I did a collection of my favourite quotes from DoD a couple of years ago for a different forum, so here goes:
Page 35
Everyone died in solitude, after all. A simple enough truth. A truth no one need fear.
Page 53
Abject misery lies not in what the blanket reveals, but in what it hides – King Tehol The Only of Lether
Page 65
"This Azath House didn't die," he [Grub] said. "It just ... left."
[Sinn] "Left? How?
"I think it just walked out of here, that's what I think."
Page 89
As the four foreigners left, one of the jarak birds said, "I smell death."
"No, you don't," croaked the other.
"I smell death," the first one insisted.
"No. You smell dead."
After a moment, the first bird lifted a wing and thrust its head underneath, and then withdrew and settled one more. "Sorry."
Page 158
Clearing his throat, Cord spoke up, "That's right , Crump. And, uh, I am ordering you to carve."
Crump blinked, licked his lips, and then nodded at his sergeant. "Carve, right. What do you want me to carve, Sergeant? Go on, anything! Except'n not no necromancers, all right?"
"Sure. How about everybody here in this room,except Deathsmell, of course. But everyone else. Riding on horses, galloping horses. Horses galloping over flames."
Crump wiped his lips and shot Masan Gilani a shy look. "Her, too, Sergeant?"
"Go ahead," Masan Gilani drawled. "Can't wait to see it. Don't forget to include yourself, Crump. On the biggest horse."
"Yah, with a giant sword in one hand and a cusser in the other!"
"Perfect"
[...]
[Deathsmell] "[...] So, no more interruptions, unless you want to kill me - "
Crump's head bobbed up. "That sounds perfect -"
"And everyone else, too, including you, Crump."
"That doesn't sound so perfect."
"Carve," Cord ordered.
Page 177
[Bugg] "[...] The water may dream of victory, may even yearn for it, but it had best learn patience, yes? Consider every dried stream bed you have ever see, Aquitor, and judge who was the ultimate victor in that war of patience."
Page 179
Nothing could be worse than walk into a room in a middling inn, stride up to the bed, and fling back a woollen blanket, only to find a dragon. Or two. All unwillingly unveiled. And in a single miserable instant, the illusion of essential, mutual protection are cast off. Violent transformation and lo, it turns out, one small room in an inn cannot hold two dragons.
Page 222
Sometimes, belief was suicide.
Page 252
The object of justice is to drain the world of colour.
Page 262
[Tehol] [...] Now then, since I hear the Malazan entourage on its way in the hallway beyond: Brys, how big do you want to make your escort?"
"Two Brigades and two Battalions, sire."
"Is that reasonable?" Tehol asked, looking around.
"I have no idea," Janath replied. "Bugg?"
"I'm no general, my queen."
"We need an expert opinion, then," said Tehol. "Brys?"
Page 303
The beast that was civilization ever faced forward, and in making the present world it devoured the world to come.
Page 316
"And how old was that map?" Rautos asked.
Taxilian shrugged. "Twenty thousand? Fifty? Five? Scholars make a career of not agreeing on anything."
Page 340
[Bottle]
Bad news for the Adjunct – she's losing her mages -
[QB]
"She's got me. She doesn't need anyone else."
And all my fears laid to rest.
"You may not have realized, Bottle, but I was asking you about your furry lover for a reason."
Jealousy?
"Hurry up and get here so I can throttle you. No, not jealousy. Although, come to think on it, I can't even recall the last time - "
[...]
"Good. Now follow my instructions precisely, Bottle."
You sure? I mean, I was planing on ignoring every third direction you gave me.
Page 347
"Sandalath, why did you Tiste war against the K'Chain Che'Malle?"
She looked startled. "Why? Because they were different."
"I see. And they fought against you in turn. Because you were different, or because you were invading their world?"
Page 471
Is there anything more worthless then excuses?
Page 530
"Take a thousand soldiers. Four hundred will stand in a fight but do nothing. Two hundred will run given the Chance. Another hundred will get confused. That will leave three hundred you can count on. Your task in commanding that thousand is all down to knowing where to put that three hundred."
Page 625
"[...] Withal, listen well. Ready a weapon -"
"A weapon? What kind of weapon?"
"Wrong choice. Find another one."
"What?"
"Stupidity won't work. Try that mace on your belt."
"That's a smith's hammer -"
"And you're a smith, so presumably you know how to use it."
"So long as my victim lays his had on an anvil, aye."
Page 661
You blink, you lose that time for ever. You can't even be sure how long that blink lasted. A moment, a thousand years. You can't even know for sure that what you see now is the same as what you saw before. You can't. You think it is. You tell yourself that, convince yourself of that. Just a continuation of everything you knew before. What you see is still there. That's what you tell yourself. That's the game of reassurance your mind plays. To keep things sane.
But think on that blink – you've all known it – when all that you thought was real suddenly changes. From one side to the other side. It comes with bad news. It comes with soul-plummeting horror and grief. How long was that blink?
Gods below, it was a fucking eternity.
Page 770
"Chaos takes the sword."
Page 823
Beside them stood Saddic, watching, remembering. His enemy was dust.
Page 836
[Toc] "I once knew a woman who could flatten a city with the arch of a single perfect eyebrow."
"Did she?" Setoc asked, pleased to be the one asking questions.
"Occasionally. But, not every city, not every time."
"Why not?"
The undead warrior smiled, the expression chilling her. "She liked a decent bath every now and then."
Page 844
Great warleaders were, one and all, insane.
Page 827
When the sky blinks, how long does it take between the sweep of darkness and the rebirth of light?
[...]
Greed and ambition, Saddic. Greed and treachery. Greed and justice. These are the reasons of fate, and every reason is a lie.
[...]
Saddic, listen. I have seen a door. Opening.
Page 884
"Mother?"
"Yes, Orfantal?"
"Don't eat your eyes."
"Don't worry. I am like most people. I can keep my eyes and still see nothing."
Now, woman, you said no such thing. And be thankful for that. The other rule applies. Mouth working, nothing said. And that is the ease we find for ourselves. After all,if we said everything we could say to each other, we'd have all killed each other long ago.
Gallan, you were a poet. You should have swallowed your tongue.
Page 985
And then there were the wonderful beasts in those distant lands. Dragonflies big enough to ride – imagine whizzing through the clouds, looking down on everything! Seeing how beautiful it all was, and then dropping hundreds of bombs on it.
Page 1003
"Are you a god?"
"More or less, Toblakai. Does that frighten you?"
Ublala Pung shook his head. "I've meet gods before. They collect chickens."
"We possess mysterious ways indeed."
Page 1018
As the sun painted gold the brutal facing of the stone tower, a figure of gold and bronze stood above another who knelt, bowed forward over his thighs with his face in his hands.
Neither moved until long after the sun set and darkness claimed the sky.
Page 1024
"I am named Cartographer," said the corpse, ineffectually trying to brush dust from his rags.
"Setoc."
"So very pleased to meet you."
"I thought I made you miserable."
"I delight in misery."
Page 1055
She [Hanavat] was the wandering moon of her people's legends, in the ages before her sister moon's betrayal, when love was still pure and Night lay down in the arms of Darkness – oh, the legends were quaint, if ever tainted with sorrow, that inevitable fall from grace. She wondered if such creations – those tales of times lost – were nothing more than a broken soul's embrace of regret. The fall was in sensibility's wake, too late to do anything about, but this – look around! - this is what it made of us.
The moon had ceased to wander. Snared in the webs of deceit, it could only slide round and round the world it loved – never to touch, doomed to tug at its lover's tears, that and nothing more. Until in some distant future, love died and with it all the pale fires of its wonder, and at last Night found her lover and in turn Darkness swallowed her whole. And that was the end of all existence.
Page 1070
One thing was impossible not to notice. Ever since they'd crawled out of that deathly sleep, they'd felt the presence of the goddess. Mother Dark had looked upon them both, had gathered up their souls like a pair of knuckled dice A rattle or two, curious fingertips exploring every nuance, every pit and crack. Then the cast. Dismissive, all interest lost. Damned insulting, yes. Infuriating. Who did the hag think she was, anyway? [Pully]
Page 1094
"Are we there yet? My feet hurt."
Draconus halted, turned to observe the half-blood Toblakai. "yes perhaps we can rest for a time. Are you hungry?"
Ublala nodded. "And sleepy. And this amour chafes my shoulders. And the axe is heavy. And I miss my friends."
"There is a harness ring for your axe," Draconus said. "You don't have to carry it at the ready. As you can see, no one can come upon us without our seeing them from some distance away."
"But if I see a rabbit of a chicken, I can run it down and then we can eat."
"That won't be necessary – you have already seen that I am able to conjure food, and water."
Ublala scowled. "I want to do my part."
"I see. I am sure you will, before too long."
"You see something?" Ublala straightened, looked round. "Rabbit? Cow? Those two women over there?"
Page1129
Never liked him. Need him, count on him, pray for him, love him, aye. But like him? Not a chance. Goatsticker, dollmaker, souleater. Probably Soletaken or D'ivers, too, if I'm any judge of thinks.
Whiskeyjack, did you hear the sound it made hitting his head? This old helm of mine? Did it stir the dead all around you? Did you all sit up, rush to the gate? You looking in on us right now, Sarge? Hey, all you Bridgeburners. How'd I do? [Fiddler]
Page 1134
"How close to us is the nearest
thing, Bottle."
"I know the smell of one of them. T'lan Imass."
"Really." The word was flat, dangerous.
"Still far away," Bottle hastily added. "There's nothing within twenty leagues of us. That I know of – some ascendants are good at hiding -"
"You wining out there, Bottle? How often?"
"Hardly at all, Sergeant. It's scary out there. In the dark, I mean." Bottle was beginning to regret coming back here.
What's with me, anyway? Sticking my nose in every damned thing, and if it stinks real bad what do I do? I go find something else to stick my nose in. And they all stink – you'd imagine, wouldn't you, I might quit the habit. But no, of course not, Gods, Bottle, listen to yourself -
Quick Ben sat up, cradling his head. "What?" he asked. "What?"
"Took a fall there, High Mage," said Fiddler.
"A fall?"
"Aye, I'm thinking you was struck with a thought."
Quick Ben spat, gingerly probing the side of his head. "Must have been some thought," he muttered. "Hit so hard I can't even remember it."
"Happens," said Fiddler. "Listen, Bottle. Wasn't a T'lan Imass who kidnapped Gesler and Stormy. It was what we talked about before: K'Chain Che'Malle."
"Wait," said Quick Ben. "Who said anything about T'lan Imass?"
"I did," Bottle replied. "You were the one talking about winged K'Chain Che'Malle."
Fiddler snorted. "No doubt the Adjunct will talk to us about fucking Forkrul Assail. Who's left? Oh the Jaghut -"
"Still days away -" Said Bottle and Quick Ben in unison, and then glared at each other.
Page 1169
Stormy dropped his hands, swung his shaggy head to regard Kalyth. "Look at her," he muttered.
"What about her?"
"Reminds me of my mother."
Gesler's hands twitched, closed into fists. "Don't even think it, Stormy."
"Can't help it. She does -"
"No, she doesn't. Your mother had red hair -"
"Not the point. Around her eyes, see it? You should know, Ges, you went and bedded her enough times -"
"That was an accident -"
"A what?"
"I mean, how did I know she went around seducing your friends?"
"She didn't. Just you."
"But you said -"
"So I lied! I was just trying to make you feel better! No, fuck that, I was trying to make you feel that you're nobody important – your head's swelled up bad enough as it is. Anyway, it don't matter anymore, does it? Forget it. I forgave you, remember -"
"You were drunk and we'd just trashed an ally trying to kill each other -"
"Then I forgave you. Forget it, I said."
"I wish I could! Now you go and say this one looks like -"
"But she does!"
"I know she does! Now shut the fuck up!"
Page 1177
Common opinion had it that armies with trains were slow beasts, even on the most level ground, but clearly neither Gall of the Burned tears nor Krughava of the Perish paid any heed to common opinion.
Page 1234
"There was terrible . . . pain." She hesitated, and then said. "Sanity was lost."
"Soldiers like those," Stormy muttered, "what ruler needs to be sane?"
Page 1254
Stormy scowled.
Woman, if you could read me right now, you'd run screaming. Of course we say we're doing this and then that and then this other thing and it's all so perfect and so logical. We know it's all a joke. We know that once the battle is engaged, it all turns into Hood's hoary picnic basket.
Page 1278
"I am ready to free the bitch. Beloved sun, is it time to end the world?"
Face hidden from her view, Sechul Lath closed his eyes. Then said, "Why not?"
Sorry if something was double, I'm to lazy to check.
This post has been edited by Lizradus: 24 May 2013 - 04:01 PM
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Kanese S, on 11 August 2012 - 12:53 AM, said:
