Winter's Heart (The Wheel of Time, #9)

by Robert Jordan

“You will know anger at one another again, you will speak harsh words, but you will always remember that you have already struck her. And for no better reason than you were told to. Let those blows pass for all you might wish to give.

You did the boy no favor, Elyas had told Perrin. You helped him let go of what he believed, and now all he has to believe in is you and that sword. It’s not enough, not for any man.

“Take care of the men and horses first,” a thin but strong voice said. “But then you must take care of yourself.

“Cold dark streets don’t compare to a warm fire and an interesting book,”

A queen could not show herself afraid, especially when she was.

Rumors spread among soldiers even faster than among other men, and the Light knew, that was saying something, the way men gossiped.

Ruling meant endless weeks of drudgery and rare hours of doing what you wanted. Very rare hours.

A full stomach at midday made for a dull head in the afternoon, as Lini used to say.

“Women like a man to be quiet, and well-mannered. And reserved. Reserved, and maybe a little shy. Cultivate those qualities, and you’ll do well.”

Whoever the woman was, she might get the thief-catcher beheaded yet, but that sort of fever had to burn itself out before a man could think straight. Women did strange things to a man’s head.

It was a simple truth; the Creator made women so men would not find life too easy.

Women liked to talk, and when they talked enough, they let slip things better left unspoken. Impatient women talked even more than the rest.

you find yourself outnumbered, with no path to slip away. Always do what your enemy least expects, Elayne. In that case, you must attack.

Attack before they know what you are doing, Gareth Bryne had said, and keep attacking until you rout them or break through.

“The world seldom knows what it thinks it knows,”

He had never been able to understand what attracted women to a man—they seemed to go pop-eyed over the most ordinary looking fellows—but he knew he was no beauty, no matter what Tylin said.

Well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. A man made do with what he had.

“Women are a maze through briars in the night,”

Women could tangle a man in that maze before he knew it.