Quotes from The Last Wish

Andrzej Sapkowski ·  384 pages

Rating: (65.7K votes)


“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“I manage because I have to. Because I've no other way out. Because I've overcome the vanity and pride of being different, I've understood that they are a pitiful defense against being different. Because I've understood that the sun shines differently when something changes. The sun shines differently, but it will continue to shine, and jumping at it with a hoe isn't going to do anything.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“People”—Geralt turned his head—“like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Świat się zmienia, słońce zachodzi, a wódka się kończy.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish



“A mother, you son-of-a-bitch, is sacred!”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Only Evil and Greater Evil exist and beyond them, in the shadows, lurks True Evil. True Evil, Geralt, is something you can barely imagine, even if you believe nothing can still surprise you. And sometimes True Evil seizes you by the throat and demands that you choose between it and another, slightly lesser, Evil.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Evil is evil, Stregobor,” said the witcher seriously as he got up. “Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I’m not a pious hermit. I haven't done only good in my life. But if I’m to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“They weren't lying. They firmly believed it all. Which doesn't change the facts.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“I need this conversation. They say silence is golden. Maybe it is, although I'm not sure it's worth that much. It has its price certainly; you have to pay for it.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish



“Nonsense," said the witcher. "And what's more, it doesn't rhyme. All decent predictions rhyme.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“There's a grain of truth in every fairy tale,”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“I don't believe in Melitele, don't believe in the existence of other gods either, but I respect your choice, your sacrifice. Your belief. Because your faith and sacrifice, the price you're paying for your silence, will make you better, a greater being. Or, at least, it could. But my faithlessness can do nothing. It's powerless.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“No. I’ve no time to waste. Winter’s coming.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“As usual, cats and children noticed him first.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish



“All around, everywhere you look, is dullness and uncertainty. Even something born of beauty soon leads to boredom and banality, commonplace, the human ritual, the tedious rhythm of life.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“(...) Ale, między nami, nie rób przy niej tego, co ostatnim razem, podczas kolacji.
- Idzie ci o to, że rzuciłem widelcem w szczura?
- Nie. Idzie mi o to, że trafiłeś, chociaż było ciemno.
- Myślałem, że to będzie zabawne.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Destiny has many faces. Mine is beautiful on the outside and hideous on the inside. She has stretched her bloody talons toward me—”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“They say silence is golden. Maybe it is, although I’m not sure it's worth that much. It has its price certainly; you have to pay for it.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Make use of the opportunity to have a bath yourself. I can not only guess the age and breed of your horse, but also its color, by the smell.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish



“The Witcher had a knife to his throat. He was wallowing in a wooden tub, brimfull with soapsuds, his head thrown agains the slippery rim. The bitter taste of soap lingered in his mouth as the knife, blunt as a doorknob, scraped his Adam's apple painfully and moved towards his chin with a grating sound.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Aridea quite often turned to the Mirror—’ ‘With the usual question, I take it,’ interrupted Geralt. ‘“Who is the fairest of them all?” I know; all Nehalenia’s Mirrors are either polite or broken.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Listen, Geralt—"

"No. You won't win me over with your reasons nor convince me that Eltibad wasn't a murdering madman, so let's get back to the monster threatening you. You'd better understand that, after the introduction you've given me, I don't like the story. But I'll hear you out."

"Without interrupting with spiteful comments?"

"That I can't promise.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Then, four years later I received news from Aridea. She’d tracked down the little one, who was living in Mahakam with seven gnomes whom she’d managed to convince it was more profitable to rob merchants on the roads than to pollute their lungs with dust from the mines.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish



“I thought I was choosing the lesser evil. I chose the lesser evil. Lesser evil! I’m Geralt! Witcher…I’m the Butcher of Blaviken—”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“During his life, the witcher had met thieves who looked like town councilors, councilors who looked like beggars, harlots who looked like princesses, princesses who looked like calving cows and kings who looked like thieves. But Stregobor always looked as, according to every rule and notion, a wizard should look. He was tall, thin and stooping, with enormous bushy gray eyebrows and a long, crooked nose. To top it off, he wore a black, trailing robe with improbably wide sleeves, and wielded a long staff capped with a crystal knob.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Don’t be embarrassed,’ she said, throwing an armful of clothing on the hook. ‘I don’t faint at the sight of a naked man. Triss Merigold, a friend, says if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


“Jeśli dobrze rozumiem - powiedział - mam stanąć do pojedynku, bo jeżeli odmówię, to mnie powieszą. Jeśli będę walczył, to mam pozwolić, by przeciwnik mnie okaleczył, bo jeśli ja go zranię, to mnie połamią kołem. Same radosne alternatywy. A może zaoszczędzić wam kłopotów? Huknę głową o pień sosny i sam się obezwładnię.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, quote from The Last Wish


About the author

Andrzej Sapkowski
Born place: in Łódź, Poland
Born date June 21, 1948
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