Bernard Cornwell: Trending quotes

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Bernard Cornwell: 350 quotes1 like

“Life is simple," I said. "Ale, women, sword, and reputation. Nothing else matters.”

Bernard Cornwell book The Pale Horseman

Source: The Pale Horseman

“Wyrd bið ful āræd. Fate is inexorable.”

Bernard Cornwell book Warriors of the Storm

Variant: Fate is inexorable.
Source: Warriors of the Storm

“An archer does not aim, he kills.”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Thomas of Hookton, p. 18
The Grail Quest, The Archer's Tale/Harlequin (2000)

“It seemed that if someone was lost in Copenhagen then the citizens regarded it as their duty to offer help.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 78
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

“"You are like the Spanish, Captain Sharpe, confused. Cadiz is filled with politicians and lawyers and the encourage confusion. They argue. Should we be a Republic? Or perhaps a monarchy? Do we want a Cortes? And if so, should it have one chamber or two? Some want a parliament like Britain's. Others insist that Spain is best ruled by God and by a king. They squabble about these like children, but in truth there is only one real argument." "The argument, is whether Spain fights France or not?" "Exactly." "And you, believe Spain should fight against France?" "You know what the French have done to our country? The women raped, the children killed, the churches desecrated? Yes, I believe we should fight."”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Fernando Galiana and Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 202
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fury (2006)

“Some deaths a man can enjoy, the death of an enemy, and Sharpe was paid to have enemies. Yet he did not wish death on the French. There was more satisfaction in seeing a surrendered enemy, a defeated enemy, than in seeing a slaughtered enemy.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 304
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Sword (1983)

“He's actually a rather good ruler. Better, I suspect, than most of our Christian monarchs. He's certainly been good for Mysore. He's fetched it a deal of wealth, given it more justice than most countries enjoy in India and he's been tolerant to most religions, though I fear he did persecute some unfortunate Christians.”

Bernard Cornwell

Colonel Hector McCandless, on the Tippo Sultan, p. 300
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

“Form them up Sergeant!" "Aye aye, sir." "You're not a bloody sailor, Sergeant. A plain yes will do.”

Bernard Cornwell

<br/k> Aye aye, sir."
British Officer and Sergeant, p. 111
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

“He had no picture of her. She would be a memory that would fade as her warmth would fade, but would fade over the years, and he would forget the passion that gave life to this face.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Richard Sharpe (describing his murdered wife, Teresa Moreno) p. 339
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Enemy (1984)

“"Would you give my warmest regards to Sir Arthur Wellesley? Or Lord Wellington as we must now call him." "You know him, sir?" "Of course. We were at the Royal Academy of Equiation together, at Angers. It's strange, Major, how your greatest soldier was taught to fight in France."”

Bernard Cornwell

Colonel Michel Dubreton (French Army) and Major Richard Sharpe, p. 80
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Enemy (1984)

“"You've never heard of Paul Revere?" "No." "Lucky man, Sharpe. He called my father a traitor, and our family called Revere a traitor, and I rather think we lost the argument."”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Thomas Leroy, and Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 81
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Company (1982)

“Good plain soldiering wins wars. Doing mundane things well is what counts.”

Bernard Cornwell

Colonel Sir Barnaby Moon, p. 11
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fury (2006)

“A charge of knights was supposed to be thundering death on hooves, a flail of metal driven by the ponderous weight of men, horses and armor, and properly done, it was a mass maker of widows.”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Narrator, p. 338
The Grail Quest, The Archer's Tale/Harlequin (2000)

“In the short time I've known you, Richard, I've noticed you possess a lamentable tendency to put on shining armor and look for ladies to rescue. King Arthur, God rest his soul, would have loved you. He'd have had you fighting every evil knight in the forest.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Michael Hogan, p. 254
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Havoc (2003)

“"We asked for them in February. It's June now; they must be coming." "They've been saying that about Christ for eighteen hundred years."”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Richard Sharpe and Major General Nairn
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Regiment (1986)

“"I'm a Soldier, not a bloody clerk! I fetch bloody forage, count bloody shovels, and take punishment drills. It's yes, sir, no, sir, can I dig your latrine, sir, and it's not bloody soldiering!" "It is bloody soldiering! What the hell else do you think soldiering is? Do you think you can win a war without forage? Or without shovels? Or, God help us, without latrines? That is soldiering! Just because you've been allowed to swan about like a bloody pirate for years doesn't mean you shouldn't take your turn at real work."”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and Major Michael Hogan, p. 114
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Company (1982)

“Let me tell you about the English War Bow, Joscelyn. It is a simple thing, med of yew, a peasant's tool, really. My huntsman can use one, but he is the only man in Berat who has ever mastered the weapon. Why do you think that is? I'll tell you anyway. It takes years, Joscelyn, many years to master the yew bow. Ten years? Probably that long, and after ten years a man can send an arrow clean through armor at two hundred paces. Splat! A thousand ecus of man, armor, and weaponry fallen to a peasant's bow. And it isn't luck, Joscelyn. My huntsman can put an arrow through a bracelet at a hundred paces. He can pierce mail coat at two hundred. I've seen him put an arrow through an oak door at a hundred and fifty, and the door was three inches thick!”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

The Count of Berat, p. 111
The Grail Quest, Heretic (2003)

“He had an inspiration and went to the Quinta's kitchen and stole two large tins of tea. He reckoned it was time Kate did something for her country and there were few finer gestures than donating good China tea to riflemen.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 136
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Havoc (2003)

“I doubt I called him illegitimate, sir. I wouldn't use that sort of word. I probably called him a bastard.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 136
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

“They were German hussars and they streamed out of the dunes leaving a trail of dust, their drawn blades glittering.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)