David Gemmell

“We ought to call it something,’ said Banokles thoughtfully. ‘We can’t just keep calling it “that big bastard horse”. It ought to have a name.’ ‘What do you suggest?’ - ‘Arse Face.”

“I tell you, one more insult and I’ll take his curling tongs and ram them so far up his arse he’ll be able to curl the damned thing from the inside.”

“It is said that the gates of paradise can only be opened by the tears of those left behind. I do not know whether that be true. It should be, I think.”

“Nadir we, youth born, axe wielders, blood letters, victors still.”

“There is evil in all of us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.”

“we are what we are my boy and wolves is what we are”

“My point is there will always be vile men, just as there will always be men of kindness and compassion... ...This world is a troubled, savage, place. It would, however, even be more ghastly if only evil men took time to master weapons." - Waylander from the book Hero in the Shadows by David Gemmell”

“A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

“Fear is an aid to the warrior. It is a small fire burning. It heats the muscles, making us stronger. Panic comes when the fire is out of control, consuming all courage and pride.”

“We cannot hide behind high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”

“Love is not about conquest. The truth is a man can only find true love when he surrenders to it. When he opens his heart to the partner of his soul and says: "Here it is! The very essence of me! It is yours to nurture or destroy.”

“War is the enemy of civilization. We cannot grow through war, Xander. It drags us down, filling our hearts with hatred and thoughts of revenge.”

“Never liked Kolanos. Was at a feast with him one time. Never heard him fart at all. Can't trust a man who doesn't fart at a feast.”

“In every one of us is the total of all we have ever been, the sullen child, the arrogant youth, the suckling babe. Every fear endured in childhood is lodged somewhere in here.' He tapped his temple. 'And every act of heroism or cowardice, generosity or meanness of spirit.”

“شیطان درون انسان های ضعیف رشد میکند”

“Listen...You could spend a lifetime trying to understand the works of evil men. Their joys are not ours. They love to inflict pain, create suffering, cause harm and death. It empowers them, for beneath the skin they are empty and worthless.”

“Danger lies in the extreme. A man who is always cruel is evil, a man who is always compassionate will be taken advantage of. It is more a question of balance, or harmony, if you will.”

“Love requires a different kind of courage, Andromache.”

“Our lives are spent sailing in the mist, hoping for a burst of sunlight that can make sense of who we are.”

“There is a darkness in you. In all of us, probably. Beasts we keep chained. Ordinary men have to keep the chains strong, for if we let the beast loose then society will turn upon us with fiery vengeance. Kings though...well, who is there to turn upon them? So the chains are made of straw. It is the curse of kings, Helikaon, that they can become monsters. And they invariably do.”

“It seems to me, that you people spend a great deal of time talking about honour, but strip away the high sounding words and you are no different from any other race. Family? Has Priam not killed wayward sons? When a king dies do his sons not go to war with one another to succeed him? Men speak of how you reacted to your father's death. They say it was amazing, for you did not order your little brother's execution. Your race thrives on blood and death, Helikaon. Your ships raid the coasts of other nations, stealing slaves, burning and plundering. Warriors brag of how many men they have killed, and women they have raped. Almost all of your kings either seized their thrones with swords and murder, or are children of men who seized power with swords and murder. So put all this talk of honour to one side.”

“Love is a mystery. We embrace it where we can. Mostly we do not choose whom we love. It just happens. A voice speaks to us, in ways the ears cannot hear. We recognize a beauty the eye does not see. We experience a change in our hearts that no voice can describe.”

“I may be stupid, as you say, to believe in honour and friendship and loyalty without price. But these are virtues to be cherished, for without them we are no more than beasts roaming the land.”

“We are tiny flames, Helikaon, and we flicker alone in the great dark for no more than a heartbeat. When we strive for wealth, glory and fame, it is meaningless. The nations we fight for will one day cease to be. Even the mountains we gaze upon will crumble to dust. To truly live we must yearn for that which does not die.”

“Nothing of real worth can ever be bought. Love, friendship, honour, valour, respect. All these things have to be earned.”

“The purpose of debates is to explore issues, not end them.”

“Odysseus draped the towel over his shoulders and stretched his back. "You remember practicing with wooden swords? All the moves, the blocks, the counters, getting your footwork right, learning how to be in balance always?""Of course you were a hard master.""And you recall the first time you went into a real fight, with blood being shed and the fear of death in the air?""I do""The moves are the same, but the difference is wider than the Great Green. Love is like that, Helikaon. You can spend time with a whore and laugh and know great pleasure. But when love strikes--- ah, the difference is awesome. You will find more joy in the touch of a hand or the sight of a smile than you could ever experience in a hundred nights of passion with anyone else. The sky will be more blue, the sun more bright. Ah, I am missing my Penelope tonight”

“Why now? Why not? Live or die, a man and a woman need love. There is a need in the race. We need to share. To belong. Perhaps you will die before the year is out. But remember this: to have may be taken from you, to have had never. Far better to have tasted love before dying, than to die alone.”

“One day the enemy will cross the Great Green. They will bring war and tragedy to these eastern lands. Such is the nature of vile men. Yet we cannot live in dread of them. We cannot hide behind these high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”

“... Life can be savored only if you look to the future and leave vengeance to the gods”

“I caught a pebble in the moonlight.”

“Miracles are merely events that happen just when they are needed.”

“By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highestheroism”

“Do not complain of life's unfairness. It is never fair - at best it is impartial.”

“No man should ever completely realize his dreams. What else would there then be to live for?”

“Risks? I have lived with the prospect of assassination for years. What risks? All men die, rich and poor alike. But if I am to die, then let it be while I fight, not like some bullock in a pen waiting for the ax to fall.”

“Our souls are but leaves in a storm, and only the gods know where we will come to rest.”

“Like light and shadow, love and hate were inseparable. One could not exist without the other.”

“There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion.”

“Life is a struggle, from the agonies of birth to the railing against death. Devour or be devoured. The law of the wild.”

“Yours is a race whose imagination is limited to its own small appetites. Greed, lust, envy - these are the motivating forces of humankind. What redeems you is that in every man and woman there is a seed that can grow to encompass love, joy and compassion. But this seed is never allowed to prosper in fertile ground. It struggles for life among the rocks of your human soul.”

“Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple. A child afraid of the dark who one day blows out the candle; a women terrified of the pain of childbirth who says, 'It is time to become a mother'. Heroism does not always live on the battlefield.”

“How many hopes and dreams are trapped within these bones? How many wonders lie never to be discovered? This is what war is. Desolation, despair and loss. There are no victors.”

“Love is both wondrous and yet full of peril. Love is a gateway through which hatred - disguised and unrecognized - can pass.”

“Men don't change. They just learn to disguise the lack of change.”

“No man should curse love. Ultimately, love is all there is.”

“The truth. Men will blind themselves with hot irons, rather than face it.”

“Not one of the creatures of blood can escape death. We all face it, and succumb to it. It follows us like a dark shadow. Yet if we live in terror of it, then we do not live at all. Yes we are born alone, and yes we will die alone. But in between, Tae, we live. We know joy.”

“May all your dreams but one come true, for what is life without a dream?”

“May all your dreams come true, save one.”