"Rubbish! ... No man fights for dirt and grass. No, nor mountains. Those mountains were here before the fall and they will be here when the world topples again."

"Most wars are fought for greed, but we are luckier here—we fight for our lives and the lives of the people we love."

"Evil is never truly strong, for it is born of fear. Why did he fall so easily? Because he tested your strength and saw the possibility of death [...] had he possessed true courage, he would have fought back. Instead he froze — and died."

"No matter how impossible this war, I shall fight to win. Whatever I have to do, I will do."

"I am not a hero; I am a soldier. When the battle is lost, I retreat and regroup; when the war is over, I lay down my sword. No last dashing charge; no futile last stand!"

"When responsibility is thrust upon you, can you run from it? No—you have never and you never will. That is what makes you as you are. That is why men follow you, though they hate your blood. They trust you."

"It is not hard to change when your biggest problem is whether the weeds prosper in a vegetable patch."

"Nothing in life is easy, Arvan. But it's what I'm trained for. To lead an army. To bring death and destruction on my enemies [...] A man must stand against evil wherever he finds it and he must use all his talents."

"Galand and his brother paused by the corpse. “He doesn’t seem too unhappy,” said Parsal, scratching his beard. “It’s hard to know whether he’s smiling or whether death has pulled his face into a grin,” said Galand. “He won’t look too happy in about a month.” “Will we?” whispered Parsal. Galand shrugged, and the brothers moved on to follow the others."

"Nothing in life is sure, my son. Except the promise of death."

"We all have scars [...] Better by far for them to be worn on the outside."

"Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have."

"The world would be a sad place without mysteries."

"Death haunts everyone and never fails."

"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."

"I am a stranger. You do not need to lie to me or pretend. Only with friends do you need masks."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"While men compete in war, there will be warriors. While there are warriors, there will be princes among warriors. Among the princes will be kings, and among the kings an emperor."

"Only a fool loves war. 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."

"This enterprise was doomed, but we do what we can and do what we must. So a young farmer with wife and children decides to go home. Good! He shows a sense that you and I will never understand. They will sing songs about us, but he will ensure that there are people to sing them. He plants. We destroy."

"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."

"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."

"In any broth, the scum always rises to the top."

"The very odd thing about sagas [...] is that they very rarely mention dry mouths and full bladders."

"Some of you are probably thinking that you may panic and run. You will not! Others are worried about dying. Some of you will. But all men die. No one ever gets out of this life alive."

"Life is nothing unless death has been faced down."

"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."

"All men have talents. Some build, some paint, some write, some fight. For me it is different."

"[H]e who fears to lose will never win."

"All beauty is sad. For it fades."

"“I understand why some men become soldiers: to protect the nation and all that. But a whole race of people living to be soldiers seems … unhealthy. Does that sound right?”“Indeed it sounds right. But the northern steppes make poor farmland. Mainly they breed goats and ponies. Any luxuries they desire, they must steal.”"

"A man should be free to do what he wants to do, as long as it doesn't hurt others."

"The point is [...] that you never know whether you've lost until you've lost. Anything can happen."

"I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom — because that's all dung to a soldier."

"There is only one way to survive in war, and that is by being willing to die. You will find soon that swordsmen can be downed by untutored savages who would slice their fingers if asked to carve meat. And why? because the savage is willing. Worse, he may be a baresark."

"This world has few redeeming features, and one is the capacity for people to love one another with great, enduring passion."

"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."

"Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at something."

"None of us can choose the manner of our passing."

"A man must know his limitations."

"I'm not laughing at you. [...] I'm laughing at the whole stupid business. We face the biggest threat in our history and they give me a helmet too big,and you a helmet too small, and tell us we can't exchange them. It's too much. Really."

"Liberty is only valued when it is threatened, therefore it is the threat that highlights the value. We should be grateful to the Nadir, since they heighten the value of our liberty."

"No one can take away the freedom of a man's soul."

"We are not made for life at all, old horse. It is made for us. We live it. We leave it."

"I don't give a damn, laddie. Until the actual moment, when they cut me down, I shall still be looking to win. And the gods of war are fickle at best."

"How do you decide a battle is lost? Numbers, strategic advantage, positioning? It's all worth a sparrow's fart. It comes down to men who are willing. The largest army will founder if its men are less willing to die than to win."

"A man's strength is ultimately born of his knowledge of his own weakness ..."

"Each man has a breaking point, no matter how strong his spirit. Somewhere, deep inside him, there is a flaw that only the fickle cruelty of fate can find."