Quotes from George R. R. Martin

My characters who come back from death are worse for wear. In some ways, they're not even the same characters anymore. The body may be moving, but some aspect of the spirit is changed or transformed, and they've lost something.

All fiction has to have a certain amount of truth in it to be powerful.

The best calumnies are spiced with truth.

Why ask for truth," Ser Barristan said softly, "if you close your ears to it?

And when you have it, what then? Some secrets are safer kept hidden. Some secrets are too dangerous to share, even with those you love and trust.

He never wanted love, though. You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night.

I love you too, sweet sister. But you're a fool. A beautiful golden fool.

"Come at once," she had written to him. "Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once"

Make no mistake, dwarf. I fought for you, but I do not love you'' ''It was your blade I needed'' Tyrion said, ''not your love.

And the mystery knight should defeat all challengers and name the wolf maid the queen of love and beauty.

They will not love me, you say? When have they ever loved me? How can I lose something I have never owned? - Stannis

Can they love without a word for it?

One of the things I love, and I'm a voracious reader as well as a writer, is books that surprise me, that are not predictable.

I have some other novels I want to write. I have a lot of short stories - I love the short story.

As much as I love historical fiction, my problem with historical fiction is that you always know what's going to happen.

Boy, there are days where I get up and say 'Where the hell did my talent go? Look at this crap that I'm producing here. This is terrible. Look, I wrote this yesterday. I hate this, I hate this.'

The prejudice is still there, but it's breaking down. You have writers like Michael Chabon and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. He's a writer who's determined to break down genre barriers. He's done amazing things.

I watch NFL football on Sundays. I enjoy gaming with friends, meaning role-playing games; I still enjoy going to conventions and traveling.

And what lesson can we draw from Volantene history? If you want to conquer the world, you best have dragons.

I want you to be afraid to turn the page (and to do that) you need to show right from the beginning that you're playing for keeps.

If I was a soldier going to war, I'd be pretty scared the night before a battle. It's a scary thing. And I want my readers to feel that fear as they turn the page.

I have idea files of books that I want to write one of these days, stories I want to write one of these days, but I'll probably never get to them.

Mother, I want to see him fly!

He wants you to smile and smell sweet and be his lady love. He wants to hear you recite all your pretty little words the way the septa taught you. He wants you to love him... and fear him.