844 Quotes by George R. R. Martin

My characters who come back from death are worse for wear. In some ways, they're not even the same characters anymore. The body may be moving, but some aspect of the spirit is changed or transformed, and they've lost something.

An artist has an obligation to tell the truth. [...] that the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves. We are the monsters. (And the heroes too). Each of us has within himself the capacity for great good, and great evil.

Art is not a democracy. People don't get to vote on how it ends.

What could he have done, one man against so many?" He could have tried, Brienne thought.

Only lies offend me, never honest counsel.

Why do the Gods make kings and queens if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?

I am surrounded by flatterers and fools. It can drive a man to madness,.. . Half of them don’t dare tell me the truth, and the other half can’t find it.

I never liked Gandalf the White as much as Gandalf the Grey, and I never liked him coming back. I think it would have been an even stronger story if Tolkien had left him dead.

Men are men, vows are words, and words are wind.