The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)

by Joe Abercrombie

Once you’ve got a task to do, it’s better to do it than to live with the fear of it.

Jezal had often observed that the ever so slightly stupid will act more stupidly in clever company.

But some things have to be done. It’s better to do them, than to live with the fear of them.

The tree is only as strong as its root, and knowledge is the root of power.”

“Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse.”

The great wage secret wars for power and wealth, and they call it government.