Quotes from Conn Iggulden

If they love you, they will do what you wish,but only WHEN they want to. If they fear you, they will do what you wish EXACTLY when you wish. So, is it better to love or to fear you?

I am the rightful khan of the nation. I am the gur-khan. My word is iron and my word is law.

He would send out the tumans to dominate the Sung for all time. He clenched his fist as he stood in the silence. They had almost fallen to a Mongol general. They would fall to the great khan.

An earlier start can break their spirit; go later and their spirit has already gotten hardened in the wrong place

Time and age extinguish, even, the greatest flame

They had been married for almost forty years and grown old together in what he called the 'gentle harness'. It was a phrase he had used many times to amuse her, one of many he would utter just to see her smile. The humour may have been lost over the years, but the memory of it and the affection remained.

It's not bad to know history, commander. Every generation don't need to overcome again already existing art. Especially if the hardest part of the work is already done.

There is a price for all things.

Fools and gold go along with each other

Your life is just a bird's flight through a lit room. You pass from infinite darkness into endless night, with only a short time in between.

Age was no guide then, nor is it now. The old and the young defy their endings, while others go too soon. Neither is it good or evil in the veins that seems to protect them. This is a brief and bitter life, the mere proving crucible for what lies beyond. That is all that makes sense of it, or I would rage at the heavens themselves.

The Senate are simply men, and men rarely do what is right. Most of the time, they do what they are persuaded, or ordered, or frightened into doing.

A golden bribe can change hands at voting, but the true value in Rome is influence and favor.

Although we should hope for peace, we must be prepared for war

When Pelitas had died, he had wept, but there were no more tears in him for the others. He had no more lies for them, no more speeches. The grand lie had been that there was anything to fight for at all.

The words of his own teachers spiraled in his mind then as he collapsed in the snow. They had told him that holding on to anger was like grasping a hot coal. Only he would be burned by it. Yet as the men scattered and he felt strong arms lift him up, Yao Shu held the hot coal closely and felt only warmth.

What is a first line, but a door flung open by an unseen hand

Fight for every breath and every step.

The great lie of cities is that we are all too weak to stand against those who oppress us. Al I have done is see through that lie. I always fight, Kachiun. Kings and shahs depend on people remaining sheep, too afraid to rise up. All I ever did was realize I can be a wolf to them.

He threw the rock into the river and the little waves on the surface shall spread far away.

God had mercy, he knew. The Mongols had none.

I will be khan of them all. We are one people and one man can lead them. How else can we take the cities of the Chin?

Nothing sapped morale like the fear of being attacked from behind.

There are wolves in these mountains," he said. "Some of my men have hunted them for skins. They will find you here tonight and at first they will only watch. As the cold makes you weak, they will come closer and begin to nuzzle your legs and hands. They'll scatter when you call out and move, but they won't go far and they'll come back with more courage. When they start to tear your flesh, when the smell of blood excites them, think of me then.