Fearlessness is a fool's boast, to my mind. The only men with no fear in them are dead, or the soon to be dead, maybe. Fear teaches you caution, and respect for your enemy, and to avoid sharp edges used in anger. All good things in their place, believe me. Fear can bring you out alive, and that's the very best anyone can hope for from any fight. Every man who's worth a damn feels fear. It's the use you make of it that counts.
Joe AbercrombieNames turned over by time, like the plough turning the soil. Bringing up the new while the old were buried in the mud.
Joe AbercrombieOnly itโs just the same. In fact, do you know, because of all that pressure, and worry, and fear, itโs worse. There arenโt many men who think clearest when the stakes are highest. So people are even stupider in a war than the rest of the time. Thinking about how theyโll dodge the blame, or grab the glory, or save their skins, rather than about what will actually work Thereโs no job that forgives stupidity more than soldiering. No job that encourages it more.
Joe Abercrombie