George R.r. Martin Quotes

The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. 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.

~ George R.r. Martin

...the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword....a ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.

~ George R.r. Martin

Lem glowered. Your lion friends ride into some village, take all the food and every coin they find, and call it foraging. the wolves as well, so why not us? no one robbed you, dog. You just been good and foraged.

~ George R.r. Martin

It was a cruel fate, Yet not so cruel as Mago's will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh.

~ George R.r. Martin

Is there any creature on earth as unfortunate as an ugly woman? (wonders Lady Catelyn Stark)

~ George R.r. Martin

A shy smile, strong arms, clever fingers, and two sure swords. What more could any woman want?

~ George R.r. Martin

A man can own a woman, and a man can own a knife, but no man can own both

~ George R.r. Martin

If every woman had a direwolf, men would be much sweeter.

~ George R.r. Martin

A book can be as dangerous as a sword in the right hands, said Haldon.

~ George R.r. Martin

Then you do not belong here. Death holds no sweetness in this house. We are not warriors, nor soldiers, nor swaggering bravos puffed up with pride. We do not kill to serve some lord, to fatten our purses, to stroke our vanity. We never give the gift to please ourselves. Nor do we choose the ones we kill. We are but servants of the God of Many Faces.Valar dohaeris. All men must serve.You know the words, but you are too proud to serve. A servant must be humble and obedient.I obey. I can be humbler than anyone.That made him chuckle. You will be the very goddess of humility, I am sure. But can you pay the price?What price?The price is you. The price is all you have and all you ever hope to have. We took your eyes and gave them back. Next we will take your ears, and you will walk in silence. You will give us your legs and crawl. You will be no one's daughter, no one's wife, no one's mother. Your name will be a lie, and the very face you wear will not be your own.

~ George R.r. Martin

There are gods and there are true knights too. All the stories can't be lies.

~ George R.r. Martin

Most of the stories you hear about dragons are fodder for fools.

~ George R.r. Martin

No,” said Bran. “I haven’t. And if I have it doesn’t matter. Sometimes Old Nan would tell the same story she’d told before, but we never minded, if it was a good story. Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time.

~ George R.r. Martin

The day my father came to claim me, my mother did not wish for me to go. ‘She is a girl,' she said, ‘and I do not think that she is yours. I had a thousand other men.' He tossed his spear at my feet and gave my mother the back of his hand across the face, so she began to weep. ‘Girl or boy, we fight our battles,' he said, ‘but the gods let us choose our weapons.' He pointed to the spear, then to my mother's tears, and I picked up the spear.

~ George R.r. Martin

Make no choice, and you have chosen. Failure to decide, because you lack the right, is itself a decision, First Councilor. In abstaining, you vote.

~ George R.r. Martin

You wear your honor like a suit of armor... You think it keeps you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move.

~ George R.r. Martin

A hedge knight must hold tight to his pride. Without it, he was no more than a sellsword

~ George R.r. Martin

Pride ill becomes a beggar, ser.

~ George R.r. Martin

I have more concern for my nephew's welfare than for Lannister pride.

~ George R.r. Martin

It's not a career for anyone who needs or values security. It's a career for gamblers. Every time you write a book you roll the dice again.

~ George R.r. Martin

He is a sweet boy, quick to laugh, easy to love.

~ George R.r. Martin

Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.

~ George R.r. Martin

She tried so hard to be brave, to be fierce as a wolverine and all, but sometimes she felt like she was just a little girl after all.

~ George R.r. Martin

We're children. We're supposed to be childish.

~ George R.r. Martin

No wounded man shall sound me and live.

~ George R.r. Martin

No one has ever died of restlessness, but rashness is another matter. We've planted seeds, let them grow.

~ George R.r. Martin

You can write the most detailed, vivid description of an ax entering a skull, and nobody will say a word in protest. But if you write a similarly detailed description of a penis entering a vagina, you get letters from people saying they'll never read you again. What the hell? Penises entering vaginas bring a lot more joy into the world than axes entering skulls.

~ George R.r. Martin

I can describe an axe entering a human skull in great explicit detail and no one will blink twice at it. I provide a similar description, just as detailed, of a penis entering a vagina, and I get letters about it and people swearing off. To my mind this is kind of frustrating, it’s madness. Ultimately, in the history of [the] world, penises entering vaginas have given a lot of people a lot of pleasure; axes entering skulls, well, not so much.

~ George R.r. Martin

My smile is my servant, he should come at my command.

~ George R.r. Martin

Why would the stars want to look down on such as me?

~ George R.r. Martin

My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.

~ George R.r. Martin

A sworn sworn owes his liege our service and obedience, but this is madness.

~ George R.r. Martin

She could not bear to look at him just now. If she did, she might well slap him again. Or cry. Or kiss him. And never know which was right and which was wrong and which was madness.

~ George R.r. Martin

His wits have gone dark as his eyes

~ George R.r. Martin

Only the innocent know the peace of untroubled sleep. Confess sins, and you will sleep like a newborn babe.

~ George R.r. Martin

When a dog goes bad, the fault lies with his master.

~ George R.r. Martin

I value my privacy, and if sometimes my actions seem strange or arbitrary or capricious, I do not want them challenged.

~ George R.r. Martin

Strike hard and true, crow, or I'll come back and haunt you.

~ George R.r. Martin

Even brave men blind themselves sometimes, when they are afraid to see.

~ George R.r. Martin

It is said with truth that every building is constructed stone by stone, and the same may be said of knowledge, extracted and compiled by many learned men, each of whom builds upon the works of those who proceeded him.

~ George R.r. Martin