Quotes from Robin Hobb

Humans die and the memories of who they were and what they did fade. But stone remembers its task.

It is the way of the young to accept the debilitations of old age very gracefully on behalf of their elderly parents. And

once you put a man in charge of something, you didn't ride him while he did the task.

It was play, pure and simple. Play that I'd had no time for, that I had dismissed as unnecessary and an interruption to all the practical tasks of a well-ordered life. When had I lost sight of taking simple pleasure for the sake of pleasure?

I won't watch you die. I don't intend to die. Does anyone?

So I caution you, beware of those who mock goodness and self-discipline.

I suppose I cannot blame you for doubting me. I could scarcely believe it myself at first. I found all sorts of ways to deny it and explain it away. But it wouldn't stay gone.

baffled at how he had released her.

Why, I wonder, does he write and then burn? Does he seek to banish his memories? Does he fear that writing it down makes it important? Some day, I hope to sit next to him and demand that he tell to me everything he can remember of his life. And I will write it down and never let the flames steal it.

I perceived then that my father had already known these things, but that by asking about them in front of us, he had given Spink the opportunity to share his family's straitened circumstances without making it seem that he sought our pity.

He said that the longer life is, the more important it is to keep your friends, to not have quarrels that can be avoided." His smile faded a bit, and for a time he looked troubled. "He said that, as a soldier, he had learned that a man's deep friendships were the most important thing he could possess. Things can be broken, or lost. All a man can keep for certain are the things in his mind and heart.

Are you sick to sleep this much?" "It's easier than being awake.

I feel you are woven of the same strand as I, that we are but extensions of a segmented life, and that together we complete one another. I feel a joy in your presence, because I feel my own life wax greater when we are close to one another.

In truth, I believe the Wit is as natural a magic as a man can claim. It is the Wit that lets a flock of birds in flight suddenly wheel as one, or a school of fingerlings hold place together in a swiftly flowing stream. It is also the Wit that sends a mother to her child's bedside just as the babe is awakening. I believe it is at the heart of all wordless communication, and that all humans possess some small aptitude for it, recognized or not.

She composed herself and considered all the ways the great web touched her, and was content.

Battle death to your last breath and even unknown, you are a hero. Whimper your way into darkness and your name will become a taunt of cowardice.

It is quite one thing to admit a fault to yourself. It is another thing entirely to have a friend not only agree with you, but point out the full depth of the fault.

How long? I asked, and then remembered that speech came from my mouth. 'How long?

A way out is a way in. Then

We do not share. We are one. I am no longer a wolf, you are no longer a man. What we are together, I have no name for. Perhaps the one who spoke to us of the Old Blood would have a word to explain it. He paused. See how much a man I am, that I speak of having a word for an idea? No word is needed. We exist, and we are whatever we are.

If we end here, then I meet the end with you. As you ended with me. How is the hunting where you are? It will be better with you. I'm coming to you, my brother.

Some friendships go deeper than madness or common sense

Many men always see another's good fortune as a slight to themselves.

Why should not a mother say to herself, if I raise this child aright, if I love and care for her, she shall live a life that brings joy to those about her, and thus I have changed the world? Why should not the farmer that plants a seed say to his neighbor, this seed I plant today will feed someone, and that is how I change the world today?