Towers of Midnight (The Wheel of Time, #13)

by Robert Jordan

Doing what was right was the most important thing in life. It required any sacrifice.

“I could not. To abandon the Children now, after killing their leader, would be wrong.” Trom smiled. “It’s as simple as that to you, isn’t it?” “It should be as simple as that to anyone.” Galad had to rise to the station he had been given. He had no other option.

To have a duty was to have pride—just as to bear a burden was to gain strength.

“There are always things of use around, if you look closely enough. You can’t stare at them too long. To learn but not be overwhelmed, that is the balance.”

He opened his eyes, back straight, staring at the tent flaps. It wasn’t the cloak, the uniform, the heraldry, or the sword that made a man. It was the way he held himself.

He remembered well the words that Gareth Bryne had once said: Most of the time, a general’s most important function was not to make decisions, but to remind men that someone would make decisions.

Only a fool refused to listen to advice from those older and wiser than himself. But only a fool took all of the advice given him.

The trick is not to satisfy everyone, but to leave everyone feeling they reached the best possible result. They must be satisfied enough to do as you wish, yet dissatisfied enough to know that you bested them.”

“Nobody walks a difficult path without stumbling now and again. It didn’t break you when you fell. That’s the important part.”

But there was nothing a woman liked better than finding men who were relaxing, then giving them orders.

Nothing was more dangerous for the sanity of men than a woman with too much time on her hands.

But a queen must be willing to accept the burden of letting others die in her name.

The best of plans lasted only until the first arrow hit, but a determined, unyielding commander could bring order to chaos by the way he held himself.

Perrin realized he wasn’t going to be getting any more tea. Fool man, he thought. You lived most your life without being able to order tea on command. You won’t die now that you can’t get a refill by waving your hand.

Sometimes, son, our help is not needed. No matter how freely offered, or how urgent that help may seem.”

“You act with passion. You don’t act because of the way you think, but because of the way you feel. In a rush, with a snap of emotion. That gives you strength. You can act when you need to, then sort through the ramifications later. Your instincts are usually good, just like your mother’s were. But because of that, you’ve never had to face what to do when your instincts lead you in the wrong direction.”

“A man is more than one drive, one goal. No woman wants that in a man. It seems to me that men who spend time making something of themselves—rather than professing their devotion—are the ones who get somewhere. Both with women, and with life itself.”

Think instead of being impulsive; be deliberate.

You never could tell what a man would do when he was drunk, even if that man was your own self.

It was far too easy to blame others when a battle went wrong. It wasn’t the fault of these men that their lives had been easier than his recently.

You should not dance the spears without purpose, but neither should you too often demand that men prepare themselves to kill, then give them nobody to fight.”

Life is not so easy as the toss of a coin, his mother had said. One side or the other…your simple illusions…

The hammer could be either a weapon or a tool. Perrin had a choice, just as everyone who followed him had a choice.

He hadn’t asked to become a leader, but did that absolve him of responsibility? People needed him. The world needed him. And, with an understanding that cooled in him like molten rock forming into a shape, he realized that he wanted to lead.

If someone had to be lord of these people, he wanted to do it himself. Because doing it yourself was the only way to see that it was done right.

“Those who walk in the Light must take no responsibility for the actions of those who follow the Shadow.” A quote from Lothair Mantelar. “I have acted with honor.”

“And still a man,” Elayne said, feeling his knot of emotions in the back of her mind, so warm. “Just a man, for all that is demanded of him.”

Traditions should not be maintained just because they were traditions. Strength was not strength if it had no purpose or direction.

“Better to choose your enemies than remain in ignorance,”