Quotes from Joe Abercrombie

Prickomo fucking cocksca. That bastard old arsehole-fucker.

He felt a strange urge, right then, just to put his head down and walk past, off into the night and never look back. Then he wouldn't have to be the Bloody-Nine again... He could've gone far away, and started new, and been whoever he wanted. But he'd tried that once already, and it had done him no good. The past was always right behind him, breathing on his neck. It was time to turn around and face it.

If you're a good man, and you try to think about what the right thing is every day of your life, and you build things to be proud of so bastards can come and burn them in a moment, and you make sure and say thank you kindly each time they kick the guts out of you, do you think when you die, and they stick you in the mud, you turn into gold?' 'What?' 'Or do you turn to fucking shit like the rest of us?

Who says there even is a real Shenkt? People like things that are simple. Black and white. Good and evil. They want to make a choice and tell themselves they were right. But as His Eminence is fond of saying, the real world is painted in greys. The truth is complicated, full of mixed emotions and blurred outcomes and each-way bets. The truth … is a hard sell.

Back to the mud with you, Forley. We're the poorer, and the ground's the richer for it.

If you judge your thoughts worth hearing, pronounce them proudly, push them to every corner of the chamber, fill the hall with your hopes and desires and make every listener share them! If you are ashamed of your thoughts, better to leave a silence.

That was the age of great men, doing what was right.

More often than not bad luck meant bad plans.

We all got our reasons...good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand.

friends can be useful. If nothing else, a friend is one less enemy.

Freedom did not seem to have made anyone any less angry.

look of fury, a look of pain, a look of hatred you can trust. A smile can hide anything.

Nobility is shown not by the respect one is given by the highest, but the respect one gives to the lowly.

sad to say, not all men that die are killed by me.

In bloody days, swords were worth more than gods.

Are you drunk?' 'It's the afternoon, isn't it? I try always to be drunk by now. Once you start a job you should give it your best.

A name to fill strong men with fear or courage, depending on which side they stand.

the greater a man's power swells, the smaller his good quantities shrivel

It's an awful fine line between being raised above folk like a leader and being raised above ´em like a hanged man on display.

Loyalty is an admirable quality,' said Barezin. 'Admirable. But it must cut both ways.' 'Loyalty to a corrupt regime,' added Heugen, 'is foolishness . Worse. Cowardice. Worse! It's dis loyalty!

Maybe you should try sticking to one side or the other.' 'Why ever would anyone do that?' Cosca raised his flask, took a sip and smacked his lips in satisfaction. 'It's a war. There is no right side.

She surely can cook a fight from the most peaceful ingredients. But nothing worth doing is easy. I love her in spite of it. I love her because of it. I love her." And his face broke out in that grin again. "Every day's a new adventure, that's for sure.

I won't. But … pamphlets?' 'Absolutely.' 'Etchings?' 'The language of the heart.' 'Do you really think people are that stupid?' 'Darling.' She leaned closer, and kissed him gently, and touched him lightly on the tip of his nose with her fingertip. 'People are far more stupid than that.

I got bigger problems than that life hasn't turned out the way you hoped. You can harp on the past all you please, Dow, like some old woman upset cause her tits used to stay up by themselves, or you can shut your fucking hole and help me get on with things.