George R.R. Martin

“Perhaps magic was once a mighty force in the world, but no longer. What little remains is no more than the wisp of smoke that lingers in the air after a great fire has burned out, and even that is fading. Valyria was the last ember, and Valyria is gone. The dragons are no more, the giants are dead, the children of the forest forgotten with all their lore.”

“Arya lifted her gaze from the dead man and his dead dog. Jaqen H'ghar was leaning up against the side of the Wailing Tower. When he saw her looking, he lifted a hand to his face and laid two fingers casually against his cheek.”

“If any man tries to stop us, cut him down.”

“A fair bargain leaves both sides unhappy.”

“El príncipe salió de la cabina [...] Llevaba espada y puñal, botas negras relucientes y una capa negra con ribete de seda rojo sangre. Se había lavado y cortado el pelo y lo llevaba recién teñido de azul oscuro, con lo que sus ojos también parecían azules. Lucía al cuello los tres grandes rubíes de talla cuadrada engarzados en una cadena de hierro que le había regalado el magíster Illyrion."Rojo y negro; los colores del dragón." Era perfecto.Danza de Dragones (pag. 363)”

“Let him grow taller,she asked the gods.Let him know sixteen, and twenty, and fifty. Let him grow as tall as his father, and hold his own son in his arms. Please, please, please.”

“Il meta-lupo non aveva risposte. Leccò il viso di Jon con la sua linguaumida e ruvida come una raspa. Gli occhi di Spettro intercettarono gli ultimiraggi del sole, scintillando come due enormi stelle colore del sangue."Occhi rossi" notò Jon "ma diversi da quelli di Melisandre." Gli occhi diSpettro erano come quelli degli alberi-diga. "Occhi rossi, bocca rossa, pellicciabianca. Sangue e ossa, come un albero-cuore. Spettro, tu appartieniagli antichi dèi." E di tutti i meta-lupo degli Stark, Spettro era l'unico con ilpelo bianco. Avevano trovato sei cuccioli, lui e Robb, nella neve di fine estate.Cinque erano grigi, neri e marrone, per i cinque ragazzi Stark. L'ultimoera bianco. Come snow, neve.A quel punto, Jon Snow ebbe la sua risposta.”

“If he must be alone, he would make solitude his armor.”

“Quiet as a shadowLight as a featherQuick as a snakeCalm as still waterSmooth as summer silkSwift as a deerSlippery as an eelStrong as a bearFierce as a wolverineStill as stone”

“The little shards of sleep that they allowed her turned into razors, slicing at her wits.”

“Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Quick as a snake. Calm as still water.”

“A broken sword can be reforged. A broken sword can kill.”

“For the night is dark and full of terrors.”

“If life was worthless, what was death?”

“The ones who look the most suspicious are likely innocent. It's the ones who look innocent I need to beware.”

“Corn! Corn! Corn!”

“The faithful dog is kicked, and no matter how the spider weaves, he is never loved.”

“War seems like a fine adventure, the greatest most of them will ever know. Then they get a taste of battle. For some, that one taste is enough to break them. Others go on for years, until they lose count of all the battles they have fought in, but even a man who has survived a hundred fights can break in his hundred-and-first. Brothers watch their brothers die, fathers lose their sons, friends see their friends trying to hold their entrails in after they’ve been gutted by an axe. They see the lord who led them there cut down, and some other lord shouts that they are his now, They take the wound, and when that’s still half-healed they take another. There is never enough to eat, their shoes fall to pieces from marching, their clothes are torn and rotting, and half of them are shitting in their breeches from drinking bad water.If they want new boots or a warmer cloak or maybe a rusted iron half helm, they need to take them from a corpse, and before long they are stealing from the living too, from the small folk whose land they’re fighting in, men very like the men they used to be. They slaughter their sheep and steal their chickens, and from there it’s just a short step to carrying off their daughters too. And one day they look around and realize all their friends and kin are gone, that they are fighting beside strangers beneath a banner that they hardly recognize. They don’t know where they are or how to get back home and the lord they’re fighting for does not know their names, yet here he comes, shouting for them to form up, to make a line with their spears and scythes and sharpened hoes, to stand their ground. And the knights come down on them, faceless men clad in all steel, and the iron thunder of their charge seems to fill the world.And the man breaks.”

“You cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness.”

“Not cry. Fly.“I can’t fly,” Bran said. “I can’t, I can’t…”How do you know? Have you ever tried?The voice was high and thin. Bran looked around to see where it was coming from. A crow was spiraling down with him, just out of touch, following him as he fell. “Help me,” he said.I’m trying, the crow replied…The crow took to the air and flapped around Bran’s hand.“You have wings,” Bran pointed out.Maybe you do too.Bran felt along his shoulders, groping for feathers.There are different kinds of wings, the crow said…Bran was falling faster than ever. The grey mists howled around him as he plunged toward the earth below. “What are you doing to me?” he asked the crow, tearful.Teaching you how to fly.“I can’t fly!”You’re flying right now.“I’m falling!”Every flight begins with a fall, the crow said. Look down.”

“When they finally broke apart, Ygritte was flushed. "You're mine," she whispered. "Mine, as I'm yours. And if we die, we die. All men must die, Jon Snow. But first we'll live.”

“There's a funny fool. I have a riddle for you, Shagwell. Why do you care if she screams? Oh, wait, I know." He shouted "SAPPHIRES," as loudly as he could.Cursing, Rorge kicked at his stump again. Jaime howled. I never knew there was such agony in the world, was the last thing he remembered thinking. It was hard to say how long he was gone, but when the pain spit him out, Urswyck was there, and Vargo Hoat himself. "Thee'th not to be touched," the goat screamed, spraying spittle all over Zollo. "Thee hath to be a maid, you foolth! Thee'th worth a bag of thapphireth!" And from then on, every night Hoat put guards on them, to protect them from his own.Two nights passed in silence before the wench finally found the courage to whisper, "Jaime? Why did you shout out?""Why did I shout out 'sapphires,' you mean? Use your wits, wench. Would this lot have cared if I shouted 'rape'?""You did not need to shout at all.""You're hard enough to look at with a nose. Besides, I wanted to make the goat say, 'thapphireth.”

“Jaime," Brienne whispered, so faintly he thought he was dreaming it. "Jaime, what are you doing?""Dying," he whispered back."No," she said, "no, you must live."He wanted to laugh. "Stop telling me what to do, wench. I'll die if it pleases me.""Are you so craven?"The words shocked him. He was Jaime Lannister, a knight of the Kingsguard, he was the Kingslayer. No man had ever called him craven. Other things they called him, yes; oathbreaker, liar, murderer. They said he was cruel, treacherous, reckless. But never craven. "What else can I do, but die?""Live," she said, "live, and fight, and take revenge."Craven, Jaime thought.... Can it be? They took my sword hand. Was that all I was, a sword hand? Gods be good, is it true?The wench had the right of it. He could not die.”

“Ser Jaime?" Even in soiled pink satin and torn lace, Brienne looked more like a man in a gown than a proper woman."I am grateful, but...you were well away. Why come back?"A dozen quips came to mind, each crueler than the one before, but Jaime only shrugged. "I dreamed of you," he said.”

“At the Trident, those brave men Viserys spoke of who died beneath our dragon banners - did they give their lives because they believed in Rhaegar's cause, or because they had been bought and paid for?" Dany turned to Mormont, crossed her arms, and waited for an answer."My queen," the big man said slowly, "all you say is true. But Rhaegar lost on the Trident. He lost the battle, he lost the war, he lost the kingdom, and he lost his life. His blood swirled downriver with the rubies from his breastplate, and Robert the Usurper rode over his corpse to steal the Iron Throne. Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.”

“Thank the Good Master for his patient kindness," Dany said, "and tell him that I will think on all I learned here." She gave her arm to Arstan Whitebeard, to lead her back across the plaza to her litter. Aggo and Jhogo fell in to either side of them, walking with the bowlegged swagger all the horselords affected when forced to dismount and stride the earth like common mortals.”

“Fire consumes.' Lord Beric stood behind them, and there was something in his voice that silenced Thoros at once. 'It consumes, and when it is done there is nothing left. Nothing.”

“I will teach them what it means to put a lion in a cage, Cersei thought.”

“Her father said there was no shame in being afraid, only in showing your fear. "All men live with fear," he said.”

“Cersei wondered what it would feel like to kiss another woman. Not lightly on the cheek, as was common courtesy amongst ladies of high birth, but full upon the lips. Taena's lips were very full. She wondered what it would feel like to suckle on those breasts, to lay the Myrish woman on her back and push her legs apart and use her as a man would use her.”

“Faith is like porridge. Better with milk and honey.”

“Words are wind, Brienne told herself. They cannot hurt you. Let them wash over you.”

“I have a hole where my heart should be, she thought, and nowhere else to go.”

“The sea is never weary. I must be as tireless.”

“No fight is hopeless till it has been fought.”

“Sometimes I think everyone is just pretending to be brave, and none of us really are. Maybe pretending is how you get brave, I don't know.”

“Ser Arys was pleasant company abed, but wit and he were strangers. (Arianne Martell)”

“Men are men, vows are words, and words are wind.”

“The more people you love, the weaker you are.”

“The Lord of Light in his wisdom made us male and female, two parts of a greater whole. In our joining there is power. Power to make life. Power to make light. Power to cast shadows.”

“Some allies are more dangerous than enemies.”

“The best calumnies are spiced with truth.”

“The great thing about reading is that it broadens your life”

“Esistono due tipi di persone ad Approdo del Re: i giocatori e le pedine.Petyr Baelish "Littlefinger”

“I am doing the right thing, he told himself, so why do I feel so bad?”

“She was no stranger to waiting, after all. Her man had always made her wait.”

“He did not know which was more painful, the waking or the sleeping. When he slept, he dreamed: dark disturbing dreams of blood and broken promises. When he woke, there was nothing to do but think, and his waking thoughts were worse than nightmares.”

“No one mocked him in his bedchamber, but he would not live his life in bed.”

“They had ridden past the end of the world; somehow that changed everything.”

“The lies we tell for love, he thought. May the gods forgive me.”