Quotes from Bernard Cornwell

Television is a young person's medium.

Madness ends sometimes. The Gods decree it, not man.

A man does not see where he treads in battle, for he is watching the enemy.

Latin! The language of God! Or perhaps He speaks Hebrew? I suppose that's more likely and it will make things rather awkward in heaven, won't it? Will we all have to learn Hebrew?

Writing is a solitary occupation.

Life is a jest of the Gods and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh… or else you'll weep yourself to death.

What I mean by that is that the point of life, as I see it, is not to write books or scale mountains or sail oceans, but to achieve happiness, and preferably an unselfish happiness.

It's fun. I sit down every day and tell stories. Some folk would kill to get that chance.

Looking back, of course, it was irresponsible, mad, forlorn, idiotic, but if you don't take chances then you'll never have a winning hand, and I've no regrets.

Judy couldn't move to Britain for family reasons, so I had to come to the States, and the U.S. government wouldn't give me a Green Card, so I airily told her I'd write a book.

I'm fortunate that the books sell, but even more fortunate to live in Chatham, to be very happily married and to have, on the whole, a fairly clear conscience.

Of course some days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than being in most humdrum occupations.

What I mean by that is that the point of life, as I see it, is not to write books or scale mountains or sail oceans, but to achieve happiness, and preferably an unselfish happiness.

Book tours and research provide a lot of travel - too much, I sometimes think, but we do take vacations.

But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.

Destiny is all, Ravn liked to tell me, destiny is everything. He would even say it in English, "Wyrd biõ ful ãræd.

Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.

We all suffer from dreams.

The bards sing of love, they celebrate slaughter, they extol kings and flatter queens, but were I a poet I would write in praise of friendship.

Wyrd bið ful ?ræd. Fate is inexorable.

The preachers tell us that pride is a great sin, but the preachers are wrong. Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation... Men die, they said, but reputation does not die.

A leader leads," Ragnar said, "and you can't ask men to risk death if you're not willing to risk it yourself.

But when you have order, you don't need Gods. When everything is well ordered and disciplined then nothing is unexpected. If you understand everything,' I said carefully, 'then there's no room left for magic. It's only when you're lost and frightened and in the dark that you call on the Gods, and they like us to call on them. It makes them feel powerful, and that's why they like us to live in chaos.

Only a fool wants war, but once a war starts then it cannot be fought half-heartedly. It cannot even be fought with regret, but must be waged with a savage joy in defeating the enemy, and it is that savage joy that inspires our bards to write their greatest songs about love and war.