Quotes from The First Law Trilogy

Joe Abercrombie ·  1600 pages

Rating: (6.3K votes)


“Doing better next time. That’s what life is.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“A few glasses of wine can be the difference between finding a man a hilarious companion or an insufferable moron.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“But some things have to be done. It’s better to do them, than to live with the fear of them.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“lies. The hardest kind to see through. The kind you tell yourself.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“Come,” he whispered. They all were welcome.
They scattered for the racks, seizing their spiked swords, and their sharp axes, and the Bloody-Nine laughed to watch them. Armed or not, their death was a thing already decided. It was written into the cavern in lines of fire and lines of shadow. Now he would write it in lines of blood. “Die!” he roared, and the blade made circles, savage and beautiful, the letter on the metal burning red and leaving bright trails behind. And where the circles passed everything would be made right. The Shanka would scream and gibber, and the pieces of them would scatter, and they would be sliced and divided as neatly as meat on the butcher’s block
The Bloody-Nine showed his teeth, and smiled to be free, and to see the good work done so well. He knocked a barbed sword from a Flathead’s hand, seized it by the scruff of the neck and forced its face down into the channel where the molten steel flowed, furious yellow, and its head hissed and bubbled, shooting out stinking steam.
“Burn!” laughed the Bloody-Nine, and the ruined corpses, and their gaping wounds, and their fallen weapons, and the boiling bright iron laughed with him.
Only the Shanka did not laugh. They knew their hour was come.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy



“More often than not bad luck meant bad plans.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“Sand dan Glokta, shield to the helpless. Is it ever too late to be . . . a good man?”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“The blade itself incites to deeds of violence’ Homer”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“There are few ills a good cup of tea won’t help with.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“He had discovered early in his military career that if one has an effective and experienced officer above, coupled with effective and experienced soldiers below, one need do, and know, nothing.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy



“Nothing to it. You treat folk the way you’d want to be treated, and you can’t go far wrong.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“The best lessons one teaches oneself.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“Perhaps we’ll have some answers, at least, before the end. I always dreamed of dying well-informed.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“You don’t pick your family, you take what you’re given and you make the best of it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


“She tipped back her head and swilled down the last of her wine. ‘Having fucked the groom is really no excuse for missing a wedding, you know.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy



“Anyone can face ease and success with confidence. It is the way we face trouble and misfortune that defines us. Self-pity goes with selfishness, and there is nothing more to be deplored in a leader than that. Selfishness belongs to children, and to halfwits. A great leader puts others before himself. You would be surprised how acting so makes it easier to bear one’s own troubles. In order to act like a king, one need only treat everyone else like one.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from The First Law Trilogy


About the author

Joe Abercrombie
Born place: in Lancaster, England, The United Kingdom
Born date December 31, 1974
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Those who know do not talk And talkers do not know.”—Tao Te Ching”
― Ram Dass, quote from Be Here Now


“Η αλήθεια όμως είναι ότι δεν είχα καταλάβει πόση δύναμη έκρυβε μέσα της. Και αφού η εκτίμησή μου για κείνη ήταν τόσο λανθασμένη, αναρωτιέμαι τώρα πόσο συχνά και η εκτίμησή μου για τον εαυτό μου ήταν τελείως λάθος. Και πόσο λανθασμένη μπορεί να ήταν η δική της εκτίμηση για τη μητέρα της, και η δική του για τον πατέρα του· σε τι βαθμό, τελικά, η οικογενειακή ζωή είναι ένα πελώριο πλέγμα παρεξηγήσεων, μια χρωματισμένη και ρετουσαρισμένη οικογενειακή φωτογραφία, μια ακριβής αναπαράσταση γεγονότων της ζωής που το μόνο που δεν περιλαμβάνει είναι η ουσιαστική αλήθεια.”
― Anna Quindlen, quote from One True Thing


“Grigsby had looked at him askance. “Why is it,” he said, “that I have the distinct impression you’re not surprised by this news?”
‘Surprised by the fact that the reverend is first and foremost a human being? Surprised by the fact that every human being, reverend or ribald, can be undone by capricious circumstances? Or should
I be surprised by the fact that a man who teaches love and forgiveness can love and forgive? Tell me, Marmy, exactly what it is I should be surprised at?”
― Robert R. McCammon, quote from The Queen of Bedlam


“Alex said, his voice subdued, tense. “So it would seem,” D.D.”
― Lisa Gardner, quote from Live to Tell


“He didn't respond for several seconds. Then he said, "You see things... sometimes you see things that make you think the rest of your life is impossible. Just seeing them damages you so much, you think, I cannot go on being human."
Marijke wrapped her fingers over his clenched fist. He didn't look at her.
"I keep thinking about the Germans in the firing squad. Killing and then killing again and again, looking at the faces... How? How did they do that? I can't... I can't even imagine. But, the thing is, if you took one of those men and stripped away the uniform, and sat him next to me, how different would we be? Would you be able to see murder on his skin? Smell murder on his breath? And not on mine?”
― Mal Peet, quote from Tamar


Interesting books

Lover Enshrined
(96.2K)
Lover Enshrined
by J.R. Ward
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
(82.5K)
Saving the World and...
by James Patterson
Cry Wolf
(74.6K)
Cry Wolf
by Patricia Briggs
Awakened
(112K)
Awakened
by P.C. Cast
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
(164.5K)
The Short Second Lif...
by Stephenie Meyer
Holy Bible: King James Version
(181.7K)

About BookQuoters

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.