All fiction, if it's successful, is going to appeal to the emotions. Emotion is really what fiction is all about. That's not to say fiction can't be thoughtful, or present some interesting or provocative ideas to make us think. But if you want to present an intellectual argument, nonfiction is a better tool. You can drive a nail with a shoe but a hammer is a better tool for that. But fiction is about emotional resonance, about making us feel things on a primal and visceral level.

They'll kill for that knighthood, but don't ever think they'll die for it.

If a man paints a target on his chest, he should expect that sooner or later someone will loose an arrow on him.

One of the hardest parts of writing is writing from the gut or the heart or something like that rather than intellectually.

The world is full of cravens who pretended to be heroes.

All fiction has to have a certain amount of truth in it to be powerful.

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?