Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course. Steven Erikson More Quotes by Steven Erikson More Quotes From Steven Erikson The only death I fear is dying ignorant. Steven Erikson ignorant dying Ah, Fist, it’s the curse of history that those who should read them, never do. Steven Erikson curse fists should Evil is nothing but a word, an objectification where no objectification is necessary. Cast aside this notion of some external agency as the source of inconceivable inhumanity - the sad truth is our possession of an innate proclivity towards indifference, towards deliberate denial of mercy, towards disengaging all that is moral within us. But if that is too dire , let's call it evil. And paint it with fire and venom. Steven Erikson agency fire evil Shake your fist all you want but dead is dead Steven Erikson shakes fists want And over it all, the butterflies swarmed, like a million yellow-pettalled flowers dancing on swirling winds. Steven Erikson butterfly flower wind Children are dying." Lull nodded. "That's a succinct summary of humankind, I'd say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words. Steven Erikson fantasy-novels dying children Civilization after civilization, it is the same. The world falls to tyranny with a whisper. The frightened are ever keen to bow to a perceived necessity, in the belief that necessity forces conformity, and conformity a certain stability. In a world shaped into conformity, dissidents stand out, are easily branded and dealt with. There is no multitude of perspectives, no dialogue. The victim assumes the face of the tyrant, self-righteous and intransigent, and wars breed like vermin. And people die. Steven Erikson self war fall With the Black Company series Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasy—something a lot of people didn’t notice and maybe still don’t. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliché archetypes of princes, kings, and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff was like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote. Steven Erikson reading kings war The soul knows no greater anguish than to take a breath that begins with love and ends with grief. Steven Erikson grief soul ends Betrayal was the greatest of all crimes, for it took all that was human within a person and made it a thing of pain. In the face of that, murder itself was surcease: it was quick, and it ended the anguish and despair of a life without hope. Steven Erikson betrayal despair pain Destiny is a lie. Destiny is justification for atrocity. It is the means by which murderers armour themselves against reprimand. It is a word intended to stand in place of ethics, denying all moral context. Steven Erikson destiny mean lying I was needed, but I myself did not need. I had followers, but not allies, and only now do I understand the difference. And it is vast. Steven Erikson allies differences needs Any reasonable ruler would have the expectation and the demand the other way round. Steven Erikson demand expectations way Curious,” Bauchelain said. “What is it you wish us to do for you?” “Usurp the king,” Imid Factalo said. “Usurp, as in depose.” “Right.” “Depose, as in remove.” “Yes.” “Remove, as in kill. Steven Erikson curious kings wish Ben Adaephon Delat," Pearl said plaintively, "see the last who comes. You send me to my death." "I know," Quick Ben whispered. "Flee, then. I will hold them enough to ensure your escape no more." Quick Ben sank down past the roof. Before he passed from sight Pearl spoke again. "Ben Adaephon Delat, do you pity me?" "Yes" he replied softly, then pivoted and dropped down into darkness. Steven Erikson darkness sight past One day, perhaps, you will see for yourself that regrets are as nothing. The value lies in how they are answered. Steven Erikson regret one-day lying No purer artist exists or has ever existed than a child freed to imagine. Steven Erikson imagine artist children Do mortal fools still measure the increments leading to their deaths, wagering pleasures against costs, persisting in the delusion that deeds have value, that the world and all the gods sit in judgment over every decision made or not made? Steven Erikson cost decision world The idea that an author can extricate her or his own ongoing life experience from the tale being written is a conceit of very little worth. Steven Erikson ongoing littles ideas Death cannot be struggled against, brother. It ever arrives, defiant of every hiding place, of every frantic attempt to escape. Death is every mortal's shadow, his true shadow, and time is its servant, spinning that shadow slowly round, until what stretched behind one now stretches before him. Steven Erikson spinning shadow brother
