George R. R. Martin Quotes

I love you too, sweet sister. But you're a fool. A beautiful golden fool.

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.

The distinction between literary and genre fiction is stupid and pernicious. It dates back to a feud between Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James. James won, and it split literature into two streams. But it's a totally false dichotomy.

All these kings would do a deal better if they would put down their swords and listen to their mothers.

It was a story called ‘The Hero’ which I sold to Galaxy magazine in 1970, for $94.

I had these cheap alien toys and I made up stories for them. They were space pirates. They didn’t have names so I made up names. These were the first stories I wrote. Even as a little kid I was thinking about torture.

Everyone who isn't us is an enemy." - Cersei

The things I do for love.

The morning air was dark with the smoke of burning gods.

A lord must learn that sometimes words can accomplish what swords cannot.

And any man who must say 'I am king' is no true king at all.

I have climbed these steps so often I know each one by name.

I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.’ He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. ‘I wish I had enough poison for you all. You make me sorry that I am not the monster you would have me be, yet there it is. I am innocent, but I will get no justice here.

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

Every flight begins with a fall.

I had this desire to see the world. I couldn't see any of it, but I saw it in my imagination, and that's why I always read books, and I could go to Mars or Middle Earth or the Hyborian age.

I think my very earliest stories were all intellectual exercises and I was writing from experiences I had never had about characters who were about an inch deep.

If you would wed, wed. If not, take your pleasure where you find it. There's little enough of it in this world." - Oberyn

Love is madness, and lust is poison.

I will take what is mine with fire and blood.

Men are mad and gods are madder, she told the grass, and the grass murmured its agreement.

There was an agelessness about him, a stillness; on Roose Bolton's face, rage and joy looked much the same.

The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.

He was beastly tired, but it was hard to stop. One more book, he had told himself, then I'll stop. One more folio, just one more. One more page, then I'll go up and rest and get a bite to eat. But there was always another page after that one, and another after that, and another book waiting underneath the pile. I'll just take a quick peek to see what this one is about, he'd think, and before he knew he would be halfway through it.

Catelyn wanted to run to him, to kiss his sweet brow, to wrap him in her arms so tightly that he would never come to harm.

Tyrion wondered what it would be like to have a twin, and decided that he would rather not know. Bad enough to face himself in a looking glass every day.

A bag of dragons buys a man's silence for a while, but a well-placed quarrel buys it forever.

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.

They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a man’s laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death,” Ned said evenly. “Perhaps that is why the Starks have so little humor.

An admiral without ships, a hand without fingers, in service of a king without a throne. Is this a knight who comes before us, or the answer to a child's riddle?

If I took it away, no doubt I'd find a morningstar hidden under your pillow within a fortnight. Try not to stab your sister, whatever the provocation.

Even the sky was grey. Grey and grey and greyer. The whole world grey, everywhere you look, everything grey except the eyes of the bride. The eyes of the bride were brown. Big and brown and full of fear.

As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.

There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.

Every man must die, Jon Snow. But first he must live.

For herself, she wanted sleet and ice, howling winds, thunder to shake the very stones of the Red Keep. She wanted a storm to match her rage.

We were talking about the prince,' Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss. Arya knew which prince she meant: Joffrey, of course. The tall, handsome one. Sansa got to sit with him at the feast. Arya had to sit with the little fat one. Naturally.

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

all men carry murder in their hearts, yet even so, the poisoner is beneath contempt.

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.

Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.

I don’t know what message to send to Bran. Help him Tyrion.” “What help could I give him? I am no maester, to ease his pain. I have no spell to give him back his legs.” “You gave me help when I needed it” Jon Snow said. “I gave you nothing,” Tyrion said. “Words.” “Then give your words to Bran too.

The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember that.

Control your generosity when dealing with a chronic borrower.

The pale pink light of dawn sparkled on branch and leaf and stone. Every blade of grass was carved from emerald, every drip of water turned to diamond. Flowers and mushrooms alike wore coats of glass. Even the mud puddles had a bright brown sheen. Through the shimmering greenery, the black tents of his brothers were encased in a fine glaze of ice. So there is magic beyond the Wall after all.

Her lord father had taught her never to steal, but it was growing harder to remember why.

The Gods give with one hand and take with the other.

My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.