Slaughterhouse V, by Kurt Vonnegut

"Why me?"
"That is a very earthling question, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?"
"Yes."
"Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why."
~Bill Pilgrim and a Tralfamadorian, pg. 97

"All time is time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber."
~A Tralfamadorian, pg. 109

Miscellaneous Quotes (Authors/Books given)

"Friends can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand."
~Gorath, Krondor the Betrayal by Raymond E. Feist, pg. 213

"Just remember, my boy, you cannot outrun your demons. They will catch you. Best face them."
~Jakub, Myrren's Gift by Fiona McIntosh, pg. 264

"Nightmares do not last forever, Aric. In time we wake, and a new day greets us."
~Prince Daralor, The Sword of Angels by John Marco, pg. 719

"Oh, 'twould be marvelous if the world and its moral questions were like some game board, with plain black players and white, and fixed rules, and nary a shade of grey."
~Croaker (Annals), The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, pg. 367

"Right, wrong, doesn't matter. Just do something."
~Stephanie, The Alexandria Link by Steve Barry, pg. 204

"Truths could never be forgotten--there was no way to change what was. Like trying to take back words that had already been spoken."
~Chane, Sister of the Dead by Barb & J. C. Hendee, pg. 224

"It is unwise to dance with wishes unless you've the mettle for it. Wishing for what is not is a fast way to poison your heart."
~Inurian, Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley, pg. 82

"Faith is easy when you're standing in front of a miracle. The real test of faith is when there aren't any signs."
~Reilly, The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury, pg. 244

"You make a choice and it works out and you think it was the right one. But maybe you just got lucky. If you made that choice a second time, you might end up dead."
~Logan Tom, The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks, pg. 228

Watchmen, by Alan Moore

"The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!'... And I'll look down and whisper 'No.'"
~Rorschach, pg. 1 (Chapter/Issue 1)

"We do what we have to do. Others bury their heads between the swollen teats of indulgence and gratification, piglets squirming beneath a sow for shelter... But there is no shelter... And the future is bearing down like an express train."
~Rorschach, pg. 26 (Chapter/Issue 2)

"We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."
~Dr. Manhattan, pg. 5 (Chapter/Issue 9)

"Some of us have always lived on edge, Daniel. It is possible to survive there if you observe rules. Just hang on by fingernails... And never look down."
~Rorschach, pg. 5 (Chapter/Issue 10)

Battling the Beast Within, by David Williams

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, fabulous, and talented? Actually, who are you not to be all these things? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us. It is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people the permission to do the same."
~Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Address to the people of South Africa, 1994 [in the book]

"It's courage and character that make the difference between players and great players; between great surgeons the ones who bury their mistakes."
~Coach Pete Carril, pg. 107

"It is better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
~Carl Sagan, pg. 124

Waylander, by David Gemmell

"I recall a phrase the abbot used when I was a novitiate. He said 'When a fool sees himself as he is, then he is a fool no longer, and when a wise man learns of his own wisdom, then he becomes a fool.' This caused me great trouble, for it seemed mere wordplay. But after many years I have come to this conclusion: that only in certainity is there moral danger. Doubt is the gift we must cherish, for it forces us to question our motives constantly. It guides us to truth. I do not know if we chose wisely the path we now walk. I do not know if we are right in what we do. But we walk it in faith."
~Astila, pg. 262

The King Beyond the Gate, by David Gemmell

"How sad. Surely it is only with friends that one can e at peace."
"It is easier with strangers, fro they touch your life but for an instant. You will not disappoint them, for you owe them nothing; neither do they expect anything. Friends you can hurt, for they expect everything."
~Renya and Tenaka Khan, pg. 18

"This grimy little war is meaningless against the vast scope of human endeavor. Don't you think these mountains have seen it all before? Does it matter that we may all die tomorrow? Will the world spin any less fast? Will the stars shine any more brightly? In a hundred years not a man here today will still be alive. Will that matter?"
~Abaddon, pg. 125

"Evil lives in a pit. If you want to fight it, you must climb down in the slime to do so. White cloaks show the dirt more than black, and silver tarnishes."
~Decado "The Ice Killer", pg. 127

"Men were so stupid; they didn't understand the reality of life at all. Love was what mattered. Love of one for one. The touching of hands, the touching of hearts. The warmth of belonging, the joy of sharing. There would always be tyrants. Man seemed incapable of existing without them. For without tyrants there would be no heroes. And man could not live without heroes."
~Renya, pg. 195

"A man makes mistakes, but he lives by them. Foolish it may be on occasion, but in the main it is the only way to live. We are what we say only so long as our words are iron."
~Tenaka Khan, pg. 236

Legend, by David Gemmell

"And what is a man? He is someone who rises when life has knocked him down. He is 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. I have fought in many battles. I have seen many men die. And women too. In the main, they died proud. Bear this in mind as you decide your future."
~Druss the Legend, pg. 75

"Come the moment, come the man."
~Bowman, pg. 204

"Put it behind you, man! Who among us can change the past?"
~Hogun, pg. 259

Dark Prince, by David Gemmell

"When asked to move a mountain, do not look upon its size. Merely move the first rock."
~Xenophon

Sword in the Storm, by David Gemmell

"The awful truth about fighters, young man, is that they always believe they are the best. Indeed, it is that necessary confidence that drives them on, yet there is always someone better somewhere. That is the nature of the world of men."
~Brother Solstice, pg. 293

Midnight Falcon, by David Gemmell

"It is the nature of weak men to see their weaknesses as strengths and other men's strengths as weaknesses or stupidity."
~Morrigu, pg. 94

"A heroic action should never be judged on the basis of its success or failure, but on the heart, passion, and courage that inspired it."
~Ruathain, pg. 98

"Strong men achieved; lesser men failed and in failing would blame external forces for their failure. Luck was against them, or they were the victims of malicious sabotage from those envious of their skills. Regrets were only for the weak."
~Voltan, pg. 225

"The acquisition of power is not without risk."
~Jasaray, pg. 231

"Life without risk is no life at all."
~Jasaray, pg. 289

Lion of Macedon, by David Gemmell

"It is the nature of men to rise above others, impose his will on all."
~Parmenion, pg. 275

"I learned a long time ago never to give in to despair. Fortune may be fickle, but she loves a man who tries and tries again... Most men just react to circumstances, but thinkers create the circumstances."
~Parmenion, pg. 280

"You have a fine mind, but do not complain about life's unfairness. It is never fair--at best, it is impartial."
~Parmenion, pg. 384

Ravenheart, by David Gemmell

"He either fears his fate too much, or his desires are small, that dares not put it to the touch, to gain or lose it all."
~Gaise Macon, pg. 70

"Always listen to fear, Kaelin. Never be ruled by it. Fear is like a cowardly friend. His advice is not always wrong, but given the chance, he will drag you down into the pit he dwells in."
~Jaim Grymauch, pg. 201

"If you want to win the girl, you'll have to swallow your pride and say what needs to be said."
~Jaim Grymauch, pg. 240

Beyond UFOs, by Jeffrey Bennet

"It's possible to argue almost endlessly, as long as you there are no actual facts to get in the way."
~pg. 8

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
~Carl Sagan, pg. 24

"The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but if we never search, the chance of success is zero."
~Philip Morrison & Giuseppe Cocconi, pg. 186

Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch

"Surely you boys can do simple sums. One plus one equals don't fuck with me."
~Jean Tannen, pg. 41

"But your vault doors are guarded by gears, and gears are shaped by men. What one man locks another will sooner or later unlock."
"I say again, impossible."
"And I correct you again. Difficult. 'Difficult' and 'impossible' are cousins often mistaken for one another, with very little in common."
~Locke Lamora and Requin, pg. 69

"Know something? I'd lay even odds that between the people following us and the people hunting us, we've become this city's principle means of employment. Tal Verrar's entire economy is now based on fucking with us."
~Jean Tanne, pg. 205

"I am hard pressed on my right; my center is giving way; situation excellent. I am attacking."
~General Ferdinand Foch, pg. 465

"Only one way to win when you're being chased by someone bigger and tougher than you. Turn straight around, punch their teeth out, and hope the gods are fond of you."
~Captain Drakasha, pg. 494

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

"Enlightenment! When it comes, it comes like a brick to the head, doesn't it?"
~Father Chains, pg. 125

"When you don't know everything that you could know, it's a fine time to shut your fucking noisemaker and be polite."
~Father Chains, pg. 311

"When you see the Crooked Warden, tell him that Locke Lamora learns slowly, but he learns well."
~Locke Lamora, pg. 476

"Someday, Locke Lamora, someday you're going to fuck up so magnificently, so ambitiously, so overwhelmingly that they sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will shit comets with glee. And I just hope I'm still around to see it."
~Father Chains, pg. 708

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Ultimate Edition), by Douglas Adams

"We are now cruising at a level of two to the power of twenty-five thousand to one against and falling, and we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what normal is anyway."
~Heart of Gold computer, pg. 58

"Ford! There's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out!"
~Arthur, pg. 59

"All right... The Answer tot he Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is forty-two."
~Deep Thought, pg. 120

"The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate."
~Notice on wall, pg. 174

"The people of Krikkit are, well, you know, they're just a bunch of real sweet guys, you know, who just happen to want to kill everybody. Hell, I feel the same way some mornings."
~His High Judgmental Supremacy Judiciary Pag, L.I.V.R (the Learned, Impartial, and Very Relaxed) Chairman of the Board of Judges at the Krikkit War Crimes Trial, pg. 379

"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes."
~[Unknown], pg. 425

Arthur realized as he fell, giddily and sickeningly, that if he was going to hang around in the sky believing everything that the Italians had to say about physics when they couldn't even keep a simple tower straight, that they were in dead trouble, and he damn well did fall faster than Fenchurch.
~[Narrator], pg. 471

"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again. It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though."
~[Narrator], pg. 631-634

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
~Ford Prefect, pg. 719

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong does, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
~[Unknown], pg. 720

Talon of the Silver Hawk, by Raymond E. Feist

"Just remember that in most things, right or wrong depends on where you're standing at the moment."
~Caleb, pg. 113

"...Who can know what is real to a god?"
~Talon, pg. 144

Magnus fell silent for a moment, then he said, "The ways of the heart are complex." He looked out at the ocean again. "The waves churn and break upon the rocks, Talon. So do human feelings. Passion can be a man's undoing. With passion must come wisdom; otherwise, your enemies have a weapon to use against you."
~Magnus, pg. 149

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen: Toll the Hounds

"Explanations are ephemeral. They are the sword and shield of the attack, and behind them hides motivation. Explanations strive to find weakness, and from the exploitation of weakness comes compliance and the potential of absolute surrender."
~Andarist via Nimander, pg. 57

"A man who stirs awake the serpent is a man without fear. A man without fear has forgotten the rules of life."
~Rhivi saying, pg. 67

"'Tis the grand stupidity of our kind, dear Cutter, to see all the errors of our ways, yet find in ourselves the inability to do anything about them. We sit, dumbfounded by despair, and for all our ingenuity, our perceptivity, for all our extraordinary capacity to see the truth of things, we hunker down like snails in a flood, sucked tight to our precious pebble, fearing the moment is is dislodged beneath us. Until that terrible calamity, we do nothing but cling.
"Can you even imagine a world where all crimes are punished? Where justice is truly blind and holds out no hands happy to yield to the weight of coin and influence? Where one takes responsibility for his or her mistakes, acts of negligence, the deadly consequences of indifference or laziness? Nay, instead we slip and duck, dance and dodge, dance the dodge slip duck dance, feet ablur. Ourselves transformed into shadows that flit in chaotic discord. We are indeed masters of evasion--no doubt originally a survival trait, at least in the physical sense, but to have such instincts applied to the soul is perhaps our most egregious crime against morality. What we will do so that we may continue living with ourselves. In this we might assert that a survival trait can ultimately prove its own antithesis, and in the cancelling out thereof, why, we are left with the blank, dull, vacuous expression that Kruppe sees before him."
~Kruppe, pg. 578

"He leads. In the ways of leading, the ways the rest of us cannot--and can never--understand. I looked into his eyes and I saw such resolve that I could not speak. Absence of doubt? No, nothing so egotistic as that. Nimander has plenty of doubts, so many that he's lost his fear of them. He accepts them as easily as anything else. Is that the secret? Is that the very definition of greatness?"
~Skintick, pg. 662

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen: Reaper's Gale

"Do you expect everyone to speak plainly? Do you expect anyone to speak plainly? What sort of world do you in habit, Acquitor? Not the same as mine, that's for certain. For every word we speak, are there not a thousand left unsaid? Do we not often say one thing and mean the opposite? Woman, look at us--look at yourself. Our souls might as well be trapped inside a huanted keep. Sure, we built it--each of us--with our own hands, but we've forgotten half the rooms, we get lost int he corridors. We stumble into rooms of raging heat, then stagger back away, lest our own emotions roast us alive. Other places are cold as ice--as cold as this frozen land around us. Still others remain ever dark--no lantern will work, every candle dies as if starved of air, and we grope around, collide with unseen furniture, with walls. We loook out through the high windows, but distrust all that we see. We armor ourselves against unreal phantasms, yet shadows and whispers make us bleed."
~Udinaas, pg. 263

"When we must wait, our minds fill with sludge, random thoughts, like so much refuse. When we are driven to action, our current is swift, the water seemingly clear, cold, and sharp."
~Icarium, pg. 430

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen: The Bonehunters

"He had seen crystals growing up in a single night from the desert floor, facet after facet revelead like the petals of an opening flower, and it seemed to him that brutality behaved in a like manner. One incident leading to another, until a conflagration burgeoned, swallowing everyone in its path."
~Mappo Runt, pg. 69

"It's not 'know your enemy'. That's simplistic and facile. No, it's 'know your enemies'. There's a big difference, Apsalar, because one of your enemies could be the face in the silver mirror."
~Captain Ganoes Paran, pg. 175

"Compassion existed when and only when one could step outside oneself, to suddenly see the bars from inside the cage."
~Bottle, pg. 290

"There were times, Paran reflected, when a man could believe in nothing. No path taken could alter the future, and the future remained ever-unknown, even by the gods. Sensing those currents, the tumult that lay ahead, achieved little except the loss of restful sleep, and a growing suspicion that all his efforts to shape that future were naught but conceit."
~Captain Gaones Paran, pg. 302

"Modest Relevance. I would tell yo ua tale, brother. Early in the clan's history, many centuries past, there arose, like a breath of gas from the deep, a new cult. Chosen as its representative god was the most remote, most distant of gods among the pantheon. A god that spoke naught to any mortal, that intervened never in mortal affairs. Morbid. The leaders of the cult proclaimed themselves the voice of that god. They wrote down laws, prohibitions, ascribances, propitations, blasphemies, punishments for nonconformity, for dispute and derivations. This was but rumor, said details maintained in vague fugue, until such time as the cult achieved domination, and with domination, absolute power.
"Terrible enforcement, terrible crimes committed in the name of the silent god. Leaders came and went, each further twisting words already twisted by mundane ambition and the zeal for unity. Entire pools were poisoned. Others drained and the silts seeded with salt. Eggs were crushed. Mothers dismembered. And our people were plunged into a paradise of fear, the laws made manifest and spilled blood the tears of necessity. False regret with chilling gleam in the centre eye. No relief awaited, and each generation suffered more than the last."
"What happened?"
"Seven great warriors from seven clans set out to find the silent god, set out to see for themselves if this god had indeed blessed all that had come to pass in its name."
"And did they find the silent god?"
"Yes, and too, they found the reason for its silence. The god was dead. It had died with the first drop of blood spilled in its name."
"I see, and what is the relevance of this tale of yours, however modest?"
"Perhaps this. The existence of many gods conveys true complexity of mortal life. Conversely, the assertion of but one god leads to a denial of complexity, and encourages the need to make the world simple. Not the fault of the god, but a crime committed by its believers."
"If a god does not like what is done its name, then it should act."
"Yet, if each crime committed in its name weakens it... Very soon, I think, it has no power left and so cannot act, and so, ultimately, it dies."
"You come from a strange world, Greyfrog."
"Yes."
"I find your tale most disturbing."
"Yes."
~Greyfrog and L'oric, pg. 457

"Fanaticism breeds fanaticisim, aye. 'In proclamation, one defines his enemy for his enemy.'"
~Mappo Runt, quoting Kellanved, pg. 523

"Discipline is the greatest weapon against the self-righteous. We must measure the virtue of our own controlled response when answering the atrocities of fanatics. And yet, let it not be claimed, in our own oratory of piety, that we are without our own fanatics; for the self-righteous breed wherever tradition holds, and most often where there exists the perception that tradition is under assault. Fanatics can be created as easily in an environment of moral decay (whether real or imagined) as in an environment of legitimate inequity or under the banner of a common cause.
Discipline is as much facing the enemy within as the enemy before you; for without critical judgement, the weapon you wield delivers--and let us not by coy here--naught but murder.
And its first victim is the moral prbity of your cause."
~Mortal Sword Brukhalian's words to the Adherents, pg. 619

"It is useful, on occasion, to halt upon a path, and to turn and walk back some distance."
"Achieving what?"
"An understanding of motivations."
~Adjunct Tavore and Mallick Rel, pg. 727

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen: Midnight Tides

"Fallen. Who tracks our footsteps, I wonder? We who are the forgotten, the discounted, and the ignored. When the path is failure, it is never willingly taken. The fallen. Why does my heart weep for them? Not them but us, for most assuredly I am counted among them. Slaves, serfs, nameless peasants and labourers, the blurred faces in the crowd. Just a smear on memory, a scuffing of feet down the side passages of history.
"Can one stop, can one turn and force one's eyes to pierce the gloom? And see the fallen? Can one ever see the fallen? And if so, what emotion is born in that moment?"
[There were tears on his cheeks, dripping down onto hsi chafed hands. He knew the answer to that question, knife-sharp and driven deep, and the answer was... recognition.]
~Udinaas, pg. 183

"Destiny is a lie. Destiny is a justification for atrocity. It is the means by which murderes armor themselves against reprimand. It is a word intended to stand in place of ethics, denying all moral context."
~Seren Pedac, pg. 489

"What the soul can house, flesh cannot fathom."
~Imarak (First Destriant), pg. 497

"The Kenryll'ah have ruled a long time, Trull Sengar. And have grown weak with complacency. They cannot see their impending demise. It is always the way of things, such blindness. No matter how long and perfect the succession of fallen empires and civilizations so clearly writ into the past, the belief remains that one's own shall live forever, and is not subject to the indomitable rules of dissolution that bind all nature. I am a caster of nets. Tyrants and emperors rise and fall. Civilizations burgeon then die, but there are always casters of nets. And tillers of soil, and herders in pastures. We are where civilization begins, and when it ends, we are there to begin it again."
~Lilac, pg. 509

"Madmen built houses of solid stone. Then circled looking for a way inside. Inside, where cosy perfection waited. People and schemes and outright lies barred his every effort, and that was the heart of the conspiracy. From outside, after all, the house looked real. Therefore it was real. Just a little more clawing at the stone door, a little more battering, one more pounding collision will burst that barrier. And on and on and round and round. The worn ruts of madness."
~Udinaas, pg. 576

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen: House of Chains

"There's little value in seeking to find reasons for why people do what they do, or feel the way they feel. Hatred is a most pernicious weed, finding root in any kind of soil. It feeds on itself."
"With words."
"Indeed, with words. Form an opinion, say it often enough and pretty soon everyone's saying it right back at you, and then it becomes a conviction, fed by unreasoning anger and defended with weapons of fear. At which point, words become useless..."
~Torvald and Karsa, pg. 157

"You must act soon, you know. You have choices to make. Hesitate too long and they will be made for you, to your regret."
~Felisin Younger, pg. 470

"Flesh may not lie, but the spirit can, Bonecaster."
~Trull Sengar, pg. 569

"Innocence is a virtue, lass, when it is temporary. You must pass from it to look back and recognize its unsullied purity. To remain innocent is to twist beneath invisible and unfathomable forces all your life, until one day you realize that you no longer recognize yourself, and it comes to you that innocence was a curse that had shackled you, stunted your, defeated your every expression of living."
"But, Cotillion, it is knowledge that makes one aware of his or her own chains."
"Knowledge only makes the eyes see what was there all along, Apsalar."
~Cotillion and Apsalar, pg. 575

"It concerns nature... and the exigency of maintaining balance. Pressures and forces are ever in opposition. And the striving is ever towards a balance. This is beyolnd the gods, of course--it is a current of existence--but no, beyond even that, for existence itself is opposed by oblivion. It is a struggle that encompases all, that defines every island in the Abyss. Or so I now believe. Life is answered by death. Dark by light. Overwhelming success by catastrophic failure. Horrific curse by breathtaking blessing. It seems the inclination of all people to lose sight of that truth, particularly when blinded by triumph upon triumph. See before me, if you will, this small fire. A modest victory. But if I feed it, my own eagerdelight is answered, until this entire plain is aflame, then the forest, then the world itself. Thus, an assertion of wisdom here... in the quenching of these flames once this meat is cooked. After all, igniting this entire world wil also kill everything in it, if not in flames then in subsequent starvation. Do you see my point, Monok Ochem?"
"I do not, Trull Sengar. This prefaces nothing."
"You are wrong, Monok Ochem. It prefaces... Everything." (Onrack)
[Trull Sengar glanced over, and answered with a smile of sadness overwhelming. Of utter... despair.]
~Trull Sengar, Monok Ochem, Onrack the Broken, pg. 873

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, Memories of Ice

"I hold no sympathy for tools. Do you weep for your dagger when it breaks in someone's back?"
"That depends on if it killed the bastard or just made him made."
~Bauchelain and Quick Ben, pg. 576

"Of all the weapons we turn upon ourselves, guilt is the sharpest, Silverfox. It can carve one's own past into unrecognizable shapes, false memories, leading to beliefs that sow all kinds of obsessions."
Captain Ganoes Paran, pg. 677

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, Deadhouse Gates

"We stretch to meet each minor goal, there's a genius in this. Coltaine offers the marginally possible to fool us in achieving the impossible."
~Duiker, pg. 310

"Names to faces are like twinned serpents threatening the most painful bite of all. I'll never return to the List of the Fallen, because I see now that the unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier--dead, melted wax--demands a response among the living... A response no one can make. Names are no comfort, they're a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous--as if cursed--while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold?"
~Duiker, pg. 353

"Name none of the fallen, for they stand in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living."
~Duiker, pg. 353

"Show me a mortal who is not pursued, and I'll show you a corpse. Every hunter is hunted, every mind that knows itself has stalkers. We drive and are driven. The unknown pursues the ignorant, the truth assails every scholar wise enough to know his own ignorance, for that is the meaning of unknowable truths."
~Heboric, pg. 370

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And, indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again."
~Fiddler, pg. 558

"It's our nature, isn't it? Again and again, we cling to the foolish belief taht simple solutions exist."
~Kalam Mekhar, pg. 580

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, Gardens of the Moon

"Out of your depth, Captain? Don't worry, every damn person here's out of their depth. Some know it, some don't. It's the ones who don't you got to worry about. Start with what's right inf ront of you and forget the rest for now. It'll show up in its own time."
~Toc the Younger, pg. 109

"Shall Kruppe accept this challenge, then? What are gods, after all, if not the perfect victims?"
~Kruppe, pg. 165

"Ah, but, Kruppe, Gifts are not easily attained, nor are Virtues, nor are Doubts easily overcome, and Hungers are ever the impetus to climbing."
"Kruppe is too clever by far."
~Kruppe's Dream, pg. 166

"Should you ever outrun the guilt within your past, Sorceress, you will have outrun your soul. When it finds you again, it will kill you."
~Nameless old veteran to Tattersail, pg. 292

"When the time for action comes, all doubts must be discarded."
~An old Claw tenet, pg. 530