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inclined his head ever so slightly, displaying with his bearing the supreme confidence, even arrogance, that was the sole province of cats, dragons, and certain highborn women.
But you did everything you could, and when you could do no more, you made peace with your fate, and you didn’t rail needlessly against it. That is wisdom, not weakness.”
“By whose decree? A man’s work, or a woman’s, is whatever needs to be done.
If you don’t make a few enemies every now and then, you’re a coward—or worse.
Ordinary methods won’t suffice, so we must hazard the extraordinary.”
Confusion, uncertainty, doubt … What is it people fear? The unknown, the things they don’t understand, that’s what.
Who is it who decides that one man should live and another should die? My life wasn’t worth any more than his, but he’s the one who’s buried, while I get to enjoy at least a few more hours above the ground. Is it chance, random and cruel, or is there some purpose or pattern to all this, even if it lies beyond our ken?
the habits of the body being hard to forget—and
but anyone with the time and the inclination can acquire technical proficiency. To achieve greatness, though, that requires artistry. That requires imagination and thoughtfulness, and it is those qualities that the best warriors share, even if, on the surface, they appear completely different.
The way of the warrior is the way of knowing. If that knowledge requires you to use anger, then you use anger, but you cannot wrest forth knowledge by losing your temper. Pain and frustration will be your only reward if you try.
even if a hundred ravening enemies are snapping at your heels. Empty your mind and allow it to become like a tranquil pool that reflects everything around it and yet remains untouched by its surroundings. Understanding will come to you in that emptiness, when you are free of irrational fears about victory and defeat, life and death.
You cannot predict every e...
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who can adapt the easiest to the unexpected is the warrior who will live the longest.
It’s impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should you want to. By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our follies and our accomplishments.”
You cannot expect wolves to become sheep. No, but neither do the wolves have to be cruel to the sheep.
Let go of your worries and focus only on the task at hand. The future will be what it will, and fretting about it will only make your fears more likely to come true.
For the sky is hollow and the world is round.…
Change itself is neither good nor bad, but knowledge is always useful.”
“When you teach them—teach them not to fear. Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are and makes it hard to do what you know is right.”
How quickly life passes.
