George RR Martin

Parchments had been signed, but wars were not fought on parchments.

He did his duty. Some nights, Ser Barristan wondered if he had not done that duty too well.

The most insidious thing about bondage was how easy it was to grow accustomed to it.

Pain is the price of power.

When men are dying every hour, no one looks too hard at one more dead man.

You kill men for the wrongs they have done, not the wrongs that they may do someday.

That is how it is when a man grows as old as Pycelle. Everything see or hear reminds you of something yo saw or heard when you were younger.

“Men are mad and gods are madder,” she told the grass, and the grass murmured its agreement.

The gods are blind. And men see only what they wish.

A fair bargain leaves both sides unhappy, I've heard it said.

It is an easy thing for a prince to call the spears, but in the end it is the children who pay the price.

Jon Snow had dreamed of leading men to glory just as King Daeron had, of growing up to be a conqueror. Now he was a man grown and the Wall was his, yet all he had were doubts. He could not even seem to conquer those.