95 Quotes & Sayings By Joe Abercrombie

If you want to be a new man you have to stay in new places, and do new things, with people who never knew you before. If you go back to the same old ways, what else can you be but the same old person? Joe Abercrombie

It was a look that gave her a tingle, all right, but not in a good way. In that look she saw her silly bloody hopes as twisted and broken as she’d left that Lowlander’s arm, and it was no one’s fault but her own. She shouldn’t have let herself hope, but hopes are like weeds: however often you root them out they keep on springing up. Joe Abercrombie

He is dead and I, the self serving coward that I am, still live. Life is not fair. There is no pattern. People die at random. Something everyone knows, but no one truly believes. They think that when it comes to them there will be a lesson, a meaning, a story worth telling. That death will come to them as a dread scholar, a fell knight, a terrible emperor. Death is a bored clerk, with too many orders to fill. There is no reckoning. No profound moment. It creeps up on us from behind, and snatches us away while we shit. Joe Abercrombie

You ever have the feeling you were in the wrong place? That if you could just get over the next hill, cross the next river, look down into the next valley, it'd all..fit. Be right."" All my life, more of less"“ All your life spent getting ready for the next thing. I climbed a lot of hills now. I crossed a lot of rivers. Crossed the sea even, left everything I knew and came to Styria. But there I was, waiting for me at the docks when I got off the boat, same man, same life. Next valley ain’t no different from this one. No better anyway. Reckon I’ve learned … just to stick in the place I’m at. Just to be the man I am. . Joe Abercrombie

Bang! The end of his little finger, now, and three more pieces of the rest. His middle finger was down to the knuckle, almost. Severard stared, his eyes with with horror, his breath coming short, fast gasps. Shock, amazement, stunned terror. Glokta leaned down to his ear. 'I hope you weren't planning to take up the violin, Severard. You'll be lucky if you can play a fucking gong by the time we're done here. . Joe Abercrombie

One act presses upon another, on a path we have no choice but to follow, and each time there are reasons. We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then we look up and find... this. Joe Abercrombie

This is stupid."" Look. You think how stupid people are most of the time. Old men drink. Women at a village fair. Boys throwing stones at birds. Life. The foolishness and the vanity, the selfishness and the waste. The pettiness, the silliness. You think in war it must be different. Must be better. With death around the corner, men united against hardship, the cunning of the enemy, people must think harder, faster, be..better. Be heroic. Only it's just the same. In fact do you know, because of all that pressure, and worry, and fear, it's worse. There aren't many men who think clearest when the stakes are highest. So people are even stupider in war than the rest of the time. Thinking about how they'll dodge the blame, or grab the glory, or save their skins, rather than about what will actually work. There's no job that forgives stupidity more than soldiering. No job that encourages it more. . Joe Abercrombie

He looked around at that one room, and the few things in it. He'd always thought retiring would be going back to his life after some nightmare pause. Some stretch of exile in the land of the dead. Now it came to him that all his life worth living had happened while he was holding a sword. Standing alongside his dozen. Laughing with Whirrun, and Brack, and Wonderful. Clasping hands with his crew before the fight, knowing he'd die for them and they for him. The trust, the brotherhood, the love, the knit closer than family. Standing by Threetrees on the walls of Uffrith, roaring their defiance at Bethod's great army. The day he charged at the Cunmur. And at Dunbrec. And in the High Places, even though they lost. The day he earned his name. Even the day he got his brothers killed. Even when he'd stood at the top of the Heroes as the rain came down, watching the Union come, knowing every dragged out moment might be the last. Like Whirrun said - you can't live more than that. Certainly not by fixing a chair. Joe Abercrombie

Whirrun ignored ‘em. ‘Then, when I’ve got two cut, ’ and he dropped a pale slab of cheese on one slice then slapped the other on top like he was catching a fly, ‘I trap the cheese between then, and there you have it! ’‘ Bread and cheese.’ Yon weighed the half-loaf in one hand and the cheese in the other. ‘Just the same as I’ve got.’ And he bit off the cheese and tossed it to Scorry.Whirrun sighed. ‘Have none of you no vision?’ He held up his masterpiece to such light as there was, which was almost none. ‘This is no more bread and cheese than a fine axe is wood and iron, or a live person is meat and har.’‘ What is it, then?’ asked Drfod, rocking back from his wet wood and tossing the flint aside in disgust.‘ A whole new thing. A forging of the humble part of bread and cheese into a greater whole. I call it … a cheese-trap.’ Whirrun took a dainty nibble from one corner. ‘Oh, yes, my friends. This tastes like … progress… . Joe Abercrombie

Strange, isn't it, ' mused Glokta as he watched him struggle for air. 'Big men, small men, thin men, fat men, clever men, stupid men, they all respond the same to a fist in the guts. One minute you think you're the most powerful man in the world. The next you can't even breathe by yourself. Joe Abercrombie

One cannot grow without pain. One cannot improve without it. Suffering drives us to achieve great things. Joe Abercrombie

Enough pain makes a coward of anyone. Joe Abercrombie

Shivers heaved out a sigh. “Just trying to make tomorrow that bit better than today is all. I’m one of those … you’ve got a word for it, don’t you?”“ Idiots?” He looked sideways at her. “It was a different one I had in mind.”“ Optimists.”“ That’s the one. I’m an optimist.”“ How’s it working out for you?”“ Not great, but I keep hoping.”“ That’s optimists. You bastards never learn. Joe Abercrombie

A set of huge marble busts stared smugly down from on high: great merchants and financiers of Styrian history, by the look of them. Criminals made heroes by colossal success. Joe Abercrombie

Are you entirely sure of that knot?' asked Morveer. 'There is no place in the plan for a lengthy drop'.' Twenty-eight strides', said Friendly.'What?''The drop'. A brief pause, 'That is not helpful'. Joe Abercrombie

The memories of our glories fade, and rot away into half-arsed anecdotes, thin and unconvincing as some other bastard's lies. The failures, the disappointments, the regrets, they stay raw as the moments they happened. Joe Abercrombie

Men are brittle, I reckon. They don't bend into new shapes. They get broken into them. Crushed into them. Joe Abercrombie

Monza never had understood why getting out a tit or two made for a better painting. But painters seemed to think it did, so tits is what you got. Joe Abercrombie

Memories sharp enough to cut himself on - the smells, the sounds, the feel of the air on his skin, the desperate hope and mad anger. Joe Abercrombie

By swap news do you mean drink?" "I do, and that excessively. Joe Abercrombie

It was like staring at a whitewashed wall, but without all the emotion Joe Abercrombie

The lowly have small ambitions, and are satisfied with small indulgences. They need not get fair treatment. They need only think that they do... Joe Abercrombie

It's a crime, when you think about how little time we get, that a man should ever be bored. When you are lying on your death bead, I expect you regret those weeks wasted more than your worst mistakes. Joe Abercrombie

The Inquisitor waited for silence. "Do you believe in anything?"" Not if I can help it. Belief alone is nothing to be proud of, Inquisitor. Belief without evidence is the very hallmark of the savage. Joe Abercrombie

Belief without evidence is the very hallmark of the savage. Joe Abercrombie

Trust is like glass. Lovely, but only a fool rests lots of weight on it. Joe Abercrombie

They appear somewhat unreliable, " he murmured." Unreliable? Nonsense, Superior! Out of luck is all, and we both know how that goes, no? Why, there's not a man of them I wouldn't trust my mother to."" Are you sure?"" She's been dead these twenty years. What harm could they do her now? Joe Abercrombie

A man can forgive all manner of faults in beautiful women that in ugly men he find entirely beyond sufferance Joe Abercrombie

It's hard to be done a favor by a man you hate. It's hard to hate him so much afterwards. Losing an enemy can be worse than losing a friend, if you've had him for long enough. Joe Abercrombie

The gods hate those who plan badly, and help those with good friends, good swords, and good sense. Joe Abercrombie

You can always make enemies of your friends, ' said Sumael. 'Making friends of your enemies is harder labor. Joe Abercrombie

Evil turned out not to be a grand thing. Not sneering Emperors with their world-conquering designs. Not cackling demons plotting in the darkness beyond the world. It was small men with their small acts and their small reasons. It was selfishness and carelessness and waste. It was bad luck, incompetence, and stupidity. It was violence divorced from conscience or consequence. It was high ideals, even, and low methods. Joe Abercrombie

I apologise, your Highness. Murder can be a painful business. Joe Abercrombie

West couldn't simply leave the man like this, he didn't have it in him." Goodman Heath, " he said as he approached, and the peasant looked up at him, surprised. He fumbled for his hat and made to rise, muttering apologies." No, please, don't get up." West sat down on the bench. He stared at his feet, unable to look the man in the eye. There was an awkward silence. "I have a friend who sits on the Commission for Land and Agriculture. There might be something he can do for you…" He trailed off, embarrassed, squinting up the corridor. The farmer gave a sad smile. "I'd be right grateful for anything you could do."" Yes, yes, of course, I'll do what I can." It would do no good whatsoever, and they both knew it. West grimaced and bit his lip. "You'd better take this, " and he pressed his purse into the peasant's limp, calloused fingers. Heath looked at him, mouth slightly open. West gave a quick, awkward smile then got to his feet. He was very keen to be off." Sir! " called Goodman Heath after him, but West was already hurrying down the corridor, and he didn't look back. . Joe Abercrombie

But you know what they say - old milk turns sour but old scores just get sweeter. Joe Abercrombie

You stick a bunch of drunken murderers together, ain't long before some turn to thieving, then to lying, then to bad language, and pretty soon to sobriety, raising families and making an honest living. Joe Abercrombie

Lorsen shook his head in amazement. 'You truly are disgusting.'' I would be the last to disagree, but you fail to see that you are worse. No man capable of greater evil than the one who thinks himself in the right. No purpose more evil than the higher purpose. I freely admit I am a villain. That's why you hired me. But I am no hypocrite. Joe Abercrombie

Bravery is the dead man’s virtue. Joe Abercrombie

It was what you gave out that made a man, not what you got back. Joe Abercrombie

The Bloody-Nine opened his mouth, and shrieked out all of his bottomless love and his endless hate in one long wail. Joe Abercrombie

Inquisitor Lorsen's thin lip curled. "There is truly nothing in you of what separates man from animal, is there? You are bereft of conscience. An utter absence of morality. You have no principle beyond the selfish." Cosca's face hardened as he leaned forwards. "Perhaps when you have faced as many disappointments and suffered as many betrayals as I, you will see it - there is no principle beyond the selfish, Inquisitor, and men are animals. Conscience is a burden we choose to bear. Morality is the lie we tell ourselves to make its bearing easier. There have been many times in my life when I have wished it was not so. But it is so. Joe Abercrombie

Hurray', shouted Glokta. 'Porridge again! ' He looked over at the motionless Practical. 'Porridge and honey, better than money, everything's funny, with porridge and honey! Joe Abercrombie

When was it exactly that I became... this? By small degrees, I suppose. One act presses hard upon another, on a path we have no choice but to follow, and each time there are reasons. We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and fine we are... this. Joe Abercrombie

When was it exactly that I became... this? By small degrees, I suppose. Once act presses hard upon another, on a path we have no choice but to follow, and each time there are reasons. We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and fine we are... this. Joe Abercrombie

Sometimes it doesn't matter too much what choice you make, as long as you make it quick and stick to it. Joe Abercrombie

Have a smile for breakfast, you'll be shitting joy by lunch. Joe Abercrombie

You have to be grateful for the small things, when any minute might be your last. Joe Abercrombie

The Forest that had been about her all her life, certain as a mountain, was made ashes. The high gable that had stood for two hundred years fallen in ruin. Throvenland was torn apart like smoke on the wind. Nowhere would be safe, ever again. Joe Abercrombie

Things aren't what they used to be' is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave. Joe Abercrombie

Few indeed are those who get a choice. We do as we are told. We stand or fall beside those who were born near to us, who look as we do, who speak the same words, and all the while we know as little of the reasons why as does the dust we return to. Joe Abercrombie

When you're in hell, only a devil can point the way out. Joe Abercrombie

I want a chance to do it all again. To do it… right. Joe Abercrombie

And Yarvi realized that Death does not bow to each person who passes her, does not sweep out her arm respectfully to show the way, speaks no profound words, unlocks no bolts. The key upon her chest is never needed, for the Last Door stands always open. She herds the dead through impatiently, needles of rank or fame or quality. She has an ever-lengthening queue to get through. A blind procession, inexhaustible. Joe Abercrombie

One day you're something, so promising and full o' dares, so big the world's too small a place to hold you. Then, 'fore you know it, you're old, and you realise all them things you had in mind you'll never get to. All them doors you felt too big to fit through have already shut. Only one left open and it leads to nothing but nothing. Joe Abercrombie

Sometimes, when someone lives in danger for too long, the only time they feel alive is when death's breathing on their shoulder. Joe Abercrombie

Vengeance is a way of clinging to what we have lost. A wedge in the Last Door, and through the crack we can still glimpse the faces of the dead. We strain towards it with all our being, break every rule to have it, but when we clutch it, there is nothing there. Only grief. Joe Abercrombie

Empathy? What’s that?” Glokta winced as he rubbed at his aching leg. “It’s a sad fact, but pain only makes you sorry for yourself. Joe Abercrombie

So the fox killed his brother, the wolf. (Mother Scaer) Joe Abercrombie

Mercy and cowardice are the same, " she snapped out. "But you want their land, not their lives, no? Dead men can't obey. Joe Abercrombie

You want to be merciful. To stand in the light. I understand it. I admire it. But, my queen... Only the victors can be merciful. Joe Abercrombie

To have a good enemy, choose a friend: he knows where to strike. Joe Abercrombie

The best steel doesn't always shine the brightest. Joe Abercrombie

Some men you stick to right off. But it's those that take time to stick that stick longest. Joe Abercrombie

Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back. Joe Abercrombie

The man is a monster. The worst I have ever seen, in fact, since I last looked in the mirror. The truth? I am rotting too. I am buried alive, and already rotting. If I was not such a coward I would kill myself, but I am, and so I must content myself with killing others in the hope that one day, if I can only wade deep enough in blood, I will come out clean. Joe Abercrombie

What’s the difference? Fill a hundred pits with dead Northmen, congratulations, have a parade! Kill one man in the same uniform as you? A crime. A murder. Worse than despicable. Are we not all men? All blood and bone and dreams? Joe Abercrombie

The sunrise was the colour of bad blood. It leaked out of the east and stained the dark sky red, marked the scraps of the cloud with stolen gold. Underneath it the road twisted up the mountainside towards the fortress of Fontezarmo - a cluster of sharp towers, ash-black again the wounded heavens. The sunrise was red, black and gold. The colours of their profession. Joe Abercrombie

There was no such thing as luck. Luck was a word idiots used to explain the consequences of their own rashness, and selfishness, and stupidity. More often than not bad luck meant bad plans. Joe Abercrombie

Luck is a woman. She's drawn to those that least deserve her. Joe Abercrombie

I've made peace with myself. Good for you. That's the hardest war of all to win. Didn't say I won. Just stopped fighting. Joe Abercrombie

Give Bethod a kick from me, once you have him under your boot."" That I will, unless he gets me under his."" Never easy, kicking upwards. Joe Abercrombie

On the battlefield there are no rules. Joe Abercrombie

You look especially beautiful this morning, Monza."That brought a smile to the corner of her mouth. The corner he couldn't see. "Well. Facts are facts. Joe Abercrombie

Some men laugh easily. It makes them winning dinner companions. Joe Abercrombie

He blamed every fucker available excepting, of course, the one who was actually to blame, the one sitting in his saddle and getting colder, hungrier, and more lost with every unpleasant moment. ‘Shit! ’ he roared at nothing. Joe Abercrombie