A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

by George R.R. Martin

“Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” “That is the only time a man can be brave,”

A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.”

Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.”

He had no choice, he had told her, and then he left, choosing.

All halls lead somewhere. Where there is a way in, there is a way out. Fear cuts deeper than swords.

“A Lannister always pays his debts.”

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”

Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes. Hear with your ears. Taste with your mouth. Smell with your nose. Feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth.”

There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.

“So they will not love,” the old man answered, “for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty.”

Choosing . . . it has always hurt. And always will.

By then the enemy was on him, and Tyrion’s battle shrunk to the few feet of ground around his horse.

She knelt, kissed Drogo on the lips, and pressed the cushion down across his face.

“A man who sees nothing has no use for his eyes,” the Mountain declared. “Cut them out and give them to your next outrider. Tell him you hope that four eyes might see better than two . . . and if not, the man after him will have six.”

Brutal

Jon lifted his sword . . . and lowered it, helpless. “Damn you,” he said. “Damn you all.”

We a deserve friends like these. Ones that lead you to the right path and give you forgiveness for not choosing it the first time.

“See that you never forget it. The hard truths are the ones to hold tight.