Quotes from Joe Abercrombie

The least a leader can do is to share the burdens of his people. I have little other comfort to give them.

You are a king. You have no business talking about the right thing.

Perhaps we look at others and see only the things we don't have.

The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness' Joseph

But love is not always a solution. In this case, it was very much a problem.

the conversation of the drunk is only interesting to the drunk. A few glasses of wine can be the difference between finding a man a hilarious companion or an insufferable moron.

Crowds rarely cheer too loudly for the defeated, no matter how hard they fought, how great their sacrifices, how long the odds. Maidens might wet themselves over cheap and worthless victories, but they don't so much as blush for 'I did my best

Strange, how quickly a king could become an animal. Or half a king half an animal. Perhaps even those we raise highest never get that far above the mud.

Rare rages render a man frightening. Common ones render him ridiculous.

He's living in a dream! Pandered to, and coddled, and utterly spoiled his whole life! That boy and the real world are entire strangers to one another!

But I'd rather not add to my regrets. The gods know I got a queue of the bastards.

No one cares about the past any more," he whispered. "They don't see that you can't have a future without a past.

If you change your mind about the knife,' Grom called after him, smiling all the while, 'you can seek me out.' [...] 'Last time we met... you offered me a knife' Yarvi fixed Grom with his eye. On his knees, ragged and bloodied, but fixed him still. 'You told me to seek you out if I changed my mind. Will you give it to me now?

Everyone likes me," said Caul Shivers, the most feared man in the North.

Worry less about what the gods might do and more about what you can, that's my advice.

I used to love to hear stories of that man's exploits! One of my heroes, when I was young. Riding round the enemy, harassing his lines of communication, falling on the baggage train and whatnot." The Prince's riding crop rode around, harassed, and fell on imaginary baggage in the air before him.

Winning made people friendly. Winning too much made them nervous.

Jezal had often observed that the ever so slightly stupid will act more stupidly in clever company. Having lost the high ground already, they scramble eagerly for the position of likable idiot, stay out of arguments they will only lose, and hence be everyone's friend,

When men spoke of changing the world, they always meant to suit their own interests.

i want... i want a chance to do it all again. To do it... right.' Tears showed in the Old Man's eyes. 'How ever did it go so wrong, Temple? I had so many advantages. So many opportunities. All squandered. All slipped away like sand through a glass. So many disappointments...' 'Most of them you brought on yourself' 'Of course.' Cosca gave a ragged sigh. 'But they're the ones that hurt the worst.

You can't change the fact the world's full of arseholes. You can only change how you deal with them.

Gratitude and resentment are brothers eternal,

Isern squelched up the bank with Rikke's dripping trousers. 'Clean as new snow! Your only stench now shall be of youth and disappointment.

The clever words leaked out of his mind and he spoke without thinking, looking her straight in the eye. Maybe this was what honesty felt like.