A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

The snail may leave a trail of slime behind him, but a little slime will do a man no harm, while if you dance with dragons, you must expect to burn.

A great battle is a terrible thing," the old knight said, "but in the midst of blood and carnage, there is sometimes also beauty, beauty that could break your heart.

all men are fools, and all men are knights, where women are concerned.

And the crow once called the raven black.

Never refuse a cup of wine or a horn of ale,” Ser Arlan had once told him, “it may be a year before you see another.

Some words are wind, ser. Some are treason.

Pain was as much a part of knighthood as were swords and shields.

Why give a horse to a man who cannot ride?

Oak and iron, guard me well, or else I'm dead, and doomed to hell.

Hard things only grow harder if you put them off.

The sword was not the kingdom, he says.

Reading books by candlelight will make you blind." "I need the candlelight to see the words, ser." "Do you want a clout in the ear?

Even a hedge knight has his honor.

Trueborn children are made in a marriage bed and blessed by the Father and the Mother, but bastards are born of lust and weakness.

Sometimes it seemed as though he’d thumped his head on half the doors in Westeros, not to mention every beam in every inn from Dorne up to the Neck.

Every boy dreams of serving in the Kingsguard.

All men are fools, and all men are knights where women are concerned.

Better a beggar than a thief.

Is that gallantry I smell, or just stupidity? The two scents are much alike, as I recall.

I dreamed of you and a dead dragon, Egg's brother Daeron said to him. A great beast, huge, with wings so large they could cover this meadow. It had fallen on top of you, but you were alive and the dragon was dead. And so he was, poor Baelor. Dreams were a treacherous ground on which to build.

But peasant's pride is lordling's shame.

Three good men dead, to save a hedge knight's foot.

May the Warrior grant me a smooth course and a quick victory.

One foe at a time, that was what the old man always said.

Good armor and a good horse means a good ransom if I unseat him.

We are one. Man, horse, lance, we are one beast of blood and wood and iron.

Would you rather die with honor intact or live with it besmirched?

I know that eggs do well to stay out of frying pans.

The summers have been shorter since the last dragon died, and the winters longer and crueler.