Quotes from Bernard Cornwell

The road lay to the south of the River Cavado which ran clear and deep through rich pastureland that had been plundered by the French so that no cattle or sheep grazed the spring grass. The villages had once been prosperous, but were now almost deserted and the few folk who remained were wary.

Some mothers soften their sons, but Osbert was motherless and I had raised him hard because a man must be hard. The world is filled with enemies.

I have learned not to trust those times, because if the world is at peace then it means someone is planning war.

Derfel: – Capisco che puoi guardare negli occhi una persona e renderti conto a un tratto che la vita ti sarà impossibile senza di lei. Che la sua voce può far saltare un battito al tuo cuore, che la sua compagnia è tutta la felicità che potrai mai desiderare, che la sua assenza ti lascerà orbato e perduto.

So, with no real plan for my future and content to let fate

The sun flashed off the wet blades, splinters of light, then the oars dipped, were tugged, and the beast-headed boats surged, and I stared entranced.

of every night you must be open to the Gods, and if

I curse you,' she said, pointing at me, 'I curse your children, your woman, your life, your grave, the air you breathe, the food you eat, the dreams you have, the ground you tread.

It would cause nothing but madness, Thomas thought. Men would fight for it, lie for it, cheat for it, betray for it and die for it. The Church would make money from it. It would cause nothing but evil, he thought, for it stirred horror from men's hearts

I can unbutton your breeches and I can point you down wind, but even with the Good Lord's help I can't piss for you.

the lion will lie down with the lamb, swords will be forged into plowshares, there'll be no more stinging nettles, and a man can take as many wives as he wants.

Besides, as I have never tired of telling my Christian followers, we pagans rarely persecute Christians. We believe there are many gods, so we accept another man's religion as his own affair, while Christians, who perversely insist that there is only one god, think it their duty to kill, maim, enslave, or revile anyone who disagrees. They tell me this is for our own good.

Beware the hatred of a woman.

Words are like breath. You say them and they're gone. But writing traps them.

I ignored Waldhere and still spoke

Derfel] La mia spada era coperta di sangue, avevo la mano destra appiccicosa e la manica della cotta tutta macchiata, ma nemmeno una goccia di quel sangue era mia.

In madness lies change, in change is opportunity and in opportunity are riches.

Houve um tempo em que Sansum se ajoelhava diante de mim e beijava minha espada

So sanity is not a requisite of soldiering,' Wellesley said quietly.

Stiorra, Stiorra!" I would say as I tickled her, or let her play with my arm rings. Stiorra, so beautiful.

I wanted to hit him hard now. I wanted to hit him in the dark of the night's ending, hit him in the thunder of Thor's providential storm, hit him under the lash of Thor's lightning, strike him in the wind and the rain of the gods. I would bring him chaos.

There is such joy in chaos. Stow all the world's evils behind a door and tell men that they must never, ever, open the door

so long as Ivar is weak he will be your friend. Strengthen him and you make an enemy. -What use is a weak friend? -More use than a strong enemy.

Prisoners! Finan shouted, and I suspected he was shouting at me because I had so blatantly ignored my own insistence that we take men captive.