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

by George R.R. Martin

Ned stopped at last and lifted the oil lantern. The crypt continued on into darkness ahead of them, but beyond this point the tombs were empty and unsealed; black holes waiting for their dead, waiting for him and his children. Ned did not like to think on that.

Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”

His brother never untied a knot when he could slash it in two with his sword.

A king should never sit easy,

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