01c. 1952 ADPerhaps there can be no thanks nor any blame, but only recognition of the forces that brought us and bound us to our inevitable fates.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
02c. 1952 ADI truly wanted to live a life in which I could make my own choices, independent of the 'duties' of my birth and position. It was only when fate granted that to me that I realized the cost of it. I could set aside my responsibilities to others and live my life as I please only when I also severed my ties to them. I could not have it both ways.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
03c. 1952 ADAs long as you believe it is impossible, you close your mind to understanding it.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
04c. 1952 ADGankis lifted an arm to point at the distant shale cliffs. "And in the face of it there were thousands of little holes, little what-you-call-'ems...""Alcoves," Kennit supplied in an almost dreamy voice. "I call them alcoves, Gankis. As would you, if you could speak your own mother tongue.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
05c. 1952 ADLeave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own.Wolves have no kingsRobin Hobb / quote ↗
06c. 1952 ADStill I promise myself, "Next time I will do better" in the all-too-human conceit that I will always be offered a "next time.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
07c. 1952 ADAnd what do you believe?”A slow smile spread over his face. “I believe in you. You are my new beginning.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
09c. 1952 ADSomehow," she said coldly, "you have confused profitable and not profitable for right and wrong. I, however, have not.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
10c. 1952 ADI'll never miss a chance to remind you of what a brat you were. A gloriously beautiful and very spoiled brat. I was utterly charmed by your complete self-absorption. It was rather like courting a cat.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
11c. 1952 ADEverything she sang was true. I will leave it to you as to whether the truth can exist with details omitted, or if those lacks make a lie of it.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
12c. 1952 ADHow often does a man know, without question, that he has done well? I do not think it happens often in anyone's life, and it becomes even rarer once one has a child.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
13c. 1952 ADI lied to hurt you. For letting him be dead while you lived. For being loved by him more than he loved me!He loved you more than he ever loved any of the rest of us!Robin Hobb / quote ↗
14c. 1952 ADThose were some astounding lies, cub. And the very last one the most inspired of all. You have your father's talent for it.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
15c. 1952 ADStop your whining. If you are frightened, be silent. Whining is for prey. It attracts predators. And you are not prey.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
16c. 1952 ADIt was better to leave the space empty of words than to choose the wrong ones.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
17c. 1952 ADShe is, Althea thought uneasily, what I pretend to be: a woman who does not let her sex deter her from living as she pleases.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
18c. 1952 ADHe shook his head pityingly. “This, more than anything else, is what I have never understood about your people. You can roll dice, and understand that the whole game may hinge on one turn of a die. You deal out cards, and say that all a man's fortune for the night may turn upon one hand. But a man's whole life, you sniff at, and say, what, this naught of a human, this fisherman, this carpenter, this thief, this cook, why, what can they do in the great wide world? And so you putter and sputter your lives away, like candles burning in a draft.”“Not all men are destined for greatness,” I reminded him.“Are you sure, Fitz? Are you sure? What good is a life lived as if it made no difference at all to the great life of the world? A sadder thing I cannot imagine. Why should not a mother say to herself, if I raise this child aright, if I love and care for her, she shall live a life that brings joy to those about her, and thus I have changed the world? Why should not the farmer that plants a seed say to his neighbor, this seed I plant today will feed someone, and that is how I change the world today?”“This is philosophy, Fool. I have never had time to study such things.”“No, Fitz, this is life. And no one has time not to think of such things. Each creature in the world should consider this thing, every moment of the heart's beating. Otherwise, what is the point of arising each day?Robin Hobb / quote ↗
19c. 1952 AD...I've returned and I look around me and think, I've missed my life. While I was off and alone, it went on here, without me, and I'm forever doomed to be a stranger in my own home.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
20c. 1952 ADAssassins take no pride in fighting fairly. We take pride in winning.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
22c. 1952 ADand to die with the Warrior's Prayer on his lips. For, 'Yes', he had sighed on his dying breath, and all knew that was the ultimate prayer one could offer to life. Acceptance.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
24c. 1952 ADOpen your eyes. This horrible mess is your life. There is no sense in waiting for it to get better. Stop putting it off and live it.Robin Hobb / quote ↗
