David Gemmell (1948 – 2006)
Bestselling British author of heroic fantasy.
The point is [...] that you never know whether you've lost until you've lost. Anything can happen.
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. it is far better to have tasted love before dying than to die alone.
I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom — because that's all dung to a soldier.
I do not mock men who have faith. It goves them comfort, and oft times leads them to help others. Yet I have also seen great evils done in the name of the Source. And never have I witnessed a miracle. Until I do I shall remain sceptical.
This world has few redeeming features, and one is the capacity for people to love one another with great, enduring passion.
Winning is not everything, Stavut. Men like to think it is. Sometimes it is more important to stand against evil than to worry about beating it ... Evil will always have the worst weapons. Evil will gather the greatest armies. They will burn, and plunder, and kill. But that's not the worst of it. They will try to make us believe that the only way to destroy them is to become like them. That is the true vileness of evil. It is contagious.
One hundred only, Lord Earl. But judge us not by our number. Rather, watch the numbers of dead we leave behind.
A man should be free to do what he wants to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others.
Only a fool loves war. Or a man who has never seen it. The trouble is that the survivors forget about the horrors and remember only the battle lust. They pass on that memory, and other men hunger for it.
While men compete in war, there will be warriors. While there are warriors, there will be princes among warriors. Among the princes will be kings, and among the kings an emperor.
A problem shared is a problem doubled.
‘Win or lose, we achieve nothing in the world that we understand [...]’ ‘But then the world does not matter.’ ‘Indeed it does not [...] It is good to understand that.’
Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have.
War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?
We all have scars [...] Better by far for them to be worn on the outside.
A friend in need is a friend to be avoided.
[H]e who fears to lose will never win.
... a man can overcome his background, even as he can overcome a skilled opponent.
"We don't seem to be overflowing with luck." "You make your own. I put no faith in gods, Lake. Never have. If they exist, they care very little—if at all—about ordinary mortals. I put my faith in me, and do you know why? Because I have never lost!"
'Where will you go from here?' he asked. Chellin shrugged. 'Who knows? North again. Maybe not. I'm tired of this life, Kiall. I may head south, to Drenai land. Buy a farm, raise a family.' 'And have raiders descend on you to steal your daughters?' Chellin nodded and sighed. 'Yes. Like all dreams, it doesn't bear close examination [...]'