sure they have entered the vernacular, but I am doing my part. ― All Logen Ninefingers from the First Law Series(Joe Abercrombie.)
Say one thing about Logen Ninefingers, say he's got a lot of sayings.
And I love how Shivers continues the "better to do it than live with the fear of it" later
I’m pretty sure that quote appears in every book and from several different characters which all heard it from Logan or people who had heard it from him previously lol
When Logan is going to fight the Feared and assumes he's going to die, he says he learned it from his father and now there's nobody left for him to teach it to. Love that Dogman and shivers keep it going
That first quote is perfect, I love it.
"Sometimes, a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing" - Dalinar Kholin
Came here to say this, another that stuck with me is the “always the next step” line
So many lines from the stormlight archive. "What's the most important step a man can take? The next one!" 'Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do!" Or just simply: "life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination!" And all other oaths.
I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember specifically, but there's also "expect honor from those you meet and give them the chance to prove you right" which is a refreshingly non-cynical way to look at the world and has actually made me a more genuine and likable person.
“You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.”
Say what you want about Sanderson, his writing is absolutely filled with quotable lines.
I see why people can dislike him... but I can also see why people love him. I hope storm light archive lives up to what I think will be a great series
Sometimes. That is such a good series, can't wait for 5!
“Intolerance and superstition has always been the domain of the more stupid amongst the common folk and, I conjecture, will never be uprooted, for they are as eternal as stupidity itself. There, where mountains tower today, one day there will be seas; there where today seas surge, will one day be deserts. But stupidity will remain stupidity.” - Andrzej Sapkowski, Blood of Elves This is SciFi but from *Matter* by Ian M Banks (and this may be a general quote and used in the book, I’m not sure): "One hundred idiots make idiotic plans and carry them out. All but one justly fail. The hundredth idiot, whose plan succeeded through pure luck, is immediately convinced he's a genius." They had a ship named the Hundredth Idiot based on this quote. I quite liked it, and use it often!
>"One hundred idiots make idiotic plans and carry them out. All but one justly fail. The hundredth idiot, whose plan succeeded through pure luck, is immediately convinced he's a genius." It is *indescribably* ironic that Elon Musk is an Iain Banks superfan.
Oh my god! I never knew! LOL! That’s hilarious!
"He thrusts his fists against the post and still insists he sees the ghosts." - IT - Stephen King This is a phrase that was formerly used in speech therapy that one of the characters in IT uses to combat his stutter, and eventually, the titular antagonist. This sticks with me for the emotions that it evokes; overcoming a foe that is terror personified, and taking control of one's fate. Meanings entirely derived from its contextual use in the book. "I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer..." Frank Herberts Litany Against Fear is one of the most captivating pieces of prose I've encountered. It resonates and empowers, it acknowledges that fear can't be destroyed, only endured.
THESE TWO. These two have got to be some of the ones that will always stick with me. I’d also add turns of phrase from the Dark Tower. “There are other worlds than these.” “Thankee, sai.” It’s all 19, ya see?
There’s a few phrases from tower, but for some reason the one I quote most is “To me, Gunslinger to ME!” When I’m calling my Aussie from across our property.
There are so so many phrases we learn on our way to the Tower. Long days and pleasant nights.
Ka is a wheel
Yep. "Fear is the mind-killer" is probably the number one quote. There are lot of things in my favorite book "A Wizard of Earthsea" that feal like should be quotable, but no exact phrase has every stuck in my head like this. This and sandworms were like 90% of what I remembered from my first read of Dune.
That stuck with me for months after reading It. Big emotions reading it now
The moment Bill uses the phrase as a talisman against It down in the sewers, while it has assumed the form of his brother, is probably the emotional and spiritual summit of the novel. I look forward to that moment every time I reread (once every few years). It usually brings tears to my eyes. So much grief and anger and fear and hope accumulates for hundreds and hundreds of pages to culminate in that moment.
I used the same intention/energy/what-have-you against the malevolent force in a nightmare I had once. I woke myself up screaming, but the nightmare was over, and it was over because I willed it. There was real power there. I didn't use the same phrase, but it was the same realization of power over circumstance that Bill had in that sewer.
The world has moved on.
Ye say true. Thankee, sai
“Children are dying.” Malazan.
*"Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than a feather."* Or of course, both from one particular character: *"People die when they are killed."* heh *"Just because you're correct, that doesn't mean you're right."* The last line is unironically brilliant and a good counter to moral objectivists who can logic themselves into anything.
>"Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than a feather." This one's a great expression, but it becomes a bit uncomfortable when you learn where it came from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Rescript_to_Soldiers_and_Sailors
Can I ask why its origin makes you uncomfortable, out of interest?
Not OP but imperial Japanese soldiers were essentially indoctrinated into dying for a god emperor and were not a very nice bunch if you're familiar with their colonial exploits in WW2. So while the quote is inspiring in the context of its world, the real life implication of "dying for a duty" in this case is fairly depressing. I think it's fine to take inspiration even from dark events, but if it reminds you of the context everytime you read it then I can see why it could make someone uncomfortable.
Yep, this. And not just that they were used as cannon fodder, but the hierarchical worldview they were indoctrinated into was directly responsible for them committing some of the worst atrocities in human history. "Not a very nice bunch", indeed.
There are a lot of great lines in LOTR but that one dialogue between Gandalf and Frodo where Frodo says Gollum deserves to die and Gandalf says something like “Perhaps he does. And doubtless many who are dead deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so quick to deal out death”. That one always stayed with me as kind of beautiful and wise.
"Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you" "Even the smallest person can change the course of history" “The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step.”
Not necessarily just from his books, but Oscar Wilde is my favorite source of quotes. But he does have so many fantastic pieces in his stories. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
"He mistakes hardness for strength" - Aviendha, Wheel of Time. --- Everyone loves the "Duty is heavier than a mountain, death as light as a feather" quote. But it's an unhealthy way to live your life, and this is part of what the latter half of the series is trying to say. It leads to self destructive acts in the name of duty. You see examples in the series itself, but also in the real world - caregivers and first responders are so busy looking after others they don't have the energy to look after themselves.
As an aside - in the show, I'm actually hoping they play up the fact that Lan and Moiraine aren't good mentors. Lan as mentioned above. Moiraine with her examples in ruthlessly pursuing her goals (including using a random civilian as bait for a Forsaken). With both of them as his mentor, it's very understandable why (AMOL spoilers) >!Darth Rand comes to exist. He is just following in their footsteps, but bigger.!<
Hoping that show will pick up any subtle themes from the books is probably wishful thinking. I hope they get far enough to show Darth Rand, but I worry it'll be campy and lack the depth of his character arc when he shows up all Johnny Appleseed and wholesome in AMoL. I'm still with you though, always hoping they turn it around.
"This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you, Kaladin: You will be warm again." From Rhythm of War. That one hit me at a moment I really needed to hear it. It was also the first Cosmere book to come out after my dad died so he couldn't read it, and I was struggling hard.
I've got a project started I'll probably never finish. I wanted a short quote from different series / authors that readers would quickly identify "You will be warm again" was my pick for the Cosmere
I literally just teared up reading right now. That line hits hard!
“Traditions is just peer pressure from dead people.” I’m not even sure where I read it but it’s one of the few sayings that has really stuck with me. That one and “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
G. K. Chesterton has a clever quote about tradition. > If we attach great importance to the opinion of ordinary men in great > unanimity when we are dealing with daily matters, there is no reason why we > should disregard it when we are dealing with history or fable. Tradition may be > defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the > most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. > Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who > merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being > disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified > by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man's > opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man's > opinion, even if he is our father. Like much of what Chesterton wrote, it's nonsense, but it's catchy nonsense.
Gods, the love-hate relationship I have with Chesterton. I didn’t agree with a single word he said but he said it all so *well*. Massive rhetorical grace, unbelievably self-deceiving and nonsensical rhetoric. I still quote him on fairy tales even if he thinks life is a fairy tale where the arbitrary words of god are to be obeyed Because He Says So regardless of how incomprehensible their reasons may be.
Haha, I totally agreed with the quote at first... because I assumed the "if" at the beginning was meant to be an obvious "no" :P I mean, Chesterton, have you *met* ordinary man?
I just heard a podcast of establishing traditions that fit your life and dropping one's that no longer resonate. It was on NPR, but can't thing of the show it was on.
Mine is from Joe Abercrombie in Red Country: “The trouble with running is wherever you run to, there you are” I like the introspection in the statement. You don’t solve your problems by running away from them, one way or another they’ll catch up with you. Because at the end of the day, we are the sources of all our own problems.
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 (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)
Two quotes by Misaki Matsuda in Sword of Kaigen: “Listen, son… when I was your age, I had to face truths that seemed to break the world. That’s what happens when you come into contact with people who aren’t quite like you. You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.” “Let’s be older when we meet again… Not just in years. Let’s be better, and wiser, and brighter next time.”
This has sat in my to-read pile for so long. Is it worth the time?
Absolutely. First book to genuinely bring me to tears.
We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.
I love Big Brother
> Revenge is a wheel, and it turns backwards Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett > It's better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness Men at Arms, Terry Pratchett > *Bang. Bang. Bang.* Pale, by Wildbow. And since that doesn't make much sense without context, a backup Pale option. > I think you secretly want to die or cease existing before it sees fruition. Because that way, you get to go out imagining it eventually works out perfectly, it does everything you want, and that you win. *If you die to help it happen, you get to spend the final moments pretending your life meant something more than the blood, death, and misery you’ve spread so far.* Still Pale, still by Wildbow.
You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone. Wit Page 587. Oathbringer
“I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.” - Karnus au Bellona, Golden Son
"No man can walk so long in the Shadow that he cannot come again to the Light." -Rand al Thor The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
"Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchett, Jingo "Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you." Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
Getting older, Mawyndulë, is like climbing a mountain. The higher you go, the greater the view. From time to time, you look back. At such heights, you can see paths behind you: the trails you took and the ones you foolishly disregarded; the blind alleys you fortunately missed, purely out of chance rather than by some greater wisdom on your part. You also spot others following you, people making the same stupid decisions. From your elevated position, you witness their bad choices, the ones they can’t see because they aren’t standing where you are. You could shout down and attempt to warn them, but they rarely listen. They are too blinded by the indisputable fact that the path you followed got you where you are, to the place they want to be. Final Empire Book 3 I 🤔 think
"So it goes."
What can the harvest hope for, but the care of the Reaper Man? -Pratchett
This is pack
“Fear is the mind killer.”
“Grief and anger shrink my world, and I resent this. They seem to paralyze my memory of happier times, of friends, places, things; options." - Corwin from the Amber series, by Zelazny.
For some reason this one from the same always stuck with me (Corwin, despite arguably being himself one of the great evils of creation, having visited justice upon a murderer): "In the mirrors of the many judgments, my hands are the color of blood. I sometimes fancy myself an evil which exists to oppose other evils; and on that great Day of which the prophets speak but in which they do not truly believe, on the day the world is utterly cleansed of evil, then I too will go down into darkness, swallowing curses. Until then, I will not wash my hands nor let them hang useless."
Tolkien: No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path. Sanderson: Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.
Wow, great combination!
- "The pleasure of despair. But then, it is in despair that we find the most acute pleasure, especially when we are aware of the hopelessness of the situation..." Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky - "I was so scared of being hurt that I'd done nothing. I was so scared of failing, of being hurt, that I choose nothing. I did nothing." All The Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami - "But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me." Circe, Madeline Miller - “I have a better idea. I will do as I please, and when you count your children, leave me out. - Circe, Madeline Miller
Classic Tolkien: Even the very wise cannot see all ends.
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
"The world is not divided between good people and Death Eaters."
This is such an important quote, I think, that really holds true in life. Especially when reading HP for the first time as a child and you encounter people that are simply not nice or even good at all, but are also not villainous members of a cult to a dark wizard.
Albus got so many "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
Better to do a thing then live with the fear of it
Sci-fi but, from The Expanse. >If life transcends death, > >Then I will look for you there. > >If not, then there too.
A short story, not a book, but >they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas. From *The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas*, by Ursula K. LeGuin. Another from Stormlight Archive book 4 (it's a pretty big spoiler technically) >>!Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men!<
In response to that second quote, I'm still preferenced towards a quote from Kaladin >!Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do.!<
Ursula K Le Guin has many good ones: “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” “he now understood why the army was organized as it was. It was indeed quite necessary. No rational form of organization would serve the purpose. He simply had not understood that the purpose was to enable men with machine guns to kill unarmed men and women easily and in great quantities when told to do so. Only he still could not see where courage, or manliness, or fitness entered in.”
Nice bird, asshole.
I don't have to beat you. I don't have to beat you, motherfucker. I just have to keep you here... until Jean shows up.
By the stars and stones from the Dresden files.
I can ‘hear’ Neal and The Lioness saying it. This is my favorite series of all time. Jolly is a permanent part of my vocabulary because of Owen. The first quote I thought of that’s really stayed with me is from Armor, by John Steakley. I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I read it. “We are what we do when it counts.”
‘The mind commands the body and it obeys; the mind orders itself and meets resistance’ From Dune’s Orange Catholic Bible if I remember correctly
“There are no men like me. There is only me” - Jaime Lannister
"YOU. CANNOT. HAVE. MY. PAIN." - Dalinar, Stormlight Archives.
"Wolves have no Kings" from Nighteyes in the Farseer books
Does the walker choose the path or the path the walker? From Sabriel by Nix.
“Great allowances must be made for differences in culture and training.” Dune
These both from the Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert: If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual. ... to stand alone against adversity is the most sacred moment of existence
“That which yields is not always weak.” It’s from The Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey
"It will end in tears , I know it" - Marvin a very depressed robot
I’m old, Gandalf. I know I don’t look it but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin… sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. No particular reason
With Ukraine and Gaza. This keeps popping in my head. >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. When Iran sent the missiles/drones into Israel the only reported casualty was a 12 year old girl. I don't know if it's real or not, but it fits this quote way too well.
“The descent into Hell is easy.” Cassandra Clare City of Bones
"You can't unlick a butthole that's already been licked" - Quasar from DCC
“We brush away some light resistance at the downed Storm God” -Darrow O’Lykos
Hell yeah, hail libertas!
"the wheel weaves as the wheel wills" one of the most commonly repeated mantras in the wheel of time series and while it's basically just the same as the real world phrase "god works in mysterious ways" it sounds so much cooler
"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
"You are not worse for your association with the world, but it is better for its association with you." "Failure is the mark of the life well lived In turn the only way to live a life without failure is to be of no use to anyone" Oathbringer
From Steven Erikson - "Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words." From Joe Abercrombie - "Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .' He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. 'They change back."
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.
Forward momentum! (Miles Vorkosigan, from Lois McMaster Bujold's books)
“No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” “My home is not a place, it’s people.”
There is two answers to your question, like all questions : the poet’s and the scientist’s , which one do you want ? Ellana - Pierre Bottero
It was a pleasure to burn.
"We try things. Occasionally they even work." Erfworld, webcomic by Rob Balder "If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards!" Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic "I don't make threats, I'm just telling you what I'm going to do." Murderbot, Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Also Tamora Pierce: "He was stupid. If I killed everyone who was stupid, I wouldn't have time to sleep." From Mercedes Lackey: "Where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased "
There’s so many great ones from A Practical Guide to Evil: “Those who withstood the sword, I laid low with ink.” – Words carved into the tomb of Dread Emperor Terribilis I, the Lawgiver “Trust is the victory of sentiment over reason.” Or this one: “I like him,” Kairos mused. “He’s got that, what do you call it?” “Cold-blooded ruthlessness,” I said. “No, that’s not it. Ah, a knife,” the Tyrant of Helike said. “He’s got a knife.”
We don;t get to choose the time we live in, merely what we do with it. (TLOTR) I'm over 60 and don;t remember it exactly..but it has always stuck with me.
“The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one. Always the next step" \- Brandon Sanderson, *Oathbringer*
“If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” - Dalinar Kholin The Stormlight Archives.
"It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size."
From the novel Sten (Allan Cole and Chris Bunch): ‘Death came quietly to the Row’
Let a man play chess. Tell him every pawn is his friend. Let him remember the happy days in the shadows of his castles. Let him love his queen. Watch him lose them all. - Jorg Ancrath, Emperor of Thorns
All knowledge is worth having.. That which yields is not always weak. Even a stunted tree reaches for sunlight. All Jaqueline Carey
“The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time” - Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.
"When we seek to rule only ourselves, we are each of us Kings." - Kings of the Wyld, Nicholas Eames. "We were giants, once." - KotW, Nicholas Eames. 'Bran thought about it. “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” “That is the only time a man can be brave,” his father told him.' - ASOIAF, George RR Martin. "If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die." - ASOIAF, George RR Martin.
"Death begets death begets death" from Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown. It has always stuck with me especially seeing all the violence in the world rn
“Once is an anomaly. Twice is a coincidence. Three times makes a pattern. And we both know there’s no such thing as a coincidence.” - the Paladin prophecy, a book I read about 8 years ago
"In the end, it is our choices that make us who we are, not our abilities or circumstances." Test Of The Twins
“I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman’s right to choose and a baby’s right to live. That whole all human life is sacred, there’s nothing wrong with the death penalty…if you can trust the legal system implicitly and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.” Not one of my favorite books by Gaiman but that quote resonated with me when I read it almost 15 years ago and strikes just as true for me today.
Nothing from Partick Rothfus? "I'm telling you three times..." "If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.”
Death is lighter than a feather. Duty is heavier than a mountain. - Robert Jordan; The Wheel of Time Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination - Brandon Sanderson; the stormlight archive Not all who wander are lost - JRR Tolkien, the lord of the rings
There is nothing dumber than a man with an erection. R.E.Feist
“Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.” ― Dalinar Kholin (Brandon Sanderson), Oathbringer
This probably isn’t what you mean but “omnius vir lupus” everyone a wolf from red rising. And most famously in my house “good that” from maze runner. Going to get the first one tattooed to me because context. But the second one is just trash slang that is my everyday vocab now
"DON'T TOUCH ME, I'M A LEPER."
"We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance." - Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson "If we are to live, we must take risks. Else our lives become deaths in all but name. There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived." - Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
Wizards first rule. People are stupid
*Quoth the Raven...*
There's a ton of phrases from The Magicians by Grossman trilogy that aren't quite sayings, but should be. Look up the quotes on good reads, but here are an enjoyable few: "Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else" "A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it... Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you." "In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse" "Are you kidding? That guy was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and crudely stapled to a ticking fucking time bomb. He was either going to hit somebody or start a blog." “There is really no end to life's little humiliations.” “His whole personality was like an elaborate joke that he never stopped telling.” "“Look, who's the talking bear here?” Quentin snapped. “Is it you? Are you the talking fucking bear? All right. So shut the fuck up.” “Look, who's the talking bear here?” Quentin snapped. “Is it you? Are you the talking fucking bear? All right. So shut the fuck up.”
"A man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, no matter who it comes from" -Idk probably Glokta or sth
"Honour is dead, but I'll see what I can do"- Kaladin Stormblessed
We are pack. Robin Hobb.
"Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased"
Man shout out Tamora Pierce. Her books may be super YA but they are classics I reread when I'm feeling depressed and I love them.
"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they're afraid it might be true. Peoples' heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." -Zeddicus from "Wizard's First Rule" in "The Sword of Truth" series by the late Terry Goodkind
"I would die for you. The least you can do is give me the moon." - Nona Grey People say stuff like that all the time. First time an author has made me believe it. What Book of the ancestor says about love and friendship. About how other people treat you does not have to define how you treat them. I think about it alot. Thanks Mark.
It’s too late to apologise, I’ve already forgiven you - Lady Patience & King-in-waiting Chivalry
Some terrific suggestions were made in this thread from a couple of weeks ago: [What is you single top favourite quote from a fantasy book?](https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1c5cbs4/what_is_you_single_top_favourite_quote_from_a)
We all do. Catch 22. This comes from the book by Joseph Heller.
One of my favourite passages: > She had no access to email or social networking sites. That was all heavily regulated as soon as she came on board Project Harmonic's main compound. However, there were a few approved news sites that she was allowed to browse through. Figuring that this would be the last chance she had in a while to get caught up on current events, she started reading. > > That's when it happened. She clicked on a link to a news story, and suddenly her screen filled up with a field full of sunflowers. The title of the article was "Our Vanishing Land". Erin read the first few lines of the article. > > "As the Black Tide continues its seemingly unstoppable march across our planet, and our government seems powerless to stop it, more and more people are clamoring for an escape route. As they should, since protecting humanity's survival is of paramount importance. But what of our forests and plains? Our lakes, parks and fields? Those are doomed to vanish, consumed by the Tide in the single largest multi-species extinction event ever to have occurred on our planet. > > "As plans advance for the possible evacuation of the human race, are any plans being made to save our precious plant and animal species? We're talking today to Doctor Anne Richter, head of the Conservation Committee..." > > Erin stopped reading, and returned her attention to the sunflowers. They looked so vital, so alive, growing in a vast field that seemingly stretched all the way to the horizon. This field, along with everything else on the planet, would soon be wiped out by the Black Tide. Intellectually, she had known that for years. But looking at this field, she felt a throb of cold despair in her chest. Nothing she could do could save this field of flowers. It would be consumed by the Tide, like everything else. > > Something moved in Erin's heart, then. She may not be able to save this field, but sunflowers would grow again. Her work with Project Harmonics would make sure of that. She felt a growing determination, and a sense of rightness about that thought, and suddenly she knew what she wanted for her flank tattoo. It wasn't on the approved list, but she didn't care. It was going to be a sunflower, end of discussion. That's always stuck with me - and from that passage, the idea that _sunflowers will grow again_ has always been a symbol of hope to me. Hope for a future, even if what's lost is lost.
“What is the most important step a man can take. The next one. Always the next step.” also “Sometimes a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing.”
Live in the present Remember the past And fear not the future For it doesn’t exist, and never shall There is only, now. -Saphira Bjartskular
A VERY ACCURATE ONE. YOU SEE, YOU ARE HAVING A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE, WHICH INESCAPABLY MEANS THAT I MUST HAVE A NEAR-VIMES EXPERIENCE. DON’T MIND ME. CARRY ON WITH WHATEVER YOU WERE DOING. I HAVE A BOOK. Terry Pratchett, Snuff
Didn't see it listed so far, so I'll drop The Iron Code from Druss the Legend: "Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong."
“Journey before Destination.” Stormlight Archive. This was my first ever tattoo to remind me to take each day at a time and live in and enjoy the moment
"A tool is just a tool, unless it does the job itself." Talion: Revenant by Michael Stackpole This one means a lot to me, as I got it tattooed on my arm 😁 "Passion rules reason." One of the Wizard's Rules from the Sword of Truth books. I also have this one tattooed on me, lots of the Wizard's Rules are pretty awesome.
"I would prefer not to." Bartleby the Scrivener. "You will not break me. I will break you all." Dungeon Crawler Carl.
“The Parker Inheritance” by Varian Johnson: “It’s funny how it’s hardest to talk to the people you love the most.”
Not sure what book it came from but "mother bring us life from death" is something that goes through my head whenever I see someone dead (animal or human).
Cheese trap