One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he's copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote compares the strength and qualities of three characters using metal as a metaphor.
In this quote, George R. R. Martin uses the properties of different metals to illustrate the inherent strengths and weaknesses of three characters: Robert, Stannis, and Renly. Robert is depicted as 'true steel,' symbolizing reliability and resilience; Stannis, as 'pure iron,' is strong yet inflexible, suggesting a rigidity that could lead to failure; while Renly, likened to 'copper,' is attractive but ultimately lacks substance. This quote reflects on the nature of strength, leadership, and the varying values of personal attributes in the context of character judgment.
Themes
StrengthCharacterLeadershipMetaphorResilience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the qualities of a good leader.
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.
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There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.
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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
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