George R. R. Martin Quotes

The storms come and go, the waves crash overhead, the big fish eat the little fish, and I keep on paddling. (Varys)

I thank you for calling them off, young ser. I promise you, they would have found me indigestible.

People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up.

My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel.

Lord Snow wants to take my place now.' He sneered. 'I'd have an easier time teaching a wolf to juggle than you will training this aurochs.' 'I'll take that wager, Ser Alliser', Jon said. 'I'd love to see Ghost juggle.

O medo corta mais profundamente do que as espadas.

The prejudice is still there, but it's breaking down. You have writers like Michael Chabon and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. He's a writer who's determined to break down genre barriers. He's done amazing things.

A man who won't listen can't hear.

You are the blood of the dragon. You can make a hat.

Of course it’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler and it never has been.

Generally speaking, I'm much more in favour of penises entering vaginas than axes entering skulls. But the world seems to accept the violence a lot easier than the sex.

Not everyone who spoke you friendly was really your friend." - Arya

A bruise is a lesson... and each lesson makes us better.

A man who sees nothing has no use for his eyes,” the Mountain declared. “Cut them out and give them to your next outrider. Tell him you hope that four eyes might see better than two . . . and if not, the man after him will have six.

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

I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That's like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.

Jaime smiled knowingly. Men will read all sorts of things into a knowing smile if you let them.

A man who fights for coin is loyal only to his purse.

The real issue lies in the North beyond the Wall. Stannis becomes one of the few characters fully to understand that, which is why in spite of everything he is a righteous man.

Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is STARK.

Nothing someone says before the word 'but' really counts.

Littlefinger looked like a boy who had just taken a furtive bite from a honeycomb. He was TRYING to watch for bees, but the honey was so sweet.

The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong.

When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you

If somebody dies and you just go get more popcorn, it’s a superficial experience isn’t it?

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

Mothers." The man made a word sound like a curse. "I think birthing does something to your minds. You are all mad.

The great thing about reading is that it broadens your life

I am surrounded by flatterers and fools. It can drive a man to madness,.. . Half of them don’t dare tell me the truth, and the other half can’t find it.

Art is not a democracy. People don't get to vote on how it ends.

I have been despised by better men than you.

It had been more of a wish, actually, but it sounded better to call it a dream.

Half-truths are worth more than outright lies.

You've got a bold tongue, little man. One day, someone is like to cut it out and make you eat it.

Gods be good, why would any man ever want to be king? When everyone was shouting King in the North, King in the North, I told myself ... swore to myself ... that I would be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal to my friends and brave when I faced my enemies ... now I can't even tell one from the other.

You know, I've always considered women to be people.

I take no joy in mead nor meat, and song and laughter have become suspicious strangers to me. I am a creature of grief and dust and bitter longings. There is an empty place within me where my heart was once.

The odd thing about being a writer is you do tend to lose yourself in your books. Sometimes it seems like real life is flickering by and you're hardly a part of it. You remember the events in your books better than you remember the events that actually took place when you were writing them.

It all goes back and back," Tyrion thought, "to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.

The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.

A crown should not sit easy on the head.

...grief can derange even the strongest and most disciplined of minds.

There’s part of me that loves words. But sometimes it feels like you’re trying to drive nails with your shoe.

In order to get inside their skin, I have to identify with them. That includes even the ones who are complete bastards, nasty, twisted, deeply flawed human beings with serious psychological problems. Even them. When I get inside their skin and look out through their eyes, I have to feel a certain - if not sympathy, certainly empathy for them. I have to try to perceive the world as they do, and that creates a certain amount of affection.

I have touched more men that I can count. Some with my lips, more with my axe.

Nobody likes cravens,” he said uncomfortably. “I wish we hadn’t helped him. What if they think we’re craven too?” "You're too stupid to be craven,” Pyp told him. “I am not,” Grenn said. “Yes you are. If a bear attacked you in the woods, you’d be too stupid to run away.” “I would not,” Grenn insisted. “I’d run away faster than you.” He stopped suddenly, scowling when he saw Pyp’s grin and realized what he’d just said.

But my philosophy is that plot advancement is not what the experience of reading fiction is about. If all we care about is advancing the plot, why read novels? We can just read Cliffs Notes.

Everything's better with some wine in the belly.