“The purpose of debates is to explore issues, not end them.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“You do not convince me. You rationalize your actions and because the result is favorable you become right.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Love is not about conquest. The truth is a man can only find true love when he surrenders to it. When he opens his heart to the partner of his soul and says: "Here it is! The very essence of me! It is yours to nurture or destroy.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Odysseus draped the towel over his shoulders and stretched his back. "You remember practicing with wooden swords? All the moves, the blocks, the counters, getting your footwork right, learning how to be in balance always?"
"Of course you were a hard master."
"And you recall the first time you went into a real fight, with blood being shed and the fear of death in the air?"
"I do"
"The moves are the same, but the difference is wider than the Great Green. Love is like that, Helikaon. You can spend time with a whore and laugh and know great pleasure. But when love strikes--- ah, the difference is awesome. You will find more joy in the touch of a hand or the sight of a smile than you could ever experience in a hundred nights of passion with anyone else. The sky will be more blue, the sun more bright. Ah, I am missing my Penelope tonight”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“We make choices everyday, some of them good, some of them bad. And if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences. To be truthful I am not entirely sure what people mean when they talk of happiness. There are moments of joy and laughter, the comfort of friendship, but enduring happiness? If it exists I have not discovered it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Danger lies in the extreme. A man who is always cruel is evil, a man who is always compassionate will be taken advantage of. It is more a question of balance, or harmony, if you will.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“A great man once told me there can be no courage without fear”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“We cannot hide behind high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Listen...You could spend a lifetime trying to understand the works of evil men. Their joys are not ours. They love to inflict pain, create suffering, cause harm and death. It empowers them, for beneath the skin they are empty and worthless.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Never liked Kolanos. Was at a feast with him one time. Never heard him fart at all. Can't trust a man who doesn't fart at a feast.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Our lives are spent sailing in the mist, hoping for a burst of sunlight that can make sense of who we are.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Love requires a different kind of courage, Andromache.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“In every one of us is the total of all we have ever been, the sullen child, the arrogant youth, the suckling babe. Every fear endured in childhood is lodged somewhere in here.' He tapped his temple. 'And every act of heroism or cowardice, generosity or meanness of spirit.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“War is the enemy of civilization. We cannot grow through war, Xander. It drags us down, filling our hearts with hatred and thoughts of revenge.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“One day the enemy will cross the Great Green. They will bring war and tragedy to these eastern lands. Such is the nature of vile men. Yet we cannot live in dread of them. We cannot hide behind these high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Be lucky, Xander, and be brave. You will find that bravery and luck are often bedfellows.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“You can buy gold that is bright as the sun and diamonds as pale as the moon. But you cannot buy the sun. You cannot own the moon.” II”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“My happiness is not in the gift of others. I will be happy or I will not be happy. No man will supply it or deprive me of it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“I know the difference between heroes and cowards. You are a hero. You believe me?’ ‘I don’t feel like a hero,’ Xander admitted. Odysseus tapped the cheekbone under his right eye. ‘This eye is magical, Xander. It is never wrong. Now, I ask again, do you believe me?’ ‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ ‘Then tell me what you are.’ ‘I am a hero.’ ‘Good. When doubt comes, as it always does, remember those words. Say them to yourself. And I will see you again in the spring, if the gods will it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“I hold on to my adopted shore, chanting private vows: wherever I am, let me never forget to distinguish want from need. Let me be a good animal today. Let me dance in the waves of my private tide, the habits of survival and love.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from High Tide in Tucson
“Reaching into his pocket, he took out the amulet Isis had given him the night before, slipped it over Eve's neck.
"What's this for?"
"It looks better on you than me."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Bull. You're being superstitious."
"No, I'm not," he lied and set her plate in with his before he shifted and began to unbutton her shirt.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Passing the time." His hands, clever and quick, swooped down to take her breasts. "It'll take an hour to get there by car."
"I'm not having sex in the back of a limo," she told him. "It's -- "
"Delicious," he finished and replaced his hands with his mouth.”
― J.D. Robb, quote from Ceremony in Death
“There cannot be any hard and fast rules. But there can be suggestions and useful analogies. The most useful, to my mind, is that of the difference between the English and French judicial systems. In England (and America), the task of the court in criminal cases, which it devolves upon a jury, is to arrive at a verdict of ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ on the evidence presented by prosecuting and defending counsel in turns. Trials are conflicts and verdicts are decisions; the two sides ‘win’ or ‘lose’. In France, and other countries which observe Roman Law, the task of the court in a criminal case is to arrive at the truth, as far as it can be perceived by human eyes, and the business of establishing the outlines of the truth falls not on a jury, which is strictly asked to enter a judgement, but upon a juge d’instruction. This officer of the court, unknown to English law, is accorded very wide powers of interrogation–of the suspect, his family, his associates–and of investigation–of the circumstances and scene of the crime–at which the suspect is often required to participate in a reconstruction. Only when the juge is satisfied that a crime has indeed occurred and that the suspect is responsible will he allow the case to go forward for prosecution. The character of these two different legal approaches is usually defined as ‘accusatorial’ (English) and ‘inquisitorial’ (French) respectively.”
― John Keegan, quote from The Face Of Battle: A Study Of Agincourt, Waterloo And The Somme
“it’s about doing the job you’ve trained your ass off to be good at, taking care of the guys to your left and right, and coming out the other side with all your fingers and toes.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Dead or Alive
“Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.”
― Molière, quote from Tartuffe
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.
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