David Gemmel

...the baresark loses all fear; his method is all-out attack, and invariably he takes his opponent with him even if he falls.

Live or die, a man and a woman need love. There is a need in the race. We need to share. To belong. Perhaps you will die before the year is out. But remember this: to have may be taken from you, to have had never. it is far better to have tasted love before dying than to die alone.

We are not made for life at all, old horse. It is made for us. We live it. We leave it.

A man cannot spend his life worrying about the unexpected.

How do you decide a battle is lost? Numbers, strategic advantage, positioning? It's all worth a sparrow's fart. It comes down to men who are willing. The largest army will founder if its men are less willing to die than to win.

A man's strength is ultimately born of his knowledge of his own weakness ...

The very odd thing about sagas [...] is that they very rarely mention dry mouths and full bladders.

Liberty is only valued when it is threatened, therefore it is the threat that highlights the value. We should be grateful to the Nadir, since they heighten the value of our liberty.

A friend in need is a friend to be avoided.

A man should be free to do what he wants to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others.

It would be a fine thing if war could be conducted as a game where no lives were lost. At the end of a battle combatants could meet [...] and drink and talk.

Bow to nothing, son. I make mistakes as well as any man. If you think me wrong, be so good as to damn well say so.