The First law by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself

“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“Has it ever occured to you, Master Ninefingers, that a sword is different from other weapons? Axes and maces and so forth are lethal enough, but they hang on the belt like dumb brutes. But a sword...a sword has a voice. Sheathed it has little to say, to be sure, but you need only put your hand on the hilt and it begins to whisper in your enemy's ear. A gentle word. A word of caution. Do you hear it? Now, compare it to the sword half drawn. It speaks louder, does it not? It hisses a dire threat. It makes a deadly promise. Do you hear it? Now compare it to the sword full drawn. It shouts now, does it not? It screams defiance! It bellows a challenge! Do you hear it?” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“I’ve fought in three campaigns,” he began. “In seven pitched battles. In countless raids and skirmishes and desperate defences, and bloody actions of every kind. I’ve fought in the driving snow, the blasting wind, the middle of the night. I’ve been fighting all my life, one enemy or another, one friend or another. I’ve known little else. I’ve seen men killed for a word, for a look, for nothing at all. A woman tried to stab me once for killing her husband, and I threw her down a well. And that’s far from the worst of it. Life used to be cheap as dirt to me. Cheaper.

“I’ve fought ten single combats and I won them all, but I fought on the wrong side and for all the wrong reasons. I’ve been ruthless, and brutal, and a coward. I’ve stabbed men in the back, burned them, drowned them, crushed them with rocks, killed them asleep, unarmed, or running away. I’ve run away myself more than once. I’ve pissed myself with fear. I’ve begged for my life. I’ve been wounded, often, and badly, and screamed and cried like a baby whose mother took her tit away. I’ve no doubt the world would be a better place if I’d been killed years ago, but I haven’t been, and I don’t know why.”

He looked down at his hands, pink and clean on the stone. “There are few men with more blood on their hands than me. None, that I know of. The Bloody-Nine they call me, my enemies, and there’s a lot of ’em. Always more enemies, and fewer friends. Blood gets you nothing but more blood. It follows me now, always, like my shadow, and like my shadow I can never be free of it. I should never be free of it. I’ve earned it. I’ve deserved it. I’ve sought it out. Such is my punishment.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“You have to learn to love the small things in life, like a hot bath. You have to love the small things, when you have nothing else.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“Hurray', shouted Glokta. 'Porridge again!'He looked over at the motionless Practical. 'Porridge and honey, better than money, everything's funny, with porridge and honey!” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“Broken hearts heal with time, but broken teeth never do.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“The best steel doesn't always shine the brightest.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

“Different men have different ways, Logen had told him once, and you have to have fear to have courage.” ― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

Before they are hanged

“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Honour, eh? What the hell is that anyway? Every man thinks it's something different. You can't drink it. You can't fuck it. The more of it you have the less good it does you, and if you've got none at all you don't miss it.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“People love to see death. It reminds them that however mean, however low, however horrible their lives become… at least they have one.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Anyone can face ease and success with confidence. It is the way we face trouble and misfortune that defines us.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Fearlessness is a fool's boast, to my mind. The only men with no fear in them are dead, or the soon to be dead, maybe. Fear teaches you caution, and respect for your enemy, and to avoid sharp edges used in anger. All good things in their place, believe me. Fear can bring you out alive, and that's the very best anyone can hope for from any fight. Every man who's worth a damn feels fear. It's the use you make of it that counts.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“An open mind is like to an open wound. Vulnerable to poison. Liable to fester. Apt to give its owner only pain.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“A man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, no matter who it comes from.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“There was no such thing as luck. Luck was a word idiots used to explain the consequences of their own rashness, and selfishness, and stupidity. More often than not bad luck meant bad plans.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

“Glokta felt his hand bunching into a fist on the parapet. ‘We must make the Gurkish pay for every stride of ground.’ We must make them pay for my ruined leg. ‘For every inch of dirt.’ For my missing teeth. ‘For every meagre shack, and crumbling hut, and worthless stretch of dust.’ For my weeping eye, and my twisted back, and my repulsive shadow of a life. He licked at his empty gums. ‘Make them pay.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

Last Argument of Kings

One should treat everyone with same respect , one should like everyone treat himself. Treat others as you would like to treated.

“I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Travel brings wisdom only to the wise. It renders the ignorant more ignorant than ever.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“You have to realistic about these things.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“If you want to be a new man you have to stay in new places, and do new things, with people who never knew you before. If you go back to the same old ways, what else can you be but the same old person?” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“It's hard to be done a favor by a man you hate. It's hard to hate him so much afterwards. Losing an enemy can be worse than losing a friend, if you've had him for long enough.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Power makes all things right. That is my first law, and my last. That is the only law that I acknowledge.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“They appear somewhat unreliable," he murmured. "Unreliable? Nonsense, Superior! Out of luck is all, and we both know how that goes, no? Why, there's not a man of them I wouldn't trust my mother to." "Are you sure?" "She's been dead these twenty years. What harm could they do her now?” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“The lamplight gleamed on the Magus’ white grin. “People like to watch the pretty puppets, Superior. Even a glimpse of the puppeteer can be most upsetting for them. Why, they might even suddenly notice the strings around their own wrists” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“The lowly have small ambitions, and are satisfied with small indulgences. They need not get fair treatment. They need only think that they do... ” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“She had a crooked smile on her face as she turned, but it slid off suddenly when she saw who was standing there. Glokta snorted. 'Don't worry, I get that reaction from everyone. Even myself, every morning, when I look into the mirror.' If I can even manage to stand up in front of the damn thing.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“What is t that I did to deserve this? And what is it that Luthar did? Is he not just as I was? Arrogant, vain, and selfish as hell? Is he a better man? Then why has life punished me so harshly, and rewarded him so richly?

But Glokta already knew the answer. The same reason that innocent Sepp dan Teufel languishes in Angland with his fingers shortened. The same reason that loyal General Vissbruck died in Dagoska, while treacherous Magister Eider was let live. The same reason that Tulkis, the Gurkish Ambassador, was butchered in front of a howling crowd for a crime he did not commit.

He pressed his tongue into one of his few remaining teeth. Life is not fair.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Wine can keep a happy man happy, on occasion. A sad one it always makes worse.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

Best Served Cold

“You were a hero round these parts. That's what they call you when you kill so many people the word murderer falls short.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

“That was the difference between a hero and a villain, a soldier and a murderer, a victory and a crime. Which side of a river you called home.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

“One cannot grow without pain. One cannot improve without it. Suffering drives us to achieve great things.” ― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold