Top 100 David Gemmell Quotes
#1. Do not complain of life's unfairness. It is never fair - at best it is impartial.
David Gemmell
#2. The nature of a coward is to avoid death. If such a man courts peril there can be only two reasons. Either he is not a coward at all or there is no danger.
David Gemmell
#3. Fear is good, for it makes us cautious and aids survival. Not so with terror. It is like slow poison, paralyzing the limbs and blurring the mind ... Never, when in danger, ask yourself, What will they do to me? Instead think, What can I do to prevent them?
David Gemmell
#4. War.
Such a little word, such a depth of agony. Blood, death, conquest, starvation, plague, and horror.
David Gemmell
#5. 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.
David Gemmell
#6. Our lives are spent sailing in the mist, hoping for a burst of sunlight that can make sense of who we are.
David Gemmell
#7. Win or lose, we achieve nothing in the world that we understand [ ... ]' 'But then the world does not matter.' 'Indeed it does not [ ... ] It is good to understand that.
David Gemmell
#8. Risks? I have lived with the prospect of assassination for years. What risks? All men die, rich and poor alike. But if I am to die, then let it be while I fight, not like some bullock in a pen waiting for the ax to fall.
David Gemmell
#9. Love is a mystery. We embrace it where we can. Mostly we do not choose whom we love. It just happens. A voice speaks to us, in ways the ears cannot hear. We recognize a beauty the eye does not see. We experience a change in our hearts that no voice can describe.
David Gemmell
#10. If you look at any ancient civilization, they've all used fantasy stories to train the young.
David Gemmell
#11. Never be glad that another man has died. Not ever . [ ... ] It never ends. Never ... ever ... be glad to kill.
David Gemmell
#12. We are what we are my boy and wolves is what we are
David Gemmell
#13. They dont understand what real treasure is. They see it in gold and copper, and tin. They see in herds of horses or cattle. They gather treasures to themselves, building great storehouses, which they guard ferociously. Then they die. What good is it then?
David Gemmell
#15. [ ... ] In real war an officer may have only one chance at succeeding. Consider each problem.
David Gemmell
#16. Life can be savored only if you look to the future and leave vengeance to the gods
David Gemmell
#17. We make choices everyday, some of them good, some of them bad. And - if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences.
David Gemmell
#18. It is easier with strangers, for they touch your life but for an instant. You will not disappoint them, for you owe them nothing; neither do they expect anything. Friends you can hurt, for they expect everything.
David Gemmell
#19. There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion.
David Gemmell
#20. I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom because that's all dung to a soldier.
David Gemmell
#21. May all your dreams but one come true, for what is life without a dream?
David Gemmell
#22. Love is both wondrous and yet full of peril. Love is a gateway through which hatred - disguised and unrecognized - can pass.
David Gemmell
#23. Every little bit of good I may do, let me do it now for I may not come this way again.
David Gemmell
#24. A man with wife and daughters has no place losing his temper.
David Gemmell
#25. What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?
David Gemmell
#26. The baresark loses all fear; his method is all-out attack, and invariably he takes his opponent with him even if he falls.
David Gemmell
#27. When your life has been spent in one war after another for forty-five years, you have to be pretty handy to survive.
David Gemmell
#29. Life is not so simple. There are many futures. The life of a single person is like a great tree: every branch, every twig, every leaf is a possible future.
David Gemmell
#30. A man should not risk his life for beauty alone, Kiall, for that fades. You might as well risk it for a rose. Think on it.
David Gemmell
#31. It is said a man doesn't get old while his mother lives. I think it's true. You are always a child in her eyes. It is irritating in the extreme. But you know, when they have gone, you'd give the earth just to hear them treating you like a child once more.
David Gemmell
#32. Your men are brave men, And you have won. I can live with that, Earl of Bronze a poor man would I be if I could not.
David Gemmell
#33. Not one of the creatures of blood can escape death. We all face it, and succumb to it. It follows us like a dark shadow. Yet if we live in terror of it, then we do not live at all. Yes we are born alone, and yes we will die alone. But in between, Tae, we live. We know joy.
David Gemmell
#34. A man can overcome his background, even as he can overcome a skilled opponent.
David Gemmell
#35. It is not hard to change when your biggest problem is whether the weeds prosper in a vegetable patch.
David Gemmell
#36. No need for confusion, my dear Mulgrave [ ... ] Beautiful wine and sour vinegar come from exactly the same source. Curiously if one leaves a bottle of wine open for long enough it will become vinegar. Happily in this house wine never survives long enough to go bad.
David Gemmell
#37. 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.
David Gemmell
#38. Love is in the eyes, and one woman knows when another woman is in love.
David Gemmell
#39. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something.
David Gemmell
#41. It is said that the gates of paradise can only be opened by the tears of those left behind. I do not know whether that be true. It should be, I think.
David Gemmell
#42. When healers yearn to kill then hope begins to die ... Evil cannot be overcome by evil.
David Gemmell
#43. Life is nothing unless death has been faced down.
David Gemmell
#44. If you want to fight evil, you have to climb down in the slime to do so.
David Gemmell
#45. All things are possible, ... Except the passing of regret.
David Gemmell
#46. Nadir we, youth born, axe wielders, blood letters, victors still.
David Gemmell
#48. Danger lies in the extreme. A man who is always cruel is evil, a man who is always compassionate will be taken advantage of. It is more a question of balance, or harmony, if you will.
David Gemmell
#50. An enemy is like a man's most prized flower. It brings him joy to see it buried in the ground.
David Gemmell
#51. We like to think of life as a constant ... Yet it can be ended in a heartbeat.
David Gemmell
#52. 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.
David Gemmell
#53. You know how it is. Boy meets girl, girl wants boy dead. An everyday story, really.
David Gemmell
#54. Some people are born ugly. It's not their fault, and I for one have never held it against a man that he is ugly. but others and I count myself among them are born with handsome features. That's a gift that should not be lightly taken away.
David Gemmell
#55. All men have talents. Some build, some paint, some write, some fight. For me it is different.
David Gemmell
#56. You may think life is sweet now, but when death is a heartbeat away then life becomes unbearably desirable. And when you survive, everything you do will be enhanced and filled with greater joy: the sunlight, the breeze, a good wine, a woman's lips, a child's laughter.
David Gemmell
#57. Every man has his own reason for every deed. Usually it is selfish.
David Gemmell
#58. Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the persuit of evil.
David Gemmell
#59. If we are still discussing its merits tomorrow, I will agree with you," said Diagoras.
"Cheer up, laddie. Nobody lives forever."
"Oh I expect you will, Druss, Old Horse. It's the mortals around you who always seem to kiss the granite.
David Gemmell
#60. Only a fool loves war," said Calvar, "or a man who has never seen it. The trouble is that the survivors forget about the horrors and remember only the battle lust. They pass on that memory, and other men hunger for it.
David Gemmell
#61. Miracles are merely events that happen just when they are needed.
David Gemmell
#62. You can buy gold that is bright as the sun and diamonds as pale as the moon. But you cannot buy the sun. You cannot own the moon. II
David Gemmell
#63. 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.
David Gemmell
#64. Nothing in life is sure, my son. Except the promise of death.
David Gemmell
#65. A man's strength is ultimately born of his knowledge of his own weakness ...
David Gemmell
#66. I underestimated you, woman." ... "The cry of men down the ages.
David Gemmell
#68. 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.
David Gemmell
#69. Fear cannot be trusted ... It exaggerates everything. It is both treacherous and dishonest.
David Gemmell
#70. My happiness is not in the gift of others. I will be happy or I will not be happy. No man will supply it or deprive me of it.
David Gemmell
#71. What is your name?"
Why?"
So I can mark your grave...
David Gemmell
#72. What will you do now?'
I think I will become a monk and devote my entire life to prayer and good works.'
No,' said Rek. 'I mean, what will you do today?'
Ah! Today I'll get drunk and go whoring,' said Bowman.
David Gemmell
#73. You do not convince me. You rationalize your actions and because the result is favorable you become right.
David Gemmell
#74. 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.
David Gemmell
#75. I tell you, one more insult and I'll take his curling tongs and ram them so far up his arse he'll be able to curl the damned thing from the inside.
David Gemmell
#76. Love is for fools. It is a surging of blood in the loins ... there is no mystery, and no magic. Find someone else, my boy.
David Gemmell
#77. Foolish: It's all foolish. Life is a farce a stupid, sickening farce played out by fools.
David Gemmell
#78. Men don't change. They just learn to disguise the lack of change.
David Gemmell
#79. Bow to nothing, son. I make mistakes as well as any man. If you think me wrong, be so good as to damn well say so.
David Gemmell
#81. I have found in my life, Rek, that there are a few actions which are unforgivable. And certainly there are no words said that carry such a penalty. It is a man's lot, I fear, to strike out when he has suffered hurt.
David Gemmell
#82. To be truthful i am not entirely sure what people mean when they talk of happiness. There are moments of joy and laughter, the comfort of friendship, but enduring happiness? If it exists i have not found it
David Gemmell
#83. Get rid of your doubts. Yesterday is dead. Past mistakes are like smoke in the breeze.
David Gemmell
#84. War is the enemy of civilization. We cannot grow through war, Xander. It drags us down, filling our hearts with hatred and thoughts of revenge.
David Gemmell
#85. grinned. 'Xenophon taught me that victory is achieved by putting the thought of defeat into the heart of your enemy. To him goes the honour.
David Gemmell
#87. The very odd thing about sagas [ ... ] is that they very rarely mention dry mouths and full bladders.
David Gemmell
#88. Nothing of real worth can ever be bought. Love, friendship, honour, valour, respect. All these things have to be earned.
David Gemmell
#89. Kassandra put her arm around her. "One day we will have no bones," the girl said happily, "and our dust will swirl among the stars.
David Gemmell
#91. Societies need heroes. So we travel to places where the revisionists cannot dismantle the great.
David Gemmell
#92. Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on - otherwise he is useless. "For most men that purpose revolves around marriage and children
David Gemmell
#93. Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple. A child afraid of the dark who one day blows out the candle; a women terrified of the pain of childbirth who says, 'It is time to become a mother'. Heroism does not always live on the battlefield.
David Gemmell
#94. I think maybe it is better to believe than not to believe. But I couldn't tell you why.
David Gemmell
#95. We ought to call it something,' said Banokles thoughtfully. 'We can't just keep calling it "that big bastard horse". It ought to have a name.' 'What do you suggest?' - 'Arse Face.
David Gemmell
#96. Hatred is like a plague. It is all-consuming, and it springs from man to man.
David Gemmell
#97. Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they'll make you king.
David Gemmell
#98. How many hopes and dreams are trapped within these bones? How many wonders lie never to be discovered? This is what war is. Desolation, despair and loss. There are no victors.
David Gemmell
#99. 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.
David Gemmell
#100. We cannot hide behind high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.
David Gemmell
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