Patrick Rothfuss Quotes: 20

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

  The Wise Man's Fear

• Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.

  The Name of the Wind

• It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.

  The Name of the Wind

• Half of seeming clever is keeping your mouth shut at the right times.

  The Wise Man's Fear

• 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 perfect.

  The Wise Man's Fear

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

  The Wise Man's Fear

• 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 to the world with, then you're lucky. Even if it only lasts for a minute or a day. The image of them gently swaying to the music is how I picture love in my mind even after all these years.

  The Name of the Wind

• The truth is that the world is full of dragons, and none of us are as powerful or cool as we’d like to be. And that sucks. But when you’re confronted with that fact, you can either crawl into a hole and quit, or you can get out there, take off your shoes, and Bilbo it up.

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

  The Name of the Wind

• There are so many men, all endlessly attempting to sweep me off my feet. And there is one of you, trying just the opposite. Making sure my feet are firm beneath me, lest I fall.

  The Wise Man's Fear

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

• It’s not over if you’re still here,” Chronicler said. “It’s not a tragedy if you’re still alive.

  The Wise Man's Fear

• I’d heard you were dead.”"I heard you wear a red lace corset,” I said matter-of-factly. “But I don’t believe every bit of nonsense that gets rumored about.

  The Wise Man's Fear

• ... 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, politicians and courtesans.

  The Name of the Wind

• Roses! I swear you men have all your romance from the same worn book. Flowers are a good thing, a sweet thing to give a lady. But it is always roses, always red, and always perfect hothouse blooms when they can come by them.

  The Name of the Wind

• If I could sum it up in 50 words, I wouldn't have needed to write a whole novel about it.

• Don't get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That's a story. Handled properly, it's more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.

• But no. There is a difference between the truth and what we wish were true.

  The Slow Regard of Silent Things

• 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 what I wanted. Stacks of books. Great heaps of books. Shelf after endless shelf of books.

  The Name of the Wind

• There can be many opinions on a thing, but there is only one truth."Vashet smiled lazily. "And if the pursuit of the truth was my goal, that would concern me."She gave a long yawn, stretching like a happy cat. "Instead I will focus on the joy in my heart, [...}

  The Wise Man's Fear