Quotes from Steven Erikson

I conclude that your particular species, Captain, advances by way of deadly incompetence, willful ignorance, deliberate misunderstanding, and venal acquisitiveness, combined with serendipitous technological superiority.

Some things went beyond a single man's life, and maybe justice existed outside the minds of humanity, beyond even the hungry eyes of gods and goddesses, a thing shining and pure and final.

He openly opposes no one, and he finds power a thing to be avoided at all costs.

If you find someone who fills your heart, fills in all the cracks and stops all the leaking, to the Abyss with station

Bah! You're not worth the effort anyway!' And all at once she collapsed into a heap of spiders that scurried in all directions.

The tall, leaning buildings to either side shrouded the narrow passage in shadow.

To live simply was to evade the worries that came with complexity. This end was achieved at the expense, alas, of intelligence.

Hate was a lie that in feeding fills the hater with the bliss of satiation, even as his spirit starves. No, Pearl did not hate. Life was a negotiation between the expected and the unexpected. One made do. Draconus

There were enough thugs in the world – and those thugs could well be wearing the raiment of a noble, or a Fist, or indeed a priest's robes or a scholar's vestments – enough of them, without question, who lusted for chaos and the opportunities it provided. For senseless cruelty, for the unleashing of hatred, for killing and rape. Any excuse would suffice, or even none at all.

The sorcery that had been unleashed here today had been enough to fray the fabric between the worlds. Whatever dwelt beyond, in the Warrens of Chaos, felt close enough to reach out and touch.

To the joy and the life in the eyes of my friend, I will fight all those who deem him their enemy.

A faint frown wrinkled his broad forehead.

roar poured through that ancient arched passageway, a wave of sound that buffeted soldier and prisoner alike, bouncing off the high walls and rising up amidst an explosion of terrified pigeons from the upper eaves.

Hard lives begat hard laws, not just in the necessities of living, but also in those of believing.

We have a talent for disguising greed under the cloak of freedom. As

flash of sorcery ignited the air above the front street, followed by an agonized shriek.

God, my children, is the wilderness.

To stand in the heart of Dragnipur, to stand above the very Gate of Darkness, this was, for Anomander Rake, a most final act. Perhaps it was desperation. Or a sacrifice beyond all mortal measure.

A wayward wind drew a wintry breath across the scene with a sound like a gasp, shivering the grasses.

She drew a long, deep breath, then surged forward, sword's point extended.

Soldiers now and soldiers to the end of their days – none would dare leave to find peace. Solicitude and calm would unlock that safe prison of cold control – the only thing keeping them sane.

All that is worshipped is but a reflection of the worshipper. A single god, no matter how benign, is tortured into a multitude of masks, each shaped by the secret desires, hungers, fears and joys of the individual mortal, who but plays a game of obsequious approbation.

The art of illusion is grace itself.

The blood in the fine, white sand was only a few hours old, still gummy to the touch. The stench of loosened bowels soured the hazy air.