The girl had hoped for fog, but the gods ignored her prayers as gods so often did.
George R. R. MartinSmall men oft feel a need to prove their courage with unseemly boasts," he declared. "I doubt if he could kill a duck." Tyrion shrugged. "Fetch the duck.
George R. R. MartinHis sister liked to think of herself as Lord Tywin with teats, but she was wrong. Their father had been as relentless and implacable as a glacier, where Cercei was all wildfire, especially when thwarted.
George R. R. MartinA cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.
George R. R. MartinIt's very hard to find a good child actor. There are a lot of child actors out there, especially in America, and they're cute kids, but most child actors appear on sitcoms where their main role is to be cute and make funny little remarks.
George R. R. MartinWhy is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?
George R. R. MartinWe look at mountains and call them eternal, and they seem... but in the course of time, mountains rise and fall, rivers change their courses, starts fall from the sky, and great cities sink beneath the sea. Even gods die, we think. Everything changes.
George R. R. MartinNothing bores me more than books where you read two pages and you know exactly how it's going to come out. I want twists and turns that surprise me, characters that have a difficult time and that I don't know if they're going to live or die.
George R. R. MartinFantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end.
George R. R. MartinHis time was past, her handmaid Irri declared. No man should live longer than his teeth.
George R. R. MartinSo many vows โฆ they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. Itโs too much. No matter what you do, youโre forsaking one vow or another.
George R. R. MartinChildren are a battle of a different sort. ... A battle without banners or warhorns but no less fierce.
George R. R. MartinSome gave me soft words and some blunt, some made excuses, some promises, some only lied. In the end words are just wind.
George R. R. MartinIf we leave our smells behind us when we leave a room, surely something of our souls must remain when we leave this life?" - Qyburn
George R. R. MartinThe letter . . . What did your lords make of it, I wonder?โ Stannis snorted. โCeltigar pronounced it admirable. If I showed him the contents of my privy, he would declare that admirable as well.
George R. R. MartinA man does not need to be a wizard to know truth from falsehood, not if he has eyes. You need only learn to read a face. Look at the eyes. The mouth. The muscles here, at the corners of the jaw, and here, where the neck joins the shoulders." He touched her lightly with two fingers. "Some liars blink. Some stare. Some look away. Some lick their lips. Many coer their mouths just before they tell a lie, as if to hide their deceit. Other signs may be more subtle, but they are always there. A false smile and a true one may look alike, but they are as different as dusk from dawn.
George R. R. MartinSometimes he could almost forget that it was there, the way you forget about the sky or the earth underfoot, but there were other times when it seemed as if there was nothing else in the world.
George R. R. Martin"Come at once," she had written to him. "Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once"
George R. R. MartinI am Cersei of House Lannister, a lion of the Rock, the rightful queen of these Seven Kingdoms, trueborn daughter of Tywin Lannister. And hair grows back.
George R. R. MartinClean hands, Sansa. Whatever you do, make certain your hands are clean." ~ Lord Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger
George R. R. MartinI beg you both, take heart.'(Varys) 'Whose?' asked Tyrion sourly. He could think of several tempting choices.
George R. R. MartinAll my life men like you've sneered at me, and all my life I've been knocking men like you into the dust.
George R. R. MartinThere is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.
George R. R. MartinWhen the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
George R. R. MartinGo Ahead, call me all the names you want," Sansa said airily. "You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow and call me Your Grace." She shrieked as Arya flung the orange across the table. It caught her in the middle of the forehead with a wet squish and plopped down into her lap. "You have juice on your face, Your Grace ," Arya said.
George R. R. MartinPower resides only where men believe it resides. [...] A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.
George R. R. MartinEat your heart out, Rowling. Maybe you have billions of dollars and my Hugo, but you don't have readers like these.
George R. R. MartinIrri and Jhiqui argued about Rakharo. โYou are too skinny for him,โ Jhiqui was saying. โYou are almost a boy. Rakharo does not bed with boys. This is known.โ Irri bristled back. โIt is known that you are almost a cow. Rakharo does not bed with cows.
George R. R. MartinThere are ghosts everywhere," Ser Jorah said softly. "We carry them with us wherever we go.
George R. R. MartinLight our fire and protect us from the dark, blah blah, light our way and keep us toasty warm, the night is dark and full of terrors, save us from the scary things, and blah blah blah some more.
George R. R. MartinThe man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. Look her in the eyes before you kill her. See her tears, hear her last words. You owe her that much at least." - Eddard Stark
George R. R. MartinThe best writing advice I had was [in] โHeinleinโs Rules for Writersโ by (American science fiction author) Robert A. Heinlein. His first rule is that you must write, and I was already doing that, but his second rule is, โYou must finish what you write,โ and that had a big impact on me.
George R. R. Martin