George R. R. Martin famous quotes

The true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Dark #Orcs #Horror

When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Liars #Men #Interesting

A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fear #Wind #Snow

O medo corta mais profundamente do que as espadas.
-- George R. R. Martin

A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Book #Mind #Needs

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies..
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fantasy #Reader #Thousand

When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Sunset #Sun #Candle

People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Truth #People #Taste

Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Pain #Broken #Heal

People are going to die who don't die in the books, so even the book readers will be unhappy. So everybody better be on their toes. David and D.B. (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss co-creators of 'Game Of Thrones) are even bloodier than I am.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Book #Games #People

They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to Middle Earth.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Heaven #Earth #Fantasy

My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Friendship #Summer #Grandmother

Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old.
-- George R. R. Martin

#War #Men #Battle

Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Summer #Winter #Share

A bruise is a lesson... and each lesson makes us better.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Success #Bruises #Lessons

Sleep is good, he said, And books are better.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Book #Healing #Sleep

Most have been forgotten. Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best. The best and the worst. And a few who were a bit of both.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hero #Forgotten #Worst

The real issue lies in the North beyond the Wall. Stannis becomes one of the few characters fully to understand that, which is why in spite of everything he is a righteous man.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wall #Real #Lying

Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side?
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wall #Men #Curiosity

Some writers enjoy writing, I am told. Not me. I enjoy having written.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Writing #Fabulous #Inspired

I hate outlines. I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the principal characters, and I know the major turning points and events from the books, the climaxes for each book, but I don't necessarily know each twist and turn along the way. That's something I discover in the course of writing and that's what makes writing enjoyable. I think if I outlined comprehensively and stuck to the outline the actual writing would be boring.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hate #Book #Character

You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you...
-- George R. R. Martin

#Sister #Heart #Moon

I have idea files of books that I want to write one of these days, stories I want to write one of these days, but I'll probably never get to them.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Book #Writing #Ideas

I have some other novels I want to write. I have a lot of short stories - I love the short story.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Writing #Stories #Want

And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Heart #Broken #Spots

We all need to be mocked from time to time, lest we take ourselves too seriously.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Needs

Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I'll sleep more easily by night.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Sleep #Night #Giving

When we speak of the morrow nothing is ever certain.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Speak #Morrow #Certain

Bran thought about it. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Inspirational #Fear #Father

The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Enemy #Unseen

What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms . . . or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Brother #Memories #Son

Power resides only where men believe it resides. [...] A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wall #Believe #Men

Fear cuts deeper than swords.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fear #Cutting #Bravery

Nothing burns like the cold.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Winter #Cold

Every flight begins with a fall.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fall #Healing #Flight

Everything's better with some wine in the belly.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wine #Belly

There are no heroes...in life, the monsters win.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hero #Winning #Monsters

Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Memories #Men #Sea

Woman? Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap, if I took you for a man. - Daenerys Targaryen
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Daenerys #Targaryens

If ice can burn, then love and hate can mate.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hate #Ice #Love And Hate

A man who won't listen can't hear.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men

You were made to be kissed, often and well.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Made #Wells

Those are brave men... lets go kill them
-- George R. R. Martin

#Letting Go #Men #Brave

The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember that.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Love #Remember #Lad

My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer and I have my mind...and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge. That's why I read so much Jon Snow.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Song #Brother #Kings

I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hurt #Thinking #Giving

The brightest flame casts the darkest shadow.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Flames #Shadow #Casts

When I sleep I turn into a wolf. Bran turned his face away and looked back out into the night. Do wolves dreams?
-- George R. R. Martin

#Dream #Sleep #Night

There's no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fear #Father #What Matters

Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Old Friends #Stories #Used

When you know what a man wants you know who he is, and how to move him.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Moving #Men #Want

When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Inspiring #Friends #Loneliness

He understood the way that you could sometimes fall right into them, as if each page was a hole into another world.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fall #World #Pages

I want to weep, she thought. I want to be comforted. I'm so tired of being strong. I want to be foolish and frightened for once. Just for a small while, that's all....a day.....an hour.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Strong #Tired #Want

I swear to you, sitting a throne is a thousand times harder than winning one.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Winning #Thrones #Sitting

Men have scars, women mysteries.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Scar #Mystery

Inside the room, a man and a woman were wrestling. They were both naked.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wrestling #Men #Naked

The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Clever #Men #Laughing

I like grey characters; fantasy for too long has been focused on very stereotypical heroes and villains.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hero #Character #Long

Women do not forget. Women do not forgive.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Forgiving #Forget

He pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t lie, Sansa. I am malformed, scarred, and small, but…” she could see him groping “…abed, when the candles are blown out, I am made no worse than other men. In the dark, I am the Knight of Flowers.” He took a draught of wine. “I am generous. Loyal to those who are loyal to me. I’ve proven I’m no craven. And I am cleverer than most, surely wits count for something. I can even be kind. Kindness is not a habit with us Lannisters, I fear, but I know I have some somewhere. I could be… I could be good to you.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Kindness #Lying #Flower

The gods made the earth for all men t' share. Only when the kings come with their crowns and steel swords, they claimed it was all theirs. "My trees," they said, "you can't eat them apples. My stream, you can't fish here. My wood, you're not t' hunt. My earth, my water, my castle, my daughter, keep your hands away or I'll chop 'em off, but maybe if you kneel t' me I'll let you have a sniff." You call us thieves, but at least a thief has t' be brave and clever and quick. A kneeler only has t' kneel.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Daughter #Kings #Clever

It's different for every writer. It's not a career for anyone who needs security. It's a career for gamblers. It's a career of ups and downs.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Careers #Different #Needs

Even in dreams, you could not fall forever.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Dream #Fall #Forever

I have an instinctual distrust of conventional happy endings.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Happy Endings #Distrust

Man wants to be the king o' the rabbits, he best wear a pair o' floppy ears.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Leadership #Kings #Men

The best writing advice I had was [in] ‘Heinlein’s Rules for Writers’ by (American science fiction author) Robert A. Heinlein. His first rule is that you must write, and I was already doing that, but his second rule is, ‘You must finish what you write,’ and that had a big impact on me.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Writing #Impact #Advice

Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Greatness #Air #Land

Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Life And Love #Self #Use

The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Dream #Real #Writing

There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Half #Earth

One voice may speak you false, but in many there is always truth to be found.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Voice #May #Speak

The only time a man can be brave is when he is afraid.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Brave #Be Brave

The odd thing about being a writer is you do tend to lose yourself in your books. Sometimes it seems like real life is flickering by and you're hardly a part of it. You remember the events in your books better than you remember the events that actually took place when you were writing them.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Real #Book #Writing

I wonder what the High Septon would have to say about the sanctity of oaths sworn while dead drunk, chained to a wall, with a sword pressed to your chest?
-- George R. R. Martin

#Wall #Drunk #Wonder

There’s part of me that loves words. But sometimes it feels like you’re trying to drive nails with your shoe.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Shoes #Trying #Nails

An artist has an obligation to tell the truth. [...] that the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves. We are the monsters. (And the heroes too). Each of us has within himself the capacity for great good, and great evil.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hero #Dark #Artist

We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Song #Strong #Thinking

A lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Sheep #Lions #Opinion

We're all just songs in the end. If we are lucky.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Song #Lucky #Ends

On the gallows tree, all men are brothers.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Brother #Men #Tree

I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That's like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Book #Rocks #Climbing

Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Summer #Sweet #Wine

Sorcery is the sauce fools spoon over failure to hide the flavor of their own incompetence.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Sorcery #Spoons #Flavor

Shattered legs may heal in time, but some betrayals fester and poison the soul.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Heartbreak #Betrayal #Soul

Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don't have the strength to fight it.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Fighting #Cold

He who hurries through life hurries to his grave.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Graves

True knights protect the weak.” He snorted. “There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can’t protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don’t ever believe any different.” Sansa backed away from him. “You’re awful.” “I’m honest. It’s the world that’s awful.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Strong #Believe #Knights

When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Stars #Dragons #Darkness

Give me a good sharp knife and a good sharp cheese and I’m a happy man.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Knives #Giving

Not all men were meant to dance with dragons.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Dragons

I rose too high, loved too hard, dared too much. I tried to grasp a star, overreached, and fell.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Stars #Rose #Too Much

Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Summer #Childhood #Enough

Writing is like sausage making in my view; you'll all be happier in the end if you just eat the final product without knowing what's gone into it.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Writing #Views #Knowing

You can't hammer tin into iron, no matter how hard you beat it, but that doesn't mean it's useless.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Inspiration #Mean #Iron

I've always taken that as my guiding principle and the rest is just set dressing. You can have dragons in it, or aliens and starships, or a western about a gunslinger, or even literary fiction, and ultimately you're still writing about the human heart in conflict with itself.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Taken #Writing #Heart

In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Real #Evil #Battle

It was the easiest thing in the world for Arya to step up behind him and stab him. “Is there gold hidden in the village?” she shouted as she drove the blade up through his back. “Is there silver? Gems?” She stabbed twice more. “Is there food? Where is Lord Beric?” She was on top of him by then, still stabbing. “Where did he go? How many men were with him? How many knights? How many bowmen? How many, how many, how many, how many, how many, how many? is there gold in the village?
-- George R. R. Martin

#Men #Knights #Gold

It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Inspirational #Wise #Wisdom

My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.
-- George R. R. Martin

#Hero #Fighting #Winning