Legend

Life is nothing unless death has been faced down.

“I understand why some men become soldiers: to protect the nation and all that. But a whole race of people living to be soldiers seems … unhealthy. Does that sound right?”“Indeed it sounds right. But the northern steppes make poor farmland. Mainly they breed goats and ponies. Any luxuries they desire, they must steal.”

[H]e who fears to lose will never win.

When your life has been spent in one war after another for forty-five years, you have to be pretty handy to survive.

Be at peace, my friend. One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.

A man must know his limitations.

Each man has a breaking point, no matter how strong his spirit. Somewhere, deep inside him, there is a flaw that only the fickle cruelty of fate can find.

You may think life is sweet now, but when death is a heartbeat away then life becomes unbearably desirable. And when you survive, everything you do will be enhanced and filled with greater joy: the sunlight, the breeze, a good wine, a woman's lips, a child's laughter.

"Why do they do it?" whispered Horeb. "Their eyes, you mean?" said Rek. "Yes. How can a man put out his own eyes?" "Damned if I know. They say it aids their visions." "Sounds about as sensible as cutting off your staff in order to aid your sex life."

I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom — because that's all dung to a soldier.

War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something.

A problem shared is a problem doubled.

Some of you are probably thinking that you may panic and run. You will not! Others are worried about dying. Some of you will. But all men die. No one ever gets out of this life alive.

By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highest heroism.

While men compete in war, there will be warriors. While there are warriors, there will be princes among warriors. Among the princes will be kings, and among the kings an emperor.

Only a fool loves war. Or a man who has never seen it. The trouble is that the survivors forget about the horrors and remember only the battle lust. They pass on that memory, and other men hunger for it.

It's a funny thing about weaknesses....Most people will tell you they know their weaknesses. When asked, they'll tell you, 'Well for one thing, I'm overgenerous.' ... that's what innkeepers are for.

[F]ear is a great ally.

A man with wife and daughters has no place losing his temper.

All men have talents. Some build, some paint, some write, some fight. For me it is different.

I don't know yet whether I fully believe in fate, but certain things do happen in a man's life that he cannot explain.

Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on — otherwise he is useless.

Your men are brave men, And you have won. I can live with that, Earl of Bronze — a poor man would I be if I could not.

None of us can choose the manner of our passing.

In any broth, the scum always rises to the top.

[A]ll men die. ... A man needs many things in his life to make it bearable. A good woman. Sons and daughters. Comradeship. Warmth. Food and shelter. but above all these things, he needs to be able to know that he is a man. And what is a man? He is someone who rises when life has knocked him down. Someone who raises his fist to heaven when a storm has ruined his crop — and then plants again. And again. A man remains unbroken by the savage twists of fate. That man may never win. But when he sees himself reflected, he can be proud of what he sees. For low he may be in the scheme of things: peasant, serf, or dispossessed. But he is unconquerable. And what is death? an end to trouble. An end to strife and fear. ... Bear this in mind when you decide your future.

All beauty is sad. For it fades.

I'm not laughing at you. [...] I'm laughing at the whole stupid business. We face the biggest threat in our history and they give me a helmet too big,and you a helmet too small, and tell us we can't exchange them. It's too much. Really.

Some people are born ugly. It's not their fault, and I for one have never held it against a man that he is ugly. but others — and I count myself among them — are born with handsome features. That's a gift that should not be lightly taken away.

This world has few redeeming features, and one is the capacity for people to love one another with great, enduring passion.

This enterprise was doomed, but we do what we can and do what we must. So a young farmer with wife and children decides to go home. Good! He shows a sense that you and I will never understand. They will sing songs about us, but he will ensure that there are people to sing them. He plants. We destroy.

...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.

No one can take away the freedom of a man's soul.

The point is [...] that you never know whether you've lost until you've lost. Anything can happen.

There is only one way to survive in war, and that is by being willing to die. You will find soon that swordsmen can be downed by untutored savages who would slice their fingers if asked to carve meat. And why? because the savage is willing. Worse, he may be a baresark.

I don't give a damn, laddie. Until the actual moment, when they cut me down, I shall still be looking to win. And the gods of war are fickle at best.