Quotes from Steven Erikson

All thrones should be made of ice, I think. Sit on that numb arse, sinking down and down, with the puddle of dissolution getting ever wider around you. Sit, dear ruler, and tell me all your grand designs.

Some were destined to walk alone through life, others not.

Oh, we talk of progress, but what we really desire is the perpetuation of the present. With its seemingly endless excesses, its ravenous appetites. Ever the same rules, ever the same game.

the failure of hope has a name: it is called suffering.

I am Crone, eldest of the Moon's Great Ravens, whose eyes have looked upon a hundred thousand years of human folly. Hence my tattered coat and broken beak as evidence of your indiscriminate destruction. I am but a winged witness of your eternal madness.

I hear Seven Cities natives grow fruit just so they can eat the larvae in them.

They are human, after all, and it is human nature to transform loss into a virtue. So that it might be lived with, so that it might be justified.

All right, shadow-priest, you've been spying — on what? What state secrets have you learned watching me groom these horses?' 'Only that they hate you, Daru. Every time your back was turned, they got ready to nip you — only you always seemed to step away at precisely the right moment-' 'Yes, I did, since I knew what they were intending. Each time.' 'Is this pride I hear? That you outwitted two horses?

Hadrian held the headphones close to one ear. "What is this, Eden? You're listening to music? Stupid, crappy music?" The square-jawed man stared blankly at him. "It's Celine Dion, sir." "Get security up here! I want this man in irons. Prepare the Dark Hole!

Soldiers are issued armour for their flesh and bones, but they must fashion their own for their souls. Piece by piece.

You are very easily exasperated, my dear. If you're a leaf trembling on a wide, deep river, relax and ride the current. It's always worked for me, I assure you.

Tattersail smiled. "The only death I fear is dying ignorant.

If need be, the round man can prove a most blunt barrier. Just ask the man with the hammer.

Envy shrugged. 'Can no value be found in good intentions?' 'What, precisely, are you trying to justify? And to me, or yourself?' She glared, then quickened her pace. 'You're no fun at all,' she sniffed as she pulled ahead, 'and presumptuous as well. I'm going to talk with Tool, his moods don't swing!' No, they just hang there, twisting in the wind.

You cannot be remade unless you are first broken.

When next you see Anomander, tell him this from me: he chose wisely. Each time, he chose wisely. Tell him, then, that of all whom I ever met, there is but one who has earned my respect, and he is that one.

Among the Rhivi of North Genabackis, there was a saying. A man who stirs awake the serpent is a man without fear. A man without fear has forgotten the rules of life. Silanah heard their songs and prayers. And she watched. Sometimes mortals did indeed forget. Sometimes, mortals needed… reminding.

Control yourselves. Be orderly. Don't blow any of us up. Am I understood?' A quick nod. 'Aye, sir. Bless you, sir.' Startled, Paran's voice sharpened, 'Bless me?' And from the mob of sappers came a muttered chorus, echoing the corporal's blessing. Paran stepped back, struggled for a moment to regain his composure, and then raised his voice. 'No need to rush – there's plenty for everyone.

They consider themselves masters at cheating. But then, I think this will be the first time that they sit at a table with mortal humans facing them. Cheating? When it comes to that, the Elder Gods are as children compared to humans. Since the time of my return, this much at least I have learned.

There are tides beneath every tide And the surface of water Holds no weight.

Wisdom did not belong to mortals, and those whom others called wise were only those who, through grim experience, had touched the very edges of unwelcome truths. For the wise, even joy was tinged with sorrow.

Truth cared nothing for stories. The real world was indifferent to what people wanted to be, to how they wanted everything to turn out. Betrayers came from everywhere, including inside his own body, his own mind. He could trust no one, not even himself.

History comforts the dull-witted,"" the young Malazan said. Beneth barked a laugh as he reached the gate. "And whose words are those, Pella? Not yours." The guard's brows rose, then shrugged. "I forget you're Korelri sometimes, Beneth. Those words? Emperor Kellanved.

Ah, Meese has brought us her finest goblets! A moment, whilst Kruppe sweeps out cobwebs, insect husks and other assorted proofs of said goblets' treasured value.