David Gemmell Citations
David Gemmell: Citations en anglais
“What truly makes a man who he is? Is it the strength of his arms, or the courage of his soul?”
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 8
Contexte: What I did understand from the rebirth process was that the rebirth reproduced a physical duplicate of the original. But this is my point. It is physical. What truly makes a man who he is? Is it the strength of his arms, or the courage of his soul? You have your own soul, Harad. You are not Druss. Live your own life.
“Evil will never be countered while good men do nothing.”
Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 10
“All things are possible, … Except the passing of regret.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 20
“One day you'll find a love, and then we can talk on equal terms.”
ibid
Drenai series, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
Contexte: One day you'll find a love, and then we can talk on equal terms. I do not mean that to sound patronizing. You are bright and intelligent. You have courage and wit. But sometimes, it is like trying to describe colors to a blind man. Love, as I hope you will find, has great power. Even death cannot destroy it. And I still love her.
“A man must stand against evil wherever he finds it and he must use all his talents.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 6
Contexte: 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.
“Love, as I hope you will find, has great power. Even death cannot destroy it.”
ibid
Drenai series, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
Contexte: One day you'll find a love, and then we can talk on equal terms. I do not mean that to sound patronizing. You are bright and intelligent. You have courage and wit. But sometimes, it is like trying to describe colors to a blind man. Love, as I hope you will find, has great power. Even death cannot destroy it. And I still love her.
“The largest army will founder if its men are less willing to die than to win.”
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 9
Contexte: 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.
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 7
Contexte: [A]ll men die.... A man needs many things in his life to make it bearable. A good woman. Sons and daughters. Comradeship. Warmth. Food and shelter. but above all these things, he needs to be able to know that he is a man. And what is a man? He is someone who rises when life has knocked him down. Someone who raises his fist to heaven when a storm has ruined his crop — and then plants again. And again. A man remains unbroken by the savage twists of fate. That man may never win. But when he sees himself reflected, he can be proud of what he sees. For low he may be in the scheme of things: peasant, serf, or dispossessed. But he is unconquerable. And what is death? an end to trouble. An end to strife and fear.... Bear this in mind when you decide your future.
“A warrior has only one true friend: himself.”
So he feeds his body well; he trains it; works on it. Where he lacks skill, he practises. Where he lacks knowledge, he studies. But above all he must believe. He must believe in the strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul.
Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 3
“The gift of life is too great to waste”
Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 1
Contexte: By my lights, my son, you are a young man. [... ] there should be love in your life. Am I at fault in my thinking?''Not at fault, Senior Brother. I loved once, and in truth I could love again. But the pain of loss was too much for me. I would rather live alone than suffer for it.''Then you are here to hide, Charreos, and it is not a good reason. The gift of life is too great to waste in such a fashion...
“We are what we say only so long as our words are iron.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 19
Contexte: A man makes mistakes, but he lives by them. Foolish it may be on occassion. But in the main it is the only way to live. We are what we say only so long as our words are iron.
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 12
Contexte: I never worshipped anything but my sword and my wits; now I suffer for it. But I can take it, for am I not a man?... It is not hard to be a legend, Tenaka. It is what follows when you have to live like one.
“Evil corrupts, Bael, by promising us what we want, and telling us that it is good.”
Source: Rigante series, Stormrider, Ch. 13
Contexte: You think evil corrupts men by saying come with me and I will turn you into a merciless killer, and damn your soul for eternity? Who would agree to such a bargain? Evil corrupts, Bael, by promising us what we want, and telling us that it is good. Evil talks of the end justifying the means. It speaks of distant goals — aye, and of golden ages. It seduces, Bael. It does not threaten. Not at first.
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 21
Contexte: "No golden age to discover now," he whispered. "No end to disease and starvation. No, bright sparkling cities reaching the clouds... All that I have lived for is gone now. I am so tired.""Then think on this, priest: You stopped the Eternal from finding greater weapons. Your actions here have led to her death. The world is free again.""Free? Of one tyrant perhaps. You think there will be no others?""No, I do not. But I know there will always be men to stand against them. You grieve because of a pure magic lost. That magic was corrupted by evil. This is how evil thrives. We find an herb that cures disease, and someone will make a poison from it. We forge iron to make a better plow, and someone will make a sharper sword. There can be no power that evil will not corrupt."
“The waters run that we might drink of them, but they are also symbols of the futility of man.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 12
Contexte: All things in the world are created for man, yet all have two purposes. The waters run that we might drink of them, but they are also symbols of the futility of man. They reflect our lives in rushing beauty, birthed in the purity of the mountains. As babes they babble and run, gushing and growing as they mature into strong young rivers. Then they widen and slow until at least they meander, like old men, to join with the sea.
Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 4
Contexte: Never let anger, or outrage, or fear affect you. That is easy advice to give, but hard to follow. Men will bait you, they will laugh at you, they will jeer. But it is just noise, Kiall. They will hurt the people you love. They will do anything to make you angry or emotional. But the only way you can make them suffer is to win. And to do that you must remain cool.
“Nothing in life is sure, my son. Except the promise of death.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 4
“All men are stupid. They are full of fear and insecurity—it makes them weak.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 13
Contexte: And now I am going to tell you a great truth, and if you are wise, you will take it to your heart. All men are stupid. They are full of fear and insecurity— it makes them weak. Always the other man seems stronger, more confident, more capable. It is a lie of the worst kind, for we lie to ourselves... How do you know? You do not! You listened to the voice of your inadequacy, and because you believed, you are in my power. If I draw my sword, you are dead!
Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 1
Contexte: Gentlemen, you are in sorry condition. But war will render you yet more sorry. The soldier will fight in mud and hail, snow and ice, drought and flood. It is rare that a warrior gets to fight in comfort.
“Sometimes it is more important to stand against evil than to worry about beating it”
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 21
Contexte: Winning is not everything, Stavut. Men like to think it is. Sometimes it is more important to stand against evil than to worry about beating it... Evil will always have the worst weapons. Evil will gather the greatest armies. They will burn, and plunder, and kill. But that's not the worst of it. They will try to make us believe that the only way to destroy them is to become like them. That is the true vileness of evil. It is contagious.
“Battle is intoxicating. That is why the ghastly vileness of war has always been so popular.”
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 11
Contexte: We are closest to life when we are vying with death... The blood runs hot, the air smells sweet, the sky becomes an unbearably beautiful blue. Battle is intoxicating. That is why the ghastly vileness of war has always been so popular.
“No matter how impossible this war, I shall fight to win. Whatever I have to do, I will do.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 8
“One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.”
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 11
Contexte: Be at peace, my friend. One thing I have learnt about Death is that his bark is worse than his bite.
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 10
Contexte: It is the curse of absolute power, Olek. There is no one to admonish you, no laws save those you make. We like to believe there is something special, even alien, about evil. We like to think that tyrants are different from the rest of us. That they are somehow inhuman. They are not. They are merely unchained, unfettered; free to do as they please.
“It would be a fine thing if war could be conducted as a game where no lives were lost.”
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 28
Contexte: 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.
“They will try to make us believe that the only way to destroy them is to become like them.”
Source: Drenai series, The Swords of Night and Day, Ch. 21
Contexte: Winning is not everything, Stavut. Men like to think it is. Sometimes it is more important to stand against evil than to worry about beating it... Evil will always have the worst weapons. Evil will gather the greatest armies. They will burn, and plunder, and kill. But that's not the worst of it. They will try to make us believe that the only way to destroy them is to become like them. That is the true vileness of evil. It is contagious.
“But judge us not by our number. Rather, watch the numbers of dead we leave behind”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 16
Contexte: One hundred only, Lord Earl. But judge us not by our number. Rather, watch the numbers of dead we leave behind.
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 9
Contexte: 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.
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 23
Contexte: 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.
