Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from A Game of Thrones:
“... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
“Bran thought about it. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?''That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him.”
“Fear cuts deeper than swords.”
“Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.”
“Winter is coming.”
“When you play a game of thrones you win or you die.”
“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.”
“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.”
“Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.”
“The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember that.”
“What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms . . . or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.”
“Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side?”
“Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.”
“And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.”
“If I look back I am lost.”
“Nothing burns like the cold.”
“Laughter is poison to fear.”
“What do we say to the Lord of Death?''Not today.”
“Oh, my sweet summer child," Old Nan said quietly, "what do you know of fear?Fear is for the winter, my little lord, when the snows fall a hundred feetdeep and the ice wind comes howling out of the north. Fear is for the longnight, when the sun hides its face for years at a time, and little childrenare born and live and die all in darkness while the direwolves grow gaunt andhungry, and the white walkers move through the woods”
“Every flight begins with a fall.”
“My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer and I have my mind...and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge. That's why I read so much Jon Snow.”
“Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle.”
“Life is not a song, sweetling.Someday you may learn that, to your sorrow.”
“Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I'll sleep more easily by night.”
“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”
“The man who fears losing has already lost.”
“You are your mother's trueborn son of Lannister.""Am I?" the dwarf replied, sardonic. "Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he's never been sure.""I don't even know who my mother was," Jon said. "Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are." He favored Jon with a rueful grin. "Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs."And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling a tune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.”
“A bruise is a lesson... and each lesson makes us better.”
