The Wisdom of Crowds Quotes

“But here’s the sorry truth – if you really don’t want a thing, you don’t have to keep telling yourself so.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Some people, Orso supposed, can never forgive being forgiven.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“She never saw more damage done than by folk acting on high principle.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“nothing proclaims disunity like shrill proclamations of unity on every corner.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Evil is not the opposite of good. It is what we call another man’s notion of good when it differs from ours.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Faith must be shaken from time to time, or it becomes rigid. An excuse for any outrage. I have come to believe that the righteous... should always have doubts.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Her mother had always warned her a man is judged by his best moment, a woman by her worst.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“...how's your leg?”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“One must keep a close eye on the current definitions. To be unpatriotic would be terrible. To be patriotic in the wrong way could be fatal.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“The sad truth is, men love to follow a man other men fear,” said Clover. “Makes them feel fearsome, too. We tell the odd fond story of the good men. The straight edges. Your Rudd Threetrees, your Dogmen. But it’s the butchers men love to sing of. The burners and the blood-spillers. Your Cracknut Whirruns and your Black Dows. Your Bloody-Nines. Men don’t dream of doing the right thing, but of ripping what they want from the world with their strength and their will.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“One cannot climb high without standing on others, and all she had wanted was to reach the top. What a waste it all seemed now. There is nothing at the summit, in the end, but a long drop.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Everyone likes me,” said Caul Shivers, the most feared man in the North.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Freedom did not seem to have made anyone any less angry.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“The thing about history is you don’t know what the right side is till long afterwards, and by then it hardly matters.” “That’s the sort o’ thing you hear from folk who know they’re on the wrong side.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“You must make of your quim a stone.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Perhaps you’ll see now you have children of your own… being a parent… there is no plan. It’s just a set of mistakes you hardly notice making.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“History is not the story of battles between right and wrong, but between one man’s right and another’s. Evil is not the opposite of good. It is what we call another man’s notion of good when it differs from ours.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“She sat in silence as he limped out, teeth gritted. Click, tap, grunt. Click, tap, grunt. That mixture of cunning, ruthlessness, burning ambition and constant pain was far from unfamiliar.
She had heard it said that every woman ends up marrying her father. Until that moment, she had always imagined herself the exception.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Seems giving little men big men’s shoes doesn’t make ’em big. Just makes ’em trip over.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“But love is not always a solution. In this case, it was very much a problem.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Threats for tomorrow don’t cut very deep when today is so damn threatening.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Great folk are great ’cause they plant new footsteps. Not ’cause they blunder through the same mistakes some other bastards made.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“To regret the methods, you have to win."
He couldn't stay on his feet any longer, and he grunted as he took one lurching step and the padded socket squeezed at his stump. "Once you've won ... who cares about the methods?”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Vanity, a loud voice and a loose relationship with the truth,” whispered Zuri. “All the qualities of a successful politician.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“First fear’s their weapon.” Clover remembered winning a few fights before they began, using just a hard stare and the weight of his name. “Then it becomes their shield. Only thing that’ll stop their enemies trying to kill ’em. Only thing that’ll stop their friends trying to kill ’em. They get scared o’ not being feared enough, so they pile horror on horror. Turn ’emselves into monsters. And since memory tends to make the past look bigger, today’s bastards are always hunting for ways to out-bastard the bastards o’ yesteryear”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Don’t grieve for me!” He glanced about the audience, brows high. “No? No one? The truth is, at my best, I’ve been a barely adequate king. My father’s son, I daresay. Though allow me to take just a little pride in my victory against the odds at Stoffenbeck. Unfortunate timing, to take the throne with not one but two bloody revolts on the way, but that’s no excuse, really. There’s always something horrible on the way, after all. You’ll see. Not that I bear any of you ill will, you understand. Ill will is too heavy a thing to carry through life, let alone up onto a scaffold, and it’s useless in a fight in any case.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the executioner wrap his hands around the lever.
“Well! I think I’m being given the signal to finish up. To my sister, Savine…” He grinned over at her. The way he used to, when they were together, in Sworbreck’s office. When he had just thought of the best joke. One he knew she would love. That was how he wanted her to think of him. As he had been. As they had been. “I take some comfort in knowing you’ll be a far better ruler than I ever was. We have had our differences, but you remain the woman I most admire. And, let’s be honest, the only one I’ve ever loved.” He was gratified to see a tear slide down her cheek. It was not as if it had all been worth it, for one tear, but it was something. He grinned at the Lord Regent. “To her husband, Leo dan Brock, I can only say… how’s your leg?”
He gave one last chuckle, and it became a sigh. “Let’s get on with it,” he said.
There was a clatter as the trap dropped open.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Absolutes are never to be trusted.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“In the end … the only thing a man can really do … is pick his moment. Watch for the opening, and recognise it when it comes, and seize it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“But I never stop trying. Doing better next time, after all, that’s what life is.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds

“Unity and respect, it seemed, were only for those who did as they were told.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Wisdom of Crowds