242 Quotes by David Gemmell

All wars are started by angry old men, but they are fought by young men who die for reasons that are beyond them. In the end, the same old men sit around tables and the war ends. Nothing is achieved. Nothing is gained. New faces move into old castles, and the sons of the dead build families ready to feed new battleground graveyards.

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 word play. But after many years I have come to this conclusion: that only in certainty 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.

No one ever gets out of this life alive.

I think maybe it is better to believe than not to believe. But I couldn’t tell you why.

Nothing would ever have been achieved, he thought, if men had allowed themselves to be diverted by the scale of the problems faced.

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.

A great man once told me there can be no courage without fear,” Helikaon said. “He was right. Remember that when your belly trembles and your legs grow weak.

An enemy is like a man’s most prized flower. It brings him joy to see it buried in the ground.

It is the nature of men to build walls around themselves. They think it will protect them from hurt. It does the opposite. The hurt still gets in, but now it rattles around the walls, unable to get out. So you build more walls. You are now seeing the world without walls. You are free, Ro. Free to hurt and free to heal.