Laughter is poison to fear.

It is being common-born that is dangerous, when the great lords play their game of thrones.

First rule, stick them with the pointy end!

When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.

Jay wondered how they'd feel the morning they all woke up and realized that somehow Camelot had turned into Mordor.

Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next. Sometimes the best way to baffle them is to make moves that have no purpose, or even seem to work against you. Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the game.” “What . . . what game?” “The only game. The game of thrones.” -(Littlefinger)

I was a novelist first. But in the mid 80s, I did work in television for ten years. And yes, that was frequently the reaction to my scripts. People would say, you know, George, this is great. We love it, a terrific script, but it would cost five times our budget to shoot this.