Fool's Quest (The Fitz and The Fool, #2)

by Robin Hobb

The world had to change and for some reason the prosperity of men always results in them taking ever more from wild creatures and places.

I found myself speaking softly as if I were telling an old tale to a young child. And giving it a happy ending, when all know that tales never end, and the happy ending is but a moment to catch one’s breath before the next disaster.

‘Doing something stupid and reckless is not a better proof of your love than doing something measured and powerful.

Sometimes a man’s dreams tell him things he doesn’t admit to himself.

‘There is no path to the future, Fitz. The path is now. Now is all there is, or ever will be. You can change perhaps the next ten breaths in your life. But after that, random chance seizes you in its jaws again. A tree falls on you, a spider bites your ankle, and all your grand plans for winning a battle are for naught. Now is what we have Fitz, and now is where we act to stay alive.’

The best way I know to stop thinking is to pick up an axe and attempt to kill someone with it.