A fair bargain leaves both sides unhappy.

Power is a trick. It lies where we believe it lies.

As Faulkner says, all of us have the capacity in us for great good and for great evil, for love but also for hate. I wanted to write those kinds of complex character in a fantasy, and not just have all the good people get together to fight the bad guy.

How do you fight someone if you can't hit them?

We only make peace with our enemies. That's why it's called making peace.

When you have known the kiss of a flaying knife, a laugh loses all its power to hurt you.

Who do you think our champion will be today? Have you seen Mace Tyrell's boy? The Knight of Flowers, they call him. Now there's a son any man would be proud to own to. Last tourney, he dumped the Kingslayer on his golden rump, you ought to have seen the look on Cersei's face. I laughed till my sides hurt.