“What will you do now?'
I think I will become a monk and devote my entire life to prayer and good works.'
No,' said Rek. 'I mean, what will you do today?'
Ah! Today I'll get drunk and go whoring,' said Bowman.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highest
heroism”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Why now? Why not? Live or die, a man and a woman need love. There is a need in the race. We need to share. To belong. Perhaps you will die before the year is out. But remember this: to have may be taken from you, to have had never. Far better to have tasted love before dying, than to die alone.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil. Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not be evil. Evil must be fought wherever it is found.”The Iron Code”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“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 present scheme of things: peasant, serf, or dispossessed. But he is unconquerable”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Today I could like anybody," said Rek, smiling. "The sky is clear, the wind is fresh, and life tastes very fine. What will you do now?"
"I think I will become a monk and devote my entire life to prayer and good works."
"No," said Rek. "I mean, what will you do today?"
"Ah! Today I'll get drunk and go whoring," said Bowman.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“I shall die soon ... Here at this Dros. And what will I have achieved in my life? I have no sons nor daughters. No living kin... Few friends. They will say, 'Here lies Druss. He killed many and birthed none'."
"They will say more than that," said Virae suddenly. "They'll say, 'Here lies Druss the Legend, who was never mean, petty nor needlessly cruel. Here was a man who never gave in, never compromised his ideals, never betrayed a friend, never despoiled a woman and never used his strength against the weak.' They'll say 'He had no sons, but many a woman asleep with her babes slept more soundly for knowing Druss stood with the Drenai.' They'll say many things, whitebeard. Through many generations they will say them, and men with no strength will find strength when they hear them."
"That would be pleasant," said the old man, smiling.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Get rid of your doubts. Yesterday is dead. Past mistakes are like smoke in the breeze.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“All things that live must die. Man alone it seems lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on – otherwise he is useless. For most men, that purpose revolves around marriage and children who will carry on his seed. For others it is an ideal – a dream, if you like. Each of us here believes in a concept of honor: that it is a man’s duty to do that which is right and just; that might alone is not enough. We have all transgressed at some time. We have stolen, lied, cheated – even killed – for our own ends. But ultimately we return to our beliefs. We judge ourselves more harshly than others can judge us. We know that death is preferable to betrayal of that which we hold dear.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Only a fool loves war,” said Calvar, “or a man who has never seen it. The trouble is that the survivors forget about the horrors and remember only the battle lust. They pass on that memory, and other men hunger for it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“In any broth, the scum [politicians] always rises to the top.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“My dear Hogun, when a woman is beautiful, she comes to expect a certain—how shall I say?—a certain reverence from men. You should have had the good grace to be thunderstruck by her beauty. Stunned into silence or, better still, into a babbling fool. Then she would have merely ignored you and answered your devotion with arrogant disdain. Now you have slighted her, and she will hate you. Worse than this, she will do all in her power to win your heart.” “I don’t think that makes a great deal of sense. Why should she try to win my heart if she hates me?” “So that she can be in a position to treat you with disdain. Do you know nothing about women?”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“A problem shared is a problem doubled,”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“War.
Such a little word, such a depth of agony. Blood, death, conquest, starvation, plague, and horror.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“I have found in my life, Rek, that there are a few actions which are unforgivable. And certainly there are no words said that carry such a penalty. It is a man’s lot, I fear, to strike out when he has suffered hurt.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“A man needs many things in his life to make it bearable. A good woman. Sons and daughters. Comradeship. Warmth. Food and shelter. But above all these things, he needs to be able to know that he is a man.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“We study," said Serbitar. "And we train, and we plant flowers and raise horses. Our time is well occupied, I can assure you."
"No wonder you want to go away and die somewhere," said Rek with feeling.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Paunch? I've a curved spine. Anyway, It's relaxed muscle." He looked down. "All right, it's a paunch. A few more days of this and it will go.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on—otherwise he is useless. “For most men that purpose revolves around marriage and children”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
“Live or die, a man and a woman need love. There is a need in the race. We need to share. To belong.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Legend
David Gemmell
Born place: in London, England, The United Kingdom
Born date August 1, 1948
See more on GoodReads
“Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other.”
― Ann Voskamp, quote from One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
“People always stay the age that they died at. My big brother died of leukemia when I was six. He was eight. Now when I think of him, he's always eight, and he's still my big brother. He never changes, and the part of me that remembers him never changes.”
― Christopher Moore, quote from Bloodsucking Fiends
“Suddenly, it occurred to me that my feelings towards the little man were distinctly maternal. Good God, I thought, how utterly revolting, and I turned my mind firmly to the problem at hand.”
― Laurie R. King, quote from A Letter of Mary
“When we reached the bus-stop we were a long way behind in the queue and when the bus came it took only half a dozen people. I noticed a group of priests looking down on us from the upper deck and I felt that somehow the Pope and his Dogmas had triumphed after all.”
― Barbara Pym, quote from Excellent Women
“Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.”
― Dean Koontz, quote from False Memory
Gregor and the Curse...
Life and Fate
Case Histories
The Importance of Be...
Capital, Vol 1: A Cr...
The Monkey Wrench Ga...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
