One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Human behavior remains constant over time, leading to recurring historical events.
This quote by George R. R. Martin suggests that history operates in cycles due to the unchanging nature of humanity. It implies that by studying the past, we can predict future events, as the fundamental traits and behaviors of people do not evolve significantly over time.
Themes
HistoryHuman NatureRecurrenceCyclesBehavior
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussion about the importance of learning from past mistakes.
More from George R. R. Martin
All quotes βI hate outlines. I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the principal characters, and I know the major turning points and events from the books, the climaxes for each book, but I don't necessarily know each twist and turn along the way. That's something I discover in the course of writing and that's what makes writing enjoyable. I think if I outlined comprehensively and stuck to the outline the actual writing would be boring.
George R. R. MartinRead
There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: βNot today.
George R. R. MartinRead
I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.β He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. βI wish I had enough poison for you all. You make me sorry that I am not the monster you would have me be, yet there it is. I am innocent, but I will get no justice here.
George R. R. MartinRead
But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. 'Life is not a song, sweetling,' he'd told her, 'You may learn that one day to your sorrow.' In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
George R. R. MartinRead
I write from this tight third-person viewpoint, where each chapter is seen through the eyes of one individual character. When I'm writing that character, I become that character and identify with that character.
George R. R. MartinRead
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By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death and let it go which way it will he that dies this year is quit for the next
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I do earnestly wish to see the distinction of sex confounded in society, unless where love animates the behaviour.
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