David Gemmell Quotes - Page 2

Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple.

Not one of the creatures of blood can escape death. We all face it, and succumb to it. It follows us like a dark shadow. Yet if we live in terror of it, then we do not live at all. Yes we are born alone, and yes we will die alone. But in between, Tae, we live. We know joy.

A man should be free to do what he wants to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others.

There is a darkness in you. In all of us, probably. Beasts we keep chained. Ordinary men have to keep the chains strong, for if we let the beast loose then society will turn upon us with fiery vengeance. Kings though...well, who is there to turn upon them? So the chains are made of straw. It is the curse of kings, Helikaon, that they can become monsters. And they invariably do.

Foolish: It's all foolish. Life is a farce a stupid, sickening farce played out by fools.

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.

Be at peace, my friend. One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something.

Warriors fear surrender. They are proud and defiant. They will fight to the death for what they believe in. They will struggle to conquer. Love is not about conquest. The truth is a man can only find true love when he surrenders to it. When he opens his heart to the partner of his soul and says: 'here it is! the very essence of me! It is yours to nurture or destroy.

Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they'll make you king.

True. The one certainty about riding, Braygan, is that - at some time - you will fall off. It is a fact. Another fact you might like to consider, in your life of perpetual terror, is that you will die. We are all going to die, some of us young, some of us old, some of us in our sleep, some of us screaming in agony. We cannot stop it, we can only delay it.

[H]e who fears to lose will never win.

To be truthful i am not entirely sure what people mean when they talk of happiness. There are moments of joy and laughter, the comfort of friendship, but enduring happiness? If it exists i have not found it

Many fantasy novels - 'Lord of the Rings', for instance, or 'Lavondyss' by Robert Holdstock - are beautifully written. Geoff Ryman's 'The Child Garden' is exquisite and utterly beguiling. Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast' trilogy is an astonishing piece of multi-faceted storytelling. So quality of writing does not condemn the genre.

A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.

A problem shared is a problem doubled.

Nothing in life is sure, my son. Except the promise of death.

Do not complain of life's unfairness. It is never fair - at best it is impartial.

What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?

Fear is good, for it makes us cautious and aids survival. Not so with terror. It is like slow poison, paralyzing the limbs and blurring the mind. . . Never, when in danger, ask yourself, What will they do to me? Instead think, What can I do to prevent them?

I am a stranger. You do not need to lie to me or pretend. Only with friends do you need masks.

In my experience all women deserve someone better.

Life is not so simple. There are many futures. The life of a single person is like a great tree: every branch, every twig, every leaf is a possible future.

She was his north star, the fixed point round which his world turned. For as long as his heart beat, or hers, he believed they would always share a destiny.

I think that for the coward every day carries a kind of death.