David Gemmell Quotes
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I am a stranger. You do not need to lie to me or pretend. Only with friends do you need masks.
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'A methodical people,' pulsed the voice of Kesa Khan. 'They call themselves civilized because they can build tall castles and pitch their tents with geometric precision, but from here you can see the reality. Ants build in the same way. Are they civilized?'
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Hold on to your dreams, Kiall. They are more important than you realise.
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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.
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Yes, love ... can heal the wounds of hatred. Love can eradicate lust and greed. Through love a man of evil can come to find repentance and redemption. For the Source abandons no man.
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Fear is like a fire in your belly. Controlled, it warms you and keeps you alive. Uncontrolled, it burns and destroys you.
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... a man can overcome his background, even as he can overcome a skilled opponent.
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The very odd thing about sagas ... is that they very rarely mention dry mouths and full bladders.
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For the lion to to prosper the deer must die. All the world is combat.
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Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something.
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Some people are born ugly. It's not their fault, and I for one have never held it against a man that he is ugly. but others — and I count myself among them — are born with handsome features. That's a gift that should not be lightly taken away.
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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.
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We are not made for life at all, old horse. It is made for us. We live it. We leave it.
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Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on — otherwise he is useless.
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This enterprise was doomed, but we do what we can and do what we must. So a young farmer with wife and children decides to go home. Good! He shows a sense that you and I will never understand. They will sing songs about us, but he will ensure that there are people to sing them. He plants. We destroy.
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Constantly at war, the tribesmen fought one another with pitiless ferocity, and only the very strong survived to manhood.
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War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?
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Aye, it is hard when those we love leave the world. No denying it.
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Every man has his own reason for every deed. Usually it is selfish.
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'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.'
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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.
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'Why do they do it?' whispered Horeb. 'Their eyes, you mean?' said Rek. 'Yes. How can a man put out his own eyes?' 'Damned if I know. They say it aids their visions.' 'Sounds about as sensible as cutting off your staff in order to aid your sex life.'
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How do you decide a battle is lost? Numbers, strategic advantage, positioning? It's all worth a sparrow's fart. It comes down to men who are willing. The largest army will founder if its men are less willing to die than to win.
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By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highest heroism.