Quotes from Wilbur Smith

Something always dies when the lion feeds – and yet there is meat for those that follow him.

Fly for me, Bird of the Sun.

when it comes to fashion, even the most sensible woman is not to be trusted.

Rage makes a man sick, my son. It spoils his appetite for life and keeps him from sleep at night. We cannot change our world, so we must look for the good things in life and enjoy those to the full.

Should five slaves dictate to a king? If five baboons bark, must the black-maned lion tremble?

Robin Hood was also a terrorist ? but he had some style and a little class.

When a traveller gets a thorn in his foot,' Mbejane went on softly, 'and he is wise he plucks it out – and he is a fool who leaves it and says "I will keep this thorn to prick me so that I will always remember the road upon which I have travelled." Nkosi, it is better to remember with pleasure than with pain.

Play the game without mercy, play to win

We are all mere insects caught in the web that the gods spin for us.

If I have to die, then it's best to do so before I see everything I love, the land, the animals, the people, all of it destroyed.

The branch breaks that will not bend with the wind. You must learn to bend".

But those set to guard a treasure, are too often those who loot it.

Out of the chaos and darkness of Nun rose Ammon-Ra, He-Who-Creates-Himself. I watched Ammon-Ra stroke his generative member, masturbating and spurting out his seminal seed in mighty waves that left the silver smear that we know as the Milky Way across the dark void. From this seed were generated Geb and Nut, the earth and the heaven.

Good intelligence wins battles long before the first arrow is shot or the first sword is drawn from its scabbard.

My absolute favorite pieces are 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'Begin the Beguine.' I play these when I am working.

There's nothing so aphrodisiacal for a woman as money and success.

A cynic had defined aid as simply the system by which poor white people in rich countries gave money to rich black people in poor countries to put into Swiss bank accounts.

Patriotism is a myth conceived by those old rogues to draw us into the infernal game. Let them fight as they will, but we want no part of it.

It's probably true that everyone has a book in them, although it may not be a very good one.

I hate politics. I like to write about it, but to get involved in it, to try and make a lot of ignorant people do what you want them to do, waste of time. Go and write a book. It's more important and it'll last longer.

I still get enormous pleasure and a sense of fulfillment out of writing a book that I'm proud of. I see myself as a bit like a jewel-maker who can sit back and admire his work.

What I like about writing is the sense of godlike power it gives you.

I live in Cape Town but my favourite holiday destination is Hermanus, a little seaside town about a 90-minute drive away, over the pass and down to the sea, on the sunshine coast. It's where I love to escape to with my wife for a weekend every now and again.

I know it's politically incorrect but I enjoy things like the kick boxing and cock fighting.