“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,
Deadhouse Gates
“Kallor shrugged. '[...] I have walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?''Yes,' [said Caladan Brood.] 'You never learn.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?' The Imass shrugged before replying. 'I think of futility, Adjunct.' 'Do all Imass think about futility?''No. Few think at all.' 'Why is that?' The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her. 'Because Adjunct, it is futile.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“The lesson of history is that no one learns.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned, T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“There is something profoundly cynical, my friends, in the notion of paradise after death. The lure is evasion. The promise is excusative. One need not accept responsibility for the world as it is, and by extension, one need do nothing about it. To strive for change, for true goodness in this mortal world, one must acknowledge and accept, within one's own soul, that this mortal reality has purpose in itself, that its greatest value is not for us, but for our children and their children. To view life as but a quick passage alone a foul, tortured path – made foul and tortured by our own indifference – is to excuse all manner of misery and depravity, and to exact cruel punishment upon the innocent lives to come.I defy this notion of paradise beyond the gates of bone. If the soul truly survives the passage, then it behooves us – each of us, my friends – to nurture a faith in similitude: what awaits us is a reflection of what we leave behind, and in the squandering of our mortal existence, we surrender the opportunity to learn the ways of goodness, the practice of sympathy, empathy, compassion and healing – all passed by in our rush to arrive at a place of glory and beauty, a place we did not earn, and most certainly do not deserve.” ― Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters
“Show me a god that does not demand mortal suffering.Show me a god that celebrates diversity, a celebration that embraces even non-believers, and is not threatened by them.Show me a god that understands the meaning of peace. In life, not in death.” ― Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters
“There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived.” ― Steven Erikson, Toll the Hounds
“Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course.” ― Steven Erikson, House of Chains
“Every decision you make can change the world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly.""I want to be a soldier. A hero.""You'll grow out of it.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“First in , Last out.Motto of the bridgeburners” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“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, Midnight Tides
“[T]he unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier--dead, melted wax--demands a response among the living...a response no-one can make. Names are no comfort, they're a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous--as if cursed--while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold? Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation.None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve.To face death is to stand alone.” ― Steven Erikson, Toll the Hounds
“Such is the vastness of his genius that he can outwit even himself.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“And now the page before us blurs.An age is done. The book must close.We are abandoned to history.Raise high one more time the tattered standardOf the Fallen. See through the drifting smokeTo the dark stains upon the fabric.This is the blood of our lives, this is thePayment of our deeds, all soon to beForgotten.We were never what people could be.We were only what we were.Remember us.” ― Steven Erikson, The Crippled God
“One day, perhaps, you will see for yourself that regrets are as nothing. The value lies in how they are answered.” ― Steven Erikson, House of Chains
“The heart of wisdom is tolerance.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“Kallor shrugged. '[...] I have walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?''Yes,' [said Caladan Brood.] 'You never learn.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?' The Imass shrugged before replying. 'I think of futility, Adjunct.' 'Do all Imass think about futility?''No. Few think at all.' 'Why is that?' The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her. 'Because Adjunct, it is futile.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“The lesson of history is that no one learns.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned, T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“There is something profoundly cynical, my friends, in the notion of paradise after death. The lure is evasion. The promise is excusative. One need not accept responsibility for the world as it is, and by extension, one need do nothing about it. To strive for change, for true goodness in this mortal world, one must acknowledge and accept, within one's own soul, that this mortal reality has purpose in itself, that its greatest value is not for us, but for our children and their children. To view life as but a quick passage alone a foul, tortured path – made foul and tortured by our own indifference – is to excuse all manner of misery and depravity, and to exact cruel punishment upon the innocent lives to come.I defy this notion of paradise beyond the gates of bone. If the soul truly survives the passage, then it behooves us – each of us, my friends – to nurture a faith in similitude: what awaits us is a reflection of what we leave behind, and in the squandering of our mortal existence, we surrender the opportunity to learn the ways of goodness, the practice of sympathy, empathy, compassion and healing – all passed by in our rush to arrive at a place of glory and beauty, a place we did not earn, and most certainly do not deserve.” ― Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters
“Show me a god that does not demand mortal suffering.Show me a god that celebrates diversity, a celebration that embraces even non-believers, and is not threatened by them.Show me a god that understands the meaning of peace. In life, not in death.” ― Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters
“There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived.” ― Steven Erikson, Toll the Hounds
“Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course.” ― Steven Erikson, House of Chains
“Every decision you make can change the world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly.""I want to be a soldier. A hero.""You'll grow out of it.” ― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
“First in , Last out.Motto of the bridgeburners” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
“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, Midnight Tides
“[T]he unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier--dead, melted wax--demands a response among the living...a response no-one can make. Names are no comfort, they're a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous--as if cursed--while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold? Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation.None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve.To face death is to stand alone.” ― Steven Erikson, Toll the Hounds
“Such is the vastness of his genius that he can outwit even himself.” ― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
“And now the page before us blurs.An age is done. The book must close.We are abandoned to history.Raise high one more time the tattered standardOf the Fallen. See through the drifting smokeTo the dark stains upon the fabric.This is the blood of our lives, this is thePayment of our deeds, all soon to beForgotten.We were never what people could be.We were only what we were.Remember us.” ― Steven Erikson, The Crippled God
“One day, perhaps, you will see for yourself that regrets are as nothing. The value lies in how they are answered.” ― Steven Erikson, House of Chains
“The heart of wisdom is tolerance.” ― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice
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