‘You do not understand the world. Men like to think they control it but this is nonsense. Women rule, they always have. They tell a man he is god-like. The man believes them and is in their thrall. For without them to tell him, he becomes merely a man.’
– Prasamaccus, to Laitha, Ghost King
‘You are not an evil man. Do not allow one mistake to poison your feelings of self worth.’
– Derae, to Parmenion, Dark Prince
‘You talk about countering evil, and in essence that is a question of balance. But the scales are not merely linear. A great great amount of evil does not necessarily require an equivalent amount of good to equalise the balance.’
– Pendarric, to Galead, Last Sword of Power
‘These three mysteries the warrior must understand: Life, Harmony and Spirit. The first is life, sometimes called the Greek gift, for it is taken back, day after day. What is it? It is breath, it is laughter, it is joy. The brighter the light, the shorter its existence. But one thing is certain – and the warrior knows this. All lives end. A man can hide in a cave all his days, avoiding war, avoiding pestilence, and still he will one day die. Better the bright flame, the great joy. A man who has never known sorrow can never appreciate joy. So the man who has not faced death can not understand life.
Harmony is the second mystery. The tree knows harmony, and the breeze and the quiet stars. Man rarely finds it. Find it now, here on this lonely hill. Listen to the beating of your heart, feel the air in your lungs, see the glory of the moon. Be at one with the night. Be at one with these stones. Be at one with your sword and yourself. For in harmony is strength, and in strength there is life.
Lastly there is Spirit. Tonight you will want to run… to hide… to escape. But spirit will tell you to stand firm. It is a small voice and easy to shut out. But you will listen. For spirit is all a man has against the Darkness. And only by following the voice of spirit can a man grow strong. Courage, loyalty, friendship and love are all gifts of the spirit.’
– Revelation, to Cormac, Last Sword of Power
‘People say we no longer live in an age of miracles. It is not so. What has been lost is our ability to see them.’
– The Deacon, The Wisdom of the Deacon, Bloodstone
‘What better way of dealing with enemies than making them your friends?’
– Caterix, to Galead, Last Sword of Power
‘Comfort, I find, is more to do with the spirit than the softness of beds.’
– Parmenion, to Mothac, Dark Prince
‘A man who has never known sorrow can never appreciate joy. So the man who has not faced death can not understand life.’
– Revelation, to Cormac, Last Sword of Power
‘Once there was a city under siege. The enemy King said that he would spare the city if the inhabitants took a single babe and sacrificed it to him on the battlements. Now the city could not hold against him and surely, it was argued, the slaying of a single babe would be better than seeing all the babes of the city killed then the attacker breached the walls.
But they understood that you do not turn aside a great evil by allowing a small one to be committed. Evil grows. Give way once and you will give away again… and again.’
– Tamis, to Derae, Dark Prince
‘Harmony is balance, it is understanding the evil we carry, but holding it in stasis by the good we should desire. Harmony is achieved when we have the courage to accept that we are flawed.’
– Pendarric, to Ruth, Wolf in Shadow
