Top 500 George R.R. Martin Quotes (2025 Update)
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201. “You must put these dreams aside, they will only break your heart.”

— George R.R. Martin

202. “If a man paints a target on his chest, he should expect that sooner or later someone will loose an arrow on him.”

— George R.R. Martin

203. “When a pirate grows rich enough, they make him a prince.”

— George R.R. Martin

204. “A long summer always meant a long winter to come.”

— George R.R. Martin

205. “Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.”

— George R.R. Martin

206. “The wildlings seemed to think Ygritte a great beauty because of her hair; red hair was rare among the free folk, and those who had it were said to be kissed by fire, which was supposed to be lucky.”

— George R.R. Martin

207. “Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.”

— George R.R. Martin

208. “Writing is like sausage making in my view; you’ll all be happier in the end if you just eat the final product without knowing what’s gone into it.”

— George R.R. Martin

209. “I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.” Tyrion Lannister placed a hand over his heart and grinned.”

— George R.R. Martin

210. “Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He’ll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he’s copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day.”

— George R.R. Martin

211. “The true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves.”

— George R.R. Martin

212. “Better a beggar than a thief.”

— George R.R. Martin

213. “That night the wind was howling almost like a wolf and there were some real wolves off to the west giving it lessons.”

— George R.R. Martin

214. “A harp can be a dangerous as a sword, in the right hands.”

— George R.R. Martin

215. “A man agrees with god as a raindrop agrees with the storm.”

— George R.R. Martin

216. “Some truths did not bear saying, and some lies were necessary.”

— George R.R. Martin

217. “Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister would actually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone was terrible to behold.”

— George R.R. Martin

218. “Men of honor will do things for their children that they would never consider doing for themselves.”

— George R.R. Martin

219. “We’re all the heroes of our own stories. So, when I am inside the head of a character who would otherwise be considered a villain, I have a great deal of affection for that character and I’m trying to see the world and the events through their eyes.”

— George R.R. Martin

220. “We all dream of things we cannot have.”

— George R.R. Martin

221. “I take no joy in mead nor meat, and song and laughter have become suspicious strangers to me. I am a creature of grief and dust and bitter longings. There is an empty place within me where my heart was once.”

— George R.R. Martin

222. “A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he’ll look you straight in the face.”

— George R.R. Martin

223. “Faith is like porridge. Better with milk and honey.”

— George R.R. Martin

224. “Schemes are like fruit, they require a certain ripening.”

— George R.R. Martin

225. “Half-truths are worth more than outright lies.”

— George R.R. Martin

226. “All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes.”

— George R.R. Martin

227. “A dead enemy is a joy forever.”

— George R.R. Martin

228. “A man who fights for coin is loyal only to his purse.”

— George R.R. Martin

229. “Give me the wisdom to know what must be done and the courage to do it.”

— George R.R. Martin

230. “Of course it’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler and it never has been.”

— George R.R. Martin

231. “Folly and desperation are ofttimes hard to tell apart.”

— George R.R. Martin

232. “The only game. The game of thrones.”

— George R.R. Martin

233. “More details, more devils.”

— George R.R. Martin

234. “But what a man can do and what a man will do are two different things, he knew.”

— George R.R. Martin

235. “A man does not need to be a wizard to know truth from falsehood, not if he has eyes. You need only learn to read a face. Look at the eyes. The mouth. The muscles here, at the corners of the jaw, and here, where the neck joins the shoulders.”

— George R.R. Martin

236. “You lie. Worse, you lie poorly.”

— George R.R. Martin

237. “You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you, but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time.”

— George R.R. Martin

238. “No fight is hopeless till it has been fought.”

— George R.R. Martin

239. “You kill men for the wrongs they have done, not the wrongs that they may do someday.”

— George R.R. Martin

240. “I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon.”

— George R.R. Martin

241. “Do the dead frighten you?”

— George R.R. Martin

242. “Contempt, thought Tyrion, the universal tongue.”

— George R.R. Martin

243. “Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don’t have the strength to fight it.”

— George R.R. Martin

244. “The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.”

— George R.R. Martin

245. “The best lies contain within them nuggets of truth, enough to give a listener pause.”

— George R.R. Martin

246. “Words are wind, even words like love and peace. I put more trust in deeds.”

— George R.R. Martin

247. “We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.” “Do the dead frighten you?” Ser Waymar Royce asked with just the hint of a smile.”

— George R.R. Martin

248. “She had put despair and fear aside, as if they were garments she did not choose to wear.”

— George R.R. Martin

249. “Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all.”

— George R.R. Martin

250. “Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt.”

— George R.R. Martin