David Gemmell (1948 – 2006)
Bestselling British author of heroic fantasy.
All things are possible, ... Except the passing of regret.
It is not hard to change when your biggest problem is whether the weeds prosper in a vegetable patch.
It is the curse of absolute power, Olek. There is no one to admonish you, no laws save those you make. We like to believe there is something special, even alien, about evil. We like to think that tyrants are different from the rest of us. That they are somehow inhuman. They are not. They are merely unchained, unfettered; free to do as they please.
All legends have a base in fact.
Death haunts everyone and never fails.
Every man has his own reason for every deed. Usually it is selfish.
'A man should not risk his life for beauty alone, Kiall, for that fades. You might as well risk it for a rose. Think on it.'
There are many forms of cowardice, Chareos. One man can face a score of enemies with a sword, but not a sickness which paralyses him. Another can face death with a smile, yet fear the years of hardship and toil which are living. Are you a coward?
"How do you do it? How do you stay so strong?" "I fake it."
A man can be aroused to anger as easily as he is aroused to rut. The two emotions are closely linked. Anger and lust. So the warrior is aroused in battle and fights to dominate.
Nothing in life is easy, Arvan. But it's what I'm trained for. To lead an army. To bring death and destruction on my enemies [...] A man must stand against evil wherever he finds it and he must use all his talents.
'He didn't want to come, Dweller. He didn't want to get involved. It should have been me who died.' 'Of course he wanted to come. Why else was he here? You didn't force him, Draig. He came because you were his brother and he loved you. He could have left at any time once the pursuit began. He made his own choices. Just as you did. Just as I knew you would.'
I don't know yet whether I fully believe in fate, but certain things do happen in a man's life that he cannot explain.
Bow to nothing, son. I make mistakes as well as any man. If you think me wrong, be so good as to damn well say so.
I am not a hero; I am a soldier. When the battle is lost, I retreat and regroup; when the war is over, I lay down my sword. No last dashing charge; no futile last stand!
A man cannot spend his life worrying about the unexpected.
A man's strength is ultimately born of his knowledge of his own weakness ...
'I have no wish to argue, Father. Yet it must be said that the monks exist here in peace and security only because of the swords of the defenders. I do not belittle your views — I wish all men shared them. But they do not. ... if all men and women lived as you and I, there would be no children, and no humanity. What then would be the Will of the Source?'
Kings are chosen by the Source, so it is said ... Therefore those who fight for the king can be said to be godly. Is that not cause enough?
When healears yearn to kill then hope begins to die ... Evil cannot be overcome by evil.