Quotes from Steven Erikson

Some gifts are evil. Others are not, but what they are remains to be discovered. Rest

In his blessing of the woman he loves with the power of Elemental Dark, Draconus imposed an impossible imbalance upon Creation. The world, First Son – any world – can hold only its necessary forces, and these in delicate balance. The Azathanai you have named T'riss had no choice, although in the boldness of her act she displayed nothing of the subtlety of our kind. It may be that the Vitr has damaged her in some way.

Sure. He came expecting to find two brains and found barely one.

Outside, in the street beyond the two motionless Wickan guards, Gamet paused and looked up. Ancient light, is it? If so, then the patterns I see... May have died long ago. No, that does not bear thinking about. It is one of those truths that have no value, for it offers nothing but dislocation.

At what point in the history of Letheras, he wondered, did rampant greed become a virtue? The level of self-justification required was staggering in its tautological complexity, and it seemed language itself was its greatest armour against common sense.

Perhaps the most realistic worship of all,' the Daru replied, wrapping another severed head. 'How many of us bow before a god in the desperate hope that we can somehow shape our fate? Praying to that familiar face pushes away our terror of the unknown—the unknown being the futur

Among the Bridgeburners, names had emerged. The survivors, mostly squad sergeants, names that pushed their way into the Malazan armies on Genabackis, and beyond. Names, spicing the already sweeping legend of Onearm's Host. Detoran, Antsy, Spindle, Whiskeyjack. Names heavy with glory and bitter with the cynicism that every army feeds on.

Look, universal consciousness only works when everybody's on the same page. But no one's ever on the same page. So instead you've got all these fragmented slices of consciousness, each one stuffed into this tiny brain, none of them capable of even recognizing any other consciousness as being just as legitimate as their own, and so the whole thing turns into this giant ego-wank.

Death is stillness. And stillness does not belong among the living. A

There had been plenty of altars before which she had knelt over the years, and from them, one and all, Torahaval Delat had discovered something she now held to be true. 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.

Karsa Orlong, do you no longer believe in mercy? " "My beliefs are my own, Delum Thord. I shall not undo what I do not understand, and that is all.

it is knowledge that makes one aware of his or her own chains.' 'Knowledge only makes the eyes see what was there all along

Every decision you make can change the world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly.

The verge between sea and land marked the manifestation of the symbolic transition between the known and the unknown. Between life and death, spirit and mind, between an unlimited host of elements and forces contrary yet locked together. Lives were given to the seas, treasures were flung into their depths. And, upon the waters themselves, ships and their crews were dragged into the deep time and again.

What feeds you is rent With the claws of your need. But needs dwell half in light And half in darkness. And virtue folds in the seam. If the demand of need is life Then suffering and death hold purpose. But if we speak of want and petty desire The seam folds into darkness And no virtue holds the ground. Needs and wants make for a grey world. But nature yields no privilege. And what is righteous will soon Feed itself with the claws Of your need, as life demands. QUALITIES OF LIFE SAEGEN

You dream that with memories will come knowledge, and from knowledge, understanding. But for every answer you find, a thousand new questions arise. All that we were has led us to where we are, but tells us little of where we're going. Memories are a weight you can never shrug off.

Your reputation puts civility far down your list of skills, Claw.' 'It's a most cherished trait of mine that sees far too little opportunity for exercise these fell days, Lieutenant.

Gothos walked into the heart of his city, to where the Jaghut who ruled collectively were all gathered. Among them, to be sure, there were great minds, and many who still held to the ideal of civilization. But then Gothos ascended the central speaker's dais. He began his oration, and when, at last, he was done, he was met with silence. On that day, the Jaghut civilization ended. And in the days that followed, Gothos was named the Lord of Hate.

We never even slowed them. Quick, whatever happened to subtlety? He could see a sliver of sky, could see the wyval wheeling round up there, eager to descend and feed. Grandma, you always said don't reach too far. Close your dead eyes now, and remember, I loved you so. He left his body, winged skyward.

Ignorance is like a seed and where it is planted in the guise of a virtue, it becomes a weed that chokes the mind until all reason is lost.

I think the Crippled God has made a terrible mistake…

Every decision you make can change the world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly. I want to be a soldier. A hero. You'll grow out of it.

This is the last day of the Khundryl Burned Tears. My children, do you ride with me? I know you do. My children, be brave this day. See your father, and know that he is proud of you all.

In blessing, you purchase a moment of peace, in the one being blessed, in the one for whom blessing is asked. Perhaps it does not last, but the gift you provide, well, its value never fades