# Quote — David Gemmell, The King Beyond the Gate

> What do you mean, why? Is it not obvious? What is life but a betrayal? We start out young, full of hope. The sun is good; the world awaits us. But every passing year shows how small you are, how insignificant against the power of the seasons. Then you age. Your strength fails, and the world laughs at you through the jeers of younger men. And you die. Alone. Unfulfilled. But sometimes ... sometimes there will come a man who is not insignificant. He can change the world, rob the seasons of their power. He is the sun.

- Author: [David Gemmell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell.md)
- Book: [The King Beyond the Gate](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Gemmell#The_King_Beyond_the_Gate) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate/what-do-you

## More from this book

> What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate/what-is-life.md)

> Nothing in life is easy, Arvan. But it's what I'm trained for. To lead an army. To bring death and destruction on my enemies [...] A man must stand against evil wherever he finds it and he must use all his talents.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate/nothing-in-life-is.md)

> "I had a teacher ... He said there were three kinds of people in life: winners, losers and fighters. Winners made him sick with their arrogance, losers made him sick with their whining, and fighters made him sick with their stupidity." "In which category did he put himself?" "He said he had tried all three and nothing suited him." "Well, at least he tried. That's all a man can do, Lake. And we shall try."

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate/i-had-a-teacher.md)