Thief (series)

""Strike Hot Iron And Call Forth Sparks Strike A Man And Call Forth Fury To Shape Man Or Metal To Thy Will Thou Must Strike With Force" -Collected Sermons of Karras"

""Vigilance is our shield That protects us from the squalid past Knowledge is our weapon With which we carve our path To an enlightened future." -Hammerite Chant"

"Victoria: "Our guest Cavador just spilled his guts." Garrett: "Not literally?" Victoria: "That wasn't necessary."

""The man who learns only what Others know is as ignorant as if he Learns nothing. The treasures of knowledge Are the most rare, and guarded most harshly." -Chronicle of the First Age"

""He Who Keeps His Work In Disorder Gives Home To Chaos. Let Him Be Struck With Stone And Iron To Forge Away His Flaws." -Collected Sermons of Karras"

""Even With All We Had Learned, Some Events Were To Prove More Complex Than We Had Predicted. The Most Unlikely Of Alliances Was Also The Most Effective." -Chronicle of the Metal Age"

"I don't know what's going on, and I don't like that."

"Garrett: "So this is the city of the future? I prefer my Tenement instead.""

"Soon all will be blessed with the breath of the Builder, the Necrotic Mutox that I created. And all the souls... the rich that spurned me, the City Watch that betrayed me, the loathsome pagans, the mindless commoners, even the loyal followers of Karras, all will receive the blessing... and the cleansing. But will they lift up their arms and praise Karras, as the vapours make them pure? Nay! They will wail, and scream, most ungrateful!"

""Reliance upon others Is weakness for the strong But strength for the weak. Wisdom and balance lie in knowing your own nature over time." -Chronicle of the Metal Age"

""Bricky Roads They Trappers Grass, Stoney Walls They Trappers Wind, Iron Stove It Trappers Fire. Trappers Is We By The Works Of Hands, And Forgets Us We Were Ever Free." -Inked Grass Scroll"

""To Manipulate A Man Is A Careful Project. Too Light A Hand, And He Follows His Own Whim; Too Heavy A Hand, And He Will Turn On You." -Chronicle of the Metal Age"

""Saws We Them Man O' Moons Faces, Rounds O' Glow Brights n Them Summer Night Sky, Saids Them To Us That Winter Comes Earlies, Summer Is Gone, And The Harvest Is Fled." -From A Pagan Song"

""The Builder Has Gifted Thee With The Greatest Of All Treasures - The Future! But Thine Own Will Forges The Key That Opens The Lock." -Karras, Private Correspondence"

"No doubt the bank is well protected by Mechanist security machines, in addition to the usual guard contingent. Risky... but you know, I've always wanted a good enough excuse to break into First City Bank and Trust. And I always thought I'd be taking the risk, just for the money."

"It's time for a face to face chat with my old friend Sheriff Truart. Work out our differences, show him the little piece of evidence I lifted from the Mechanists. I'm sure he'll appreciate the consequences if this were to be made public. Truart was acting for somebody when his cronies ambushed me back at the Crippled Burrick inn... I bet he'll be happy to tell me who that was."

"If I believed in it, now it would be a good time for me to wish for luck."

"Garrett: "Angelwatch? Is this how our arrangement is gonna work, you coming up with ways for me to get myself killed?" Victoria: "Is this really Garrett the Master Thief I hear talking? If danger is going to be a problem for you, then..." Garrett: "Just-- give me the details.""

"But lo, how easily evil is felled, when the righteous hold the mace! Thou art transparent to me, Garrett, even now I can see thou seeking to stop me, but there is naught you can do."

"I know not why you oppose me. In one act, I will end all human suffering, and clear the path for the Builder to walk again on earth, history will move forward! My tireless children will build in his name, creating advancements beyond our understanding. Now, it is the dark time before the days of light! Why dost thou oppose me?"

"What hast thou... built, Garrett? When the time comes to review thy life, with the Master Builder afore thee, and the question is asked: what hast thou built, what will thee say, poor Garrett? For thou art a man of... destruction, not construction. Tis the biggest sin of all. Build thyself today a good house, that would please Him much!"

"And Karras said, ‘Lay down thy hammer, friends, 'tis yesteryear's trappings.' And so we laid them down, and seeing this, Karras spoke again: ‘Now raise up thy mace, The Builder shall fuel thee...and all the followers of Karras.'"

""Sings We A Dances Of Wolfs, Who Smells Fear And Slays The Coward. Sings We A Dances Of Mans, Who Smells Gold And Slays His Brother." -Pagan Saying"

""The ancient corruption was again contained. To do more would have upset the balance, but we knew to remain ever vigilant lest it resurface. Neither the Hammers nor the pagans could be trusted not to meddle." -Keeper Annals"

""In the beginning we lived as thieves, Stealing fur and fang of beasts for survival. Then came the Builder who brought us the Hammer, And with it we forged a new way of life. To reject the Hammer is to denounce the Builder." -The Hammer Book of Tenets"

""Builds your roofs of dead wood. Builds your walls of dead stone. Builds your dreams of dead thoughts. Comes crying laughing singing back to life, takes what you steal, and pulls the skins from your dead bones shrieking." -Clay tablet in an abandoned Trickster temple"

""Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum." -Collected letters of the smith-in-exile"

""The knowledge of those who came before could neither be disseminated or destroyed. Its power would be a dangerous tool in the wrong hands, but would also insure against future cataclysm. At that time we chose to maintain it with writings preserved in extant locations." -Keeper Annals"

"Since you left us, you've been a stone rolling downhill. Now you must aim this remarkable momentum. It is past time for the balance to shift."

""The stone cannot know why the chisel cleaves it; the iron cannot know why the fire scorches it. When thy life is cleft and scorched, when death and despair leap at thee, beat not thy breast and curse thy evil fate, but thank the Builder for the trials that shape thee." -The Hammer Book of Tenets"

"Hadst I a hammer, wouldst I hammer in the morning. Wouldst I hammer in the evening, all over this land."

""Greed shall be your undoing, poor Garrett."-Oracle Statue"

""Thief is the single most terrifying, immersive, and rewarding game I have played and the one single-player game I continue to replay. In addition to the overriding stealth gamestyle, it is loaded with unique elements that hold one in the world. I love the setting, a medieval tech fantasy world that owes less to D&D than to such literary lights as Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance and Michael Shea. It has a spare, but well-crafted storyline, eccentric NPCs, brilliant verse, and unparalleled sound design. Then there are the enormous, intricate levels: Sprawling towns (both populated and ruinous), haunted crypts, bizarre mansions, lost cities, and the finest subterranean sequences in any game the climactic level being a surreal descent that convinced me I had scrambled many miles towards the earth's core. There are countless books I wish I had written; Thief is one of the few games I wish I had worked on." - Marc Laidlaw, Valve (writer/designer: Half-Life)"

"I've always equated "feelings" with "getting caught"...they both get in the way of my money. Unfortunately not everyone is as committed to their work as I am."

"I make it a policy never to take a job so sentimental, but the Rumford manor could be a lucrative opportunity for a man like me. It would also mean that Basso would owe me a favour...And in this line of work, you can never have too many of those."

"Huh! This proves it...going legit is more trouble than it's worth...."

"Huh! Wasn't that long ago that I was planning on my retirement...now the only thing that's getting retired is my standards."

"Hagen is Sheriff Truart's number two man and has no doubt made life difficult for someone he shouldn't have."

"I realize that breaking into Shoalsgate is like looking down a Burrick's mouth with a lit match, but it would pay me enough to lay low for a while. And it doesn't hurt to be giving the police some dirty laundry to deal with either. Besides, with my luck if I don't take this job I could end up in there anyway."

"The smell of ale and smoke from the place wasn't enough to cover up the stench of an ambush. A couple of Watch officers were there waiting for me. Judging by the look on Sunny's face, I'd say he sold me out."

"They didn't seem interested in bringing me in either. The bluecoats were looking for swift justice. Fortunately, I always have an ace up my sleeve."

"Iron trees? Not in my part of town."

"Tell you what. You keepers can plant a few shrubs about town and I'll take care of me. I'll find my own way home."

"I know they're trying to manipulate me, but keepers never alter the truth... just keep it in the shadows."

"Looks like I have something useful to learn from a seminary for a change."

"I'd rather not tread where the dead sleep."

"This situation does have one advantage... things can't get any worse. Who could hire someone like the sheriff to kill me?"

"I'm not surprised that the Mechanists are not the saints they claim to be, no one in this city is."

"It didn't take much to learn that the Mechanists do all their banking with First City Bank and Trust, one of the wealthiest establishments in town, catering to the needs of the city's upper crust."

""Calls The Serpents To The Heels Of My Foes! Calls The Ravens To Pecks Their Eyes! Calls The Jackals, Carry Thems Away Their Children To Gnaw Bones In The Night!" -Pagan Curse"