A Little Hatred Quotes

“When you tell a lie, you have to sound like you believe it. Goes double for the ones you tell yourself.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“The wiser a man is, the more he stands ready to be educated.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“When one man knowingly kills another, they call it murder! When society causes the deaths of thousands, they shrug and call it a fact of life.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“But that’s what growing up is, maybe. Realising what a fucking arse you’ve been.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Believe it or not, we all want what’s best. The root o’ the world’s ills is that no one can agree on what it is.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“The goal of government, you see,” and the Arch Lector prodded at the air with his bony forefinger, “is to load the unhappiness onto those least able to make you suffer for it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“The beauty o’ making yourself a promise is that no one else complains if you break it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Aye, well, we all play the cards we're dealt."
"Some of us do. Some of us kill men with better cards and play theirs instead.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Truly clever things are said with short words. Long ones are used to hide stupidity.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Call it art, you can get away with anything.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Funny how, whenever men talked about freedom, they never really meant for the women”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Guilt is a luxury reserved for those still breathing and with no unbearable pain, cold or hunger demanding all their fickle attention.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“But that’s the nice thing about looking backwards. You can pick out the bits that suit your story and toss the unhappy truths to the wind.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“But things are always going to be better, or were better long ago. No politician ever got anywhere by telling people things are just right as they are.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Defeats do men far more good than victories.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Promises are like flowers, often given, rarely kept”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“It’s a rare man who’s made better by a bit of power.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Cause my mother says boys whine about what’s done. Men decide what will be.” “You always listen to your mother?” “I complain about it, but yes.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“She was not a woman to be deterred by hatred: not from her workers, not from her rivals, not from the men she bullied, bribed or blackmailed to get her way. It is when they truly hate you, after all, that you know you have won. So she met the seething dislike with effortless superiority, paraded past with her shoulders back and chin high. If she was to be cast as the villain, so be it. They were always the most interesting characters anyway.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“I am a bottomless well of revelation but cannot force the ignorant to drink.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“What’s your name?’

She planted one elbow on the stretch of counter Zuri had wiped so she could lean closer and draw out both syllables. ‘Savine.’

‘That’s a lovely name.’

‘Oh, if you enjoy the tip, you’ll go mad for the whole thing.’

‘That so?’ he purred at her. ‘How does it go?’

‘Savine… dan…’ And she leaned even closer to deliver the punchline. ‘Glokta.’

If a name had been a knife and she had cut his throat with hers, the blood could not have drained more quickly from his face. He gave a strangled cough, took a step back and nearly fell over one of his own barrels.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“A coward’s just a man with the proper respect for sharp metal,”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“A cynic might observe that the scriptures can be used to support both sides of every argument.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“It is healthy to be disabused of our self-deceptions every now and then, even if it hurts.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“But the risk of making any choice is always that you might make the wrong one. We must make our choices nonetheless. Fear of being a grown-up is a poor reason to remain a child.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Winning made people friendly. Winning too much made them nervous.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“They’re not bad people. They just want a little more.”

“I thought feelings did not come into it?” The Arch Lector’s left eye had started to weep, and he pulled out a white handkerchief and gently dabbed it. “You grew up in the camps, Inquisitor Teufel.”

“You know I did, Your Eminence.”

“You have seen humanity in the raw.”

“About as raw as it gets, Your Eminence.”

“So tell me. These good people. If they get a little more, what will they want then?”

Vick paused a moment, but there was nothing else to say. “A little more.”

“Because that is the nature of people. And their little more must be taken from someone else, and that someone else will be less than delighted. One cannot eliminate unhappiness any more than one can eliminate darkness. The goal of government, you see,” and the Arch Lector prodded at the air with his bony forefinger, “is to load the unhappiness onto those least able to make you suffer for it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“People liked to think of beauty as some natural gift, but Savine firmly believed that just about anyone could be beautiful, if they worked hard at it and spent enough money. It was merely a question of emphasising the good, disguising the bad and painfully squeezing the average into the most impressive configuration. Very much like business, really.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Isern squelched up the bank with Rikke’s dripping trousers. ‘Clean as new snow! Your only stench now shall be of youth and disappointment.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred

“Nothing like being wanted, is there? Wanted by someone you want. Always seems like magic, that something can feel so good but cost nothing.”
― Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred