David Gemmell Quotes

Nothing of real worth can ever be bought. Love, friendship, honour, valour, respect. All these things have to be earned.

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people seek it.

Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior that is inside you hears your words and is lessened by them.

A warrior feeds his body well; he trains it; works on it. Where he lacks knowledge, he studies. But above all he must believe. He must believe in his strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul.

May all your dreams but one come true, for what is life without a dream?

There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion.

We make choices everyday, some of them good, some of them bad. And - if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences.

I may be stupid, as you say, to believe in honour and friendship and loyalty without price. But these are virtues to be cherished, for without them we are no more than beasts roaming the land.

Fear is an aid to the warrior. It is a small fire burning. It heats the muscles, making us stronger. Panic comes when the fire is out of control, consuming all courage and pride.

A man with wife and daughters has no place losing his temper.

A man should be free to do what he wants to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others.

I underestimated you, woman." ... "The cry of men down the ages.

I don't give a damn, laddie. Until the actual moment, when they cut me down, I shall still be looking to win. And the gods of war are fickle at best.

I make little distinction between those who commit evil and those who stand by and do nothing.

Evil lives in a pit. If you want to fight it, you must climb down into the slime to do so. White cloaks show the dirt more thank black, and silver tarnishes.

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something.

Trust your instincts, and make judgements on what your heart tells you. The heart will not betray you.

Every little bit of good I may do, let me do it now for I may not come this way again.

Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple.

I caught a pebble in the moonlight.

Some people have a gift for stupidity, an almost mystic ability to withstand any form of logic.

A man's strength is ultimately born of his knowledge of his own weakness.

Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they'll make you king.

Nothing in life is sure, my son. Except the promise of death.

A warrior...must believe in his strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul.

'Do not expect help.' 'One should always hope.' 'Then hope for a handsome savage with kindly ways.'

Foolish: It's all foolish. Life is a farce a stupid, sickening farce played out by fools.

Be at peace, my friend. One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.

I don't know yet whether I fully believe in fate, but certain things do happen in a man's life that he cannot explain.

She was his north star, the fixed point round which his world turned. For as long as his heart beat, or hers, he believed they would always share a destiny.

A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.

It would be a fine thing if war could be conducted as a game where no lives were lost. At the end of a battle combatants could meet [...] and drink and talk.

Men don't change. They just learn to disguise the lack of change.

It's a funny thing about weaknesses....Most people will tell you they know their weaknesses. When asked, they'll tell you, 'Well for one thing, I'm overgenerous.' ... that's what innkeepers are for.

In my experience all women deserve someone better.

There is evil in all of us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.

Do not complain of life's unfairness. It is never fair - at best it is impartial.

If there is one sound the follows the march of humanity, it is the scream.

I was a man before I was a king, and no true man walks away when a friend needs him.

Love is both wondrous and yet full of peril. Love is a gateway through which hatred - disguised and unrecognized - can pass.

We are full of dreams [...] We long for the unattainable. We believe in the nonsense of fables. There is no pure love; there is lust and there is need.

Life is nothing unless death has been faced down.

The night has a capacity for terror that the day can never match.

What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?

Plan for the worst, expect the best.

No matter how impossible this war, I shall fight to win. Whatever I have to do, I will do.

Miracles are merely events that happen just when they are needed.

Most wars are fought for greed, but we are luckier here we fight for our lives and the lives of the people we love.

There are times, Sember, when I could believe your mother had a secret lover. Looking at you makes me wonder if it was one of my goats.

Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have.