One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
He never wanted love, though. You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote conveys the idea that love, while valuable, cannot fulfill practical needs or provide material comforts.
In this quote, George R. R. Martin expresses a pragmatic view on love, suggesting that while emotional connections are important, they do not provide tangible benefits like food, warmth, or financial security. It highlights a dichotomy between emotional wealth and physical needs, emphasizing that love alone is insufficient for survival in a practical world.
Themes
LovePracticalityNeedsEmotionMaterial
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the importance of financial stability in relationships, this quote can help illustrate the limitations of love alone.
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
Similar quotes
One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you can do to yourself than that.
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I purified my lips with sacred fire that I might speak of love, but when I opened my mouth to speak, I found myself mute.
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One has no right to love or hate anything if one has not acquired a thorough knowledge of its nature. Great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you know it but little you will be able to love it only a little or not at all.
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He educated Maurice, or rather his spirit educated Maurice's spirit, for they themselves became equal. Neither thought "Am I led; am I leading?" Love had caught him out of triviality and Maurice out of bewilderment in order that two imperfect souls might touch perfection.
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Even a god finds it hard to love and be wise at the same time. -Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur
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We could say that love is a tenacious adventure. The adventurous side is necessary, but equally so is the need for tenacity. To give up at the first hurdle, the first quarrel, is only to distort love. Real love is one that triumphs lastingly, sometimes painfully, over the hurdles erected by time, space and the world.
Alain BadiouRead