And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.

Don’t call me Lord Snow.” The dwarf lifted an eyebrow. “Would you rather be called the Imp? Let them see that their words can cut you and you’ll never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name take it make it your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it anymore.

You are an honest and honorable man...Ofttimes I forget that. I have met so few of them in my life.

she would die as she had lived, with an axe in her hand and a laugh upon her lips.

Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it's not that simple... Real-life kings had real-life problems to deal with... My people who are trying to rule don't have an easy time of it. Just having good intentions doesn't make you a wise king.

Folly and desperation are ofttimes hard to tell apart.

Know the men who follow you and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger.