‘I keep being told there’s a paradise for them that believes, but I’m sort of hoping there’s a paradise for them that don’t know.’
– Con Griffin, to himself, Wolf in Shadow
All posts by Robbie Swale
‘Strength and weakness, my friend, often seem as close as husband and wife. We are strong because we are proud. We are weak because our pride never allowed us to grow.’
– Agisaleus, to Xenophon, Lion of Macedon
‘None of us is perfect. At least you tried to walk the road.’
– Jon Shannow, to The Parson, The Last Guardian
‘There is a limit to the power of any single man – even a hero.’
– Eriatha, to Connavar, Sword in the Storm
‘You cannot eradicate evil, for without it how would we judge what is good? And if there is no greed, no lust, no baleful desires, what has a man achieved who becomes good? There would then be no mountains to climb.’
– Pendarric, to Ruth, Wolf in Shadow
‘This is not some idle theory, and I do not wish you to patronise me. What I am telling you is about life. It is so easy to compromise, to tell yourself it does not matter. Or someone else will do it if you don’t. It always matters. The world can crush us and kill us, but the most terrifying injuries are always from within. Our own deeds. They can torment us with whips of fire.’
– Stepney, to Bimbo Jardine, White Knight Black Swan
‘Yet I was wise once, I knew many secrets. But all wisdom is folly. We think we manipulate, but we are being manipulated. We think we have power, but we are as leaves in a storm. We do good works, that lead to evil. All is confusion. All is vanity.’
– Tamis, to Derae, Lion of Macedon
‘Do not make the mistake of judging a man’s physical courage, or his skills, by the work he is forced to do. I knew a doctor once who could put an arrow through a gold ring at forty paces. And a street cleaner in Drenan who once held off twenty Sathuli warriors, killing three, before he carried his injured officer back to camp. Judge a man by his actions, not his occupation.’
– Angel, to Miriel, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
‘Any good that I may do, let me do it now, for I may not pass this way again.’
– A quotation from an ancient writing, The Legend of Deathwalker
‘A man can be a robber all his life, and yet do one good deed and be remembered in song with great affection. But a king? He can spend his life in good works, yet perpetrate one evil deed and be remembered as a tyrant.’
– Pendarric, to Uther, Ghost King