Sorting through Steven Erikson’s quotes to choose the best ones felt like an epic quest in itself. With Erikson’s knack for weaving philosophy and the big questions of life into his work, each line reads like a mini-revelation. I swear I’ve dog-eared more pages in the Malazan series than in any other books on my shelf! So, while it’s been quite the challenge, here they are: the little nuggets of truth straight from Erikson’s pen to this fan’s heart. Enjoy!
1. “Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words.”
― Deadhouse Gates
2. “Don’t worry. I am like most people. I can keep my eyes and still see nothing.”
― Dust of Dreams
3. “Of all the weapons we turn upon ourselves, guilt is the sharpest.”
― Memories of Ice
4. “Is there anything more worthless than excuses?”
― Dust of Dreams
5. “The lesson of history is that no one learns.”
― Deadhouse Gates
6. “The heart is neither given nor stolen. The heart surrenders.”
― House of Chains
7. “Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.”
― Gardens of the Moon
8. “In war everyone loses. This brutal truth can be seen in the eyes of every solider in every world.”
― Dust of Dreams
9. “Without a sense of humour, you are blind to so much in the world. To human nature. To the absurdity of so much that we say and do.”
― Reaper’s Gale
10. “No tyrant could thrive where every subject said no. The tyrant thrives when the first f*****g fool salutes.”
― Toll the Hounds
11. “Show me a god that does not demand mortal suffering. Show me a god that celebrates diversity, a celebration that embraces even non-believers, and is not threatened by them. Show me a god that understands the meaning of peace. In life, not in death.”
― The Bonehunters
12. “The dead forget us, and this is why we fear death.”
― The Crippled God
13. “Could life not be called a mortal’s first lover?”
― House of Chains
14. “People don’t change to suit their god; they change their god to suit them.”
― Toll the Hounds
15. “All those bickering worshippers, each one convinced their version is the right one. Imagine getting prayers from ten million believers, not one of them believing the same thing as the one kneeling beside him or her. Imagine all those Holy Books, not one of them agreeing on anything, yet all of them purporting to be the word of that one god. Imagine two armies annihilating each other, both in that god’s name. Who wouldn’t be driven mad by that?”
― The Bonehunters
16. “I never hid my hurts. I never disguised my dreams. And I never lost my way. And only the fallen can rise again.”
― The Crippled God
17. “Chaos needs no allies, for it dwells like a poison in every one of us.”
― Midnight Tides
18. “The harder the world, the fiercer the honour.”
― Memories of Ice
19. “The unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier—dead, melted wax—demands a response among the living, a response no-one can make. Names are no comfort, they’re a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous—as if cursed—while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold? Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living.”
― Deadhouse Gates
20. “Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation. None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve. To face death is to stand alone.”
― Toll the Hounds
Enjoyed these Steven Erikson lines? There’s more where that came from! Hop from one fantasy world to the next:
🔖 The Wheel of Time Words of Wisdom
🔖 Brandon Sanderson’s Quote Vault
🔖 Epic George R.R. Martin Quotes
🔖 Joe Abercrombie’s Unforgettable Quotes
🔖 Mark Lawrence’s Quotes That Resonate
🔖 J.R.R. Tolkien: Quotes by the Master
🔖 10 Legendary Patrick Rothfuss Quotes