…nothing in the world is harder than convincing someone of an unfamiliar truth.

The wild women in his lap,’ my father enthused, ‘laying their breasts on his head.’There was a moment of stunned silence. Then my mother spoke slowly, with an edge to her voice. ‘I think you...

I slept and I woke. She gave me a ring made from a leaf, a cluster of golden berries, a flower that opened and closed at the stroking of a finger….And once, when I startled...

My father referred to it as “the finest song ever written for fifteen fingers.” He made me play it when I was getting too full of myself and felt I needed humbling. Suffice to say...

She doesn’t belong to me. She belongs only to herself.

If you are eager to find the reason I became the Kvothe they tell stories about, you could look there, I suppose.”Chronicler’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean, exactly?”Kvothe paused for a long moment, looking...

Only priests and fools are fearless and I’ve never been on the best of terms with God.

She smiled like knife on a velvet, she stretched like cat on the sun.

Hespe’s mouth went firm. She didn’t scowl exactly, but it looked like she was getting all the pieces of a scowl together in one place, just in case she needed them in a hurry.

Tasting comes before drinking.

It’s hard to be wrongfully accused, but it’s worse when the people looking down on you are clods who have never read a book or traveled more than twenty miles from the place they were...

Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and...

I always read. You know how sharks have to keep swimming or they die? I’m like that. If I stop reading, I die.

Too much honesty makes you sound insincere.

I would never normally approach a woman in this way, but I couldn’t help but notice that you have the eyes of a lady I was once desperately in love with. “”What a shame to...

Oh yes. It was well worth it, doing things the proper way.

I wish I felt as calm as I look

There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.

Denna is a wild thing,” I explained. “Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you don’t say the storm was mean. It was cruel....

He had a bright, reckless tenor that was always wandering off, looking for notes in the wrong places.

Pride and folly, they go together like two tightly grasping hands.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Chronicler snapped. “You’re just spouting nonsense now.””I’m spouting too much sense for you to understand,” Bast said testily.

They fight like puppies. They are young, and boys. They are full of anger and impatience. Women have less trouble with these things. It’s part of what makes us better fighters.

No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler,...

I smiled,”Deoch, my heart is made of stronger stuff than glass. When she strikes she’ll find it strong as iron-bound brass, or gold and adamant together mixed. Don’t think I am unaware, some startled deer...

Some days simply lay on you like stones.

Everyone knew what he was thinking. Certainly there were demons in the world. But they were like Tehlu’s angels. They were like heroes and kings. They belonged in stories. They belonged out there. Taborlin the...

Asleep she was a painting of a fire. Awake she was the fire itself

My parents danced together, her head on his chest. Both had their eyes closed. They seemed so perfectly content. If you can find someone like that, someone who you can hold and close your eyes...

Just handle the books gently and you’ll get along fine.

… for most practical purposes, Tarbean had two parts: Waterside and Hillside. Waterside is where people are poor. That makes them beggars, thieves and whores. Hillside is where people are rich. That makes them solicitors,...

Pure truth,” I said. “You are my bright penny by the roadside. You are worth more than salt or the moon on a long night of walking. You are sweet wine in my mouth, a...

She shelled the nuts and toasted them, jiggling them about in the pan. She sprinkled them with salt and ate them each by each. Some were bitter. Some were sweet. Some were hardly anything. That...

My bad luck got tangled up with my bad decisions, and I’m paying for it.

It slowly began to dawn on me that I had been staring at her for an impossible amount of time. Lost in my thoughts, lost in the sight of her. But her face didn’t look...

It felt exactly like someone had hit me in the head with a church.

It’s like this: if you have one piece of cake, and you eat it, that’s fine.If you have two pieces of cake, you should probably share some with a friend. But maybe not. Occasionally we...

I am Edema Ruh to my bones. That means my blood is red. It means I breathe the free air and walk where my feet take me. I do not cringe and fawn like a...

You’re sure your new roommate won’t be like the last one who wore tinfoil socks and had a tendency to occasionally urinate in the refrigerator. You’re sure you’ll pass Math 106 this time around. You’re...

Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?

Books are a poor substitute for female companionship, but they are easier to find.

What what,” Trapis said as he hurried over to tend to her, his bare feet slapping on the floor. “What what. Hush hush.

The gesture was so tight with rage she feared she’d snap and crack the world in two.

Nothing like your marvelous facebear,

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as “quothe.” Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I’ve had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem...

I have known her longer, my smile said. True, you have been inside the circle of her arms, tasted her mouth, felt the warmth of her, and that is something I have never had. But...

There were two sets of double doors leading out of the antechamber, one marked STACKS and the other TOMES. Not knowing the difference between the two, I headed to the ones labeled STACKS. That was...

His voice is like a thunderstorm, and his hands know every secret hidden deep beneath the cool, dark earth.

Looters become looted, while time and tide make us mercenaries all.

There’s no clear water from a muddy well. All you can do is let the silt settle until the water clears otherwise it will taste sour. (paraphrased)