# Stormrider - Author: [David Gemmell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell.md) - Quotes: 22 - Book page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider ## Quotes > It never ceases to surprise me how few friends the doomed have. One moment they are surrounded by smiling faces, the next they are utterly friendless. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/it-never-ceases.md) > When healers yearn to kill then hope begins to die ... Evil cannot be overcome by evil. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/when-healers-yearn.md) > 'He didn't want to come, Dweller. He didn't want to get involved. It should have been me who died.' 'Of course he wanted to come. Why else was he here? You didn't force him, Draig. He came because you were his brother and he loved you. He could have left at any time once the pursuit began. He made his own choices. Just as you did. Just as I knew you would.' [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/he-didnt-want.md) > Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they'll make you king. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/steal-a-loaf.md) > As men we are all cursed by the violence in our natures. Men like the Moidart — aye, and Winterbourne — revel in that nature. We do not. We struggle to overcome it. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/as-men-we-are.md) > Well, who decides who has won or lost? It's not like Avondale any more. That was easy. We charged. They ran. We captured their cannon. Now, that was a victory. Now, we just charge each other, kill each other, and argue about who won. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/well-who-decides.md) > Kings are chosen by the Source, so it is said ... Therefore those who fight for the king can be said to be godly. Is that not cause enough? [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/kings-are-chosen.md) > I think that for the coward every day carries a kind of death. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/i-think-that.md) > I do not mock men who have faith. It gives them comfort, and oft times leads them to help others. Yet I have also seen great evils done in the name of the Source. And never have I witnessed a miracle. Until I do I shall remain sceptical. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/i-do-not.md) > No need for confusion, my dear Mulgrave [...] Beautiful wine and sour vinegar come from exactly the same source. Curiously if one leaves a bottle of wine open for long enough it will become vinegar. Happily in this house wine never survives long enough to go bad. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/no-need-for.md) > “Greed got me into this,” Powdermill said, mournfully. “I swear to the Source that if I get out of this alive, I’ll never give in to greed again.” > > Huntsekker laughed. “We are what we are, little man. We won’t change. Now, set to and see something we can take to the Moidart.” [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/greed-got-me-into.md) > The Pinance laughed. “I hate the man, but I have never before seen him as a fool or a coward.” > > “He is not a military man, my lord. He is a schemer, skilled in the art of politics and treachery.” > > “It seems to me that those two beasts are one and the same,” said the Pinance. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/the-pinance-laughed.md) > You think evil corrupts men by saying come with me and I will turn you into a merciless killer, and damn your soul for eternity? Who would agree to such a bargain? Evil corrupts, Bael, by promising us what we want, and telling us that it is good. Evil talks of the end justifying the means. It speaks of distant goals — aye, and of golden ages. It seduces, Bael. It does not threaten. Not at first. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/you-think-evil.md) > I don't pray, Master Ring. I act. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/i-dont-pray.md) > Our ancestors have fought wars since time. And won them. More than that, we have built societies and held them together. We are the rulers, Gaise. We are the mighty. Remember that tomorrow. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/our-ancestors-have.md) > ‘We don’t have time for theological debates, or philosophical discussion on the nature of evil,’ he said. ‘Men have been killing each other for centuries without need to blame skulls or relics.' [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/we-dont-have.md) > Aye, it is hard when those we love leave the world. No denying it. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/aye-it-is-hard.md) > ...[A]ll duels followed a pattern. They began with heat and fury, then settled into a contest of wills. With two equally matched opponents there would come a time when the worm of doubt entered the equation. The truly skilled recognized such moments, and fed them. It was at this time that the endgame would begin. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/a-ll-duels-followed.md) > “You are the leader, Gaise. Men always tend to agree with the leader. It is the nature of things.” > > “This is not a game, Father.” > > “Of course it is: the oldest game in the world. You have proved yourself in battle, leading men in cavalry charges. This game is different. This game is unlikely to be won by a single heroic charge. This will be like the wolf pack hunting the stag. This will be about planning, movement, wearing down the enemy, bringing him to bay at exactly the point where he is at his weakest. This will be about subtlety and deception. Winter Kay is an excellent strategist. He thinks he is the wolf. He is right. We are the stag. To win you must make him the stag.” [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/you-are-the.md) > The nature of a coward is to avoid death. If such a man courts peril there can be only two reasons. Either he is not a coward at all — or there is no danger. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/the-nature-of-a-coward.md) > ‘Is the war coming to Eldacre, my lord?’ asked Ramus, as he settled into the chair. > > 'I fear it is. A more stupid and wasteful business there never was. Fields will not be planted, food will run low, tax revenues will dry up — save from the makers of swords and munitions.' [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/is-the-war.md) > 'Makes no sense to me,' said Huntsekker. 'You don't know who is at your door, but you know the thoughts of a man twenty miles away.' ‘Life is a mystery,’ said Powdermill, with a gold-toothed grin. 'It is that, right enough,' agreed Huntsekker. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/stormrider/makes-no-sense.md)