844 Quotes by George R. R. Martin

The gods made the earth for all men t' share. Only when the kings come with their crowns and steel swords, they claimed it was all theirs. "My trees," they said, "you can't eat them apples. My stream, you can't fish here. My wood, you're not t' hunt. My earth, my water, my castle, my daughter, keep your hands away or I'll chop 'em off, but maybe if you kneel t' me I'll let you have a sniff." You call us thieves, but at least a thief has t' be brave and clever and quick. A kneeler only has t' kneel.

You don't just have people who wake up in the morning and say, "What evil things can I do today, because I'm Mr. Evil?" People do things for what they think are justified reasons. Everybody is the hero of their own story, and you have to keep that in mind. If you read a lot of history, as I do, even the worst and most monstrous people thought they were the good guys. We're all very tangled knots.

Prince Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna, and thousands died for it.

He understood the way that you could sometimes fall right into them, as if each page was a hole into another world.

Is it treason to say the truth? A bitter truth, but no less true for that.

Some doors are best left closed.

The most important thing for any aspiring writer, is to read! And not just the sort of thing you're trying to write, be that fantasy, SF, comic books, whatever. You need to read everything.

If you would wed, wed. If not, take your pleasure where you find it. There's little enough of it in this world." - Oberyn

They will not love me, you say? When have they ever loved me? How can I lose something I have never owned? - Stannis