One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a defiance against the inevitability of death, encouraging a fight for life in the face of mortality.
George R. R. Martin's quote conveys a profound sense of courage and resilience in confronting the reality of death. It suggests that while death is an unavoidable aspect of life, the human spirit can choose to resist and assert its will to live, embodying the idea that we can face adversity with bravery and determination, echoing a common mantra in popular culture that emphasizes the importance of living fully and defiantly in the face of life's challenges.
Themes
DeathCourageResilienceLifeDefiance
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speech about overcoming challenges can use this quote to illustrate the fight against adversity.
More from George R. R. Martin
All quotes →I 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
I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.’ He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. ‘I 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
Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay home and tend his garden in content, someone had written once, for this wide world has no greater wonder." Tyrion scratched at his scar and tried to recall the author's name.
George R. R. MartinRead
Similar quotes
Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cédé. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]
Charles De GaulleRead
I do a lot of lectures on survival. I always say you can't change what happened, so have a little wallow, feel very sorry for yourself, and then get up and move forward. You can't change what happened.
Joan RiversRead
There is... nothing greater than touching the shore after crossing some great body of water knowing that I've done it with my own two arms and legs.
Diana NyadRead
Those men who, in war, seek to preserve their lives at any rate commonly die with shame and ignominy, while those who look upon death as common to all, and unavoidable, and are only solicitous to die with honour, oftener arrive at old age and, while they live, live happier.
XenophonRead
Fearlessness may be a gift, but perhaps most precious is courage from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions.
Aung San Suu KyiRead
It is easy to go down into Hell; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air - there's the rub, the task.
VirgilRead