Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)

by Joe Abercrombie

The smile of the player who holds all the cards. Why is it that I cannot learn? Never do a good turn. Especially not for a woman.

My concerns for my own, alas, grow with every moment. A man is never so crippled, after all, that he could not be more so.

Shivers frowned at the fire. “I wanted to say…” He worked the words around in his mouth and spat them out. “That I’m grateful, I guess. You saved my life today. I know it.” He wasn’t happy about saying it, and Logen knew why. It’s hard to be done a favour by a man you hate. It’s hard to hate him so much afterwards. Losing an enemy can be worse than losing a friend, if you’ve had him for long enough.

It’s always the blade you don’t see coming that cuts you deepest, eh?”

“Please. Friends are people one pretends to like in order to make life bearable. Men like us have no need of such indulgences. It is our enemies by which we are measured.”

We all owe something to someone. Only the entirely worthless are entirely free. The worthless and the dead.”